MotherCare Birth Center: Providing expert care with a tender touch
Certified Professional Midwife Suzanne Peight monitors a patient’s vital signs during a typical postpartum check-up.
Loving and professional care of a newborn baby is naturally important. But don’t forget Mom. She needs competent and attentive care too: before, during and after she delivers her child.
That, Suzanne Peight said, is why an increasing number of expecting mothers are opting for the peace of mind of a birth center birth, under the attentive care of a certified professional midwife.
“Natural birth has long been the norm among our plain people,” Peight said, a CPM, member of the North American Registry of Midwives and owner of the MotherCare Center in Millersburg, speaking just hours after an overnight delivery.
This is where MotherCare Center provides a perfect fit. Providing CPM care in a state-approved birthing facility with safety standards for excellent birth outcomes, mothers and babies are privileged to experience the best of both worlds.
“In recent years, families have become increasingly mindful of seeking out care that preserves the natural experience while giving equal attention to a safe journey for both Mom and baby throughout the birth process,” Peight said.
CPMs are trained with expert skills to help women maintain healthy pregnancies and have optimal births and recoveries during the postpartum period. In addition to being a CPM, Peight is a certified women’s health herbalist and lactation specialist. She also holds certifications in neonatal resuscitation, adult and infant CPR, limited OB ultrasound and phlebotomy.
Peight has many years of training and experience in professional midwifery care and women’s health. “I take my role as a guardian of the birth process very seriously,” Peight said. “Our main goal is to help women have a gentle and affordable birth while prioritizing their comfort. A safe birthing experience for both the mother and the baby is the priority. I work carefully as a midwife to support the normal pregnancy and birth process, being mindful of each baby’s well-being at all times and working with the medical community if the need arises.”
Being located just a four-minute drive from Joel Pomerene Memorial Hospital provides added assurance in case a complication should arise. “We work very closely with the medical community,” Peight said.
In fact, her husband David is a paramedic and firefighter. The couple has four children of their own.
Peight attended her first birth 20 years ago, but she knew as early as the age of 5 that she wanted to be a midwife.
“At such a young age, I didn’t yet know exactly what a midwife did,” she said. “But I knew they helped women. I’ve always known this was my calling.”
The opening of the MotherCare Center was the fulfillment of that calling. The state-approved, plain-community midwifery and birth center offers full-service prenatal birth and postpartum services with flexible birth care options — including water births — and payment plans.
“All of my patients get my personal mobile number so they can reach me at any time with urgent questions or concerns,” Peight said.
Midwifery services at MotherCare include prenatal visits to check on the health of the mother and baby. Referral to a doctor is available if medical attention is needed.
“For those needing transportation services to and from the birth center for prenatal visits, a driver is provided for a nominal fee,” Peight said.
During a mom’s stay at the center for delivery, she is treated to a variety of meal options. A bicycle is available so Dad can run errands or get some exercise. Round-the-clock care is provided for moms and babies including monitoring, breastfeeding support and foot massages. And each birth is celebrated with a complimentary pizza dinner.
MotherCare also has an on-site boutique that features vitamins, nutritional supplements and herbal products formulated specifically for a woman’s childbearing years. The boutique carries pregnancy products like support hose and support belts and a full array of breastfeeding supplies, nursing bras and nursing nightgowns.
“We have new and gently used baby clothes and inspirational books for moms as well as baby books,” Peight said.
She encourages mothers who are interested in midwifery services to schedule an appointment as soon as they know they are pregnant and to get their anticipated birth date on the calendar because space fills up quickly.
“I’m already getting calls for due dates into August 2018,” Peight said.
First-time patients can request an information packet or schedule a consultation.
The MotherCare Center is located at 788 E. Jackson St. in Millersburg. You can call the center at 330-674-MOMS (6667) or find additional information on the center’s Facebook page at The Mother Care Center — Midwife Suzanne Peight, CPM.