Clear Light Midwifery in Old Town, ME?

[mainesax]

Hi, ladies!

It's been so long since I've been here! It's nice to look around again.

I did a search and found some brief mentions of it, but was wondering if anyone could tell me more about Clear Light Holistic Midwifery in Old Town. The CPM there is Andrea, and the CNM is Nancy.

Anyone have them for providers or partake in their birth suite?

[altoidmandy]

Haven't used them, but I have used their in-house doula (Evelyn Conrad) for a hospital birth, and we really liked her. I have heard good things about Andrea from others. Good luck!

Have you been there? It's pretty near our house so I've driven by, and the location is beautiful. Okay, that's not a reason to choose a midwife, but it doesn't hurt!

[Carita]

She was highly recommended to me by my doula (Nancy Graves in Bar Harbor), though I didn't end up pursuing it because she was pretty far from me.

[mainesax]

Thank you for the responses!!

I set up an appointment and we met with Andrea. She was wonderful, and the birth suite is beautiful!

Unfortunately, my 'case' is a bit too complicated for them to comfortably take. I knew it was a pie-in-the-sky option for me, but I'm glad I met anyway. Andrea and I have been emailing back and forth ever since. She seems like she'd be a wonderful support throughout pregnancy, labor, and birth.

One amazing thing I discovered is that delivery there would be covered by my insurance (Anthem) with Nancy as my listed care provider - she's a CNM. Pretty amazing!

So anyone else out there in the area thinking of home birth, or wanting a birth center birth - call or write to Andrea and Nancy!

[altoidmandy]

That's great to hear that they take Anthem (I also have Anthem).  Too bad it didn't work out for you.  Have you found another good option?

[meghan711]

I saw Andrea throughout my pregnancy and planned on birthing in the birth suite- had to transfer to EMMC after 24 hours of labor though. She was wonderful and I loved her.

[ecoteat]

mainesax, are you pregnant again? Congrats! Too bad we don't have BHMC anymore, huh? :(

[mainesax]

 Amy - I know, it's so sad. :(  I just picture that beautiful tub room at Blue Hill unused and all covered in dust...

I am expecting again, due the beginning of July. After talking with Andrea, I decided to set up an appointment with Maine Coast Women Care to put out feelers. They have two relatively new (to them) OBs, and several awesome midwives. I was there with #2 until the OB passed away halfway through my pregnancy. They require me to be overseen by an OB, so I was stuck - but ended up falling in love with Blue Hill and it all worked out.

Anyway, this time around I met with Veronica Simmonds (one of the OBs) and at first she was not very supportive of my going for a VBA2C. However, after questioning her about the actual concerns (she wasn't worried about rupture, more worried that I have had big babies in the past) - she left the room to speak with her partners and came back with an ok. :)
So I have the green light for a VBA2C at this poing - only 'stipulations' being that I see the OBs for my care, don't go past 41 weeks, and baby doesn't appear to be over 10 pounds at term.  So far, so good! I have been impressed with the care of both the OBs (Reginald Puckett is the other one) and their support of my wishes. I also asked to be able to see one of the midwives in between regular visits for more of an emotional-support type appointment, and they were more than willing to do that. No complaints so far!