moving to Lehigh Valley ISO midwife

[ambrazee]

Hello all,

My family and I will be relocating from Albany, NY to the Lehigh Valley in the coming months. I am 10 weeks pregnant and looking for a homebirth midwife near Allentown, PA. Also wondering if homebirth midwives participate with insurance. That would be my preference.

We will also need to find a pediatrician. Our current ped. in Albany works by herself with 2 nurses and a receptionist. I would love to find another small practice like that. Also looking for a ped who is supportive of extended breastfeeding, doesn't push the APA vax schedule, etc. We are looking at the town of Nazareth to live, but have not decided for sure yet. I would like both a midwife and ped who are close by, to minimize long drives.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Mandy

[serenbat]

there are other threads here in this section on LV midwives and peds (MW would be St. Lukes-Bethlehm and LV Hosp) by "close" I don't know what you mean-one person's close is far for another-this area you do need to drive

when you say Nazareth-not sure what section you mean-might want to be reading the local papers (Express Times and Morning Call) -there are areas that flood-sections close to creeks - We just had bad flooding in Bath (flooding occurred even away from the stream due to 3" of rain in 90mins)- you have the town of Nazareth and you have the surrounding that still have Nazareth as the address (this is very large)

it's a nice area-not Albany but still nice in it's own way

[ambrazee]

I am specifically looking for a homebirth midwife; I don't want a hospital-based birth.

Thanks for the heads up about the flooding. We will talk to the Relocation Counselor about that.

[serenbat]

good luck with your move- sorry but I don't think you will find a MW doing home services- I knew of one in the Pocono's but I hear she doesn't any more-Nazareth isn't very crunchy just so you know (really very conservative) - there are pockets around the LV but not large sections

are you working in Nazareth or have the chance to look elsewhere? have you been to the area yet?

[ambrazee]

Actually, it seems like there is one based out of Bethlehem, that I saw mentioned on here. She no longer does hospital; only homebirths. I also plan to talk to my own midwife here and see if she has any contacts. I also saw some based out of Philly but I don't want to drive an hour for appts.

As for the move, my husband will be working in Whitehall. I stay home with our 4- and 2-year-old sons. Based on some research I have done we are looking at the western part of Allentown (which is in the Parkland SD) and Nazareth. My husband has been down there, but we will go down together in the coming weeks to look at houses and decide where we want to live.

[serenbat]

Parkland and Nazareth are both so different- you will get a better feel once you visit-good luck!

[Amanda Sumner]

Kathy Hindle is a fantastic hb midwife who accepts ins. (although there will be some hb expenses insurance won't cover). Her office is pretty far south, but her home (where she is sometimes able to see patients) is in Perkasie, and I drove 1.5 hours to see her--totally worth it. Had two lovely homebirths with her! The practice name is Midwifery Traditions.

Amanda

[ambrazee]

Amanda, thanks.  I saw her name mentioned in another thread.  Where is her office?  I'll have to figure out where Perkasie is in terms of the Allentown region.  I emailed Laurice Dunning (I think) as she is based out of Bethlehem, which is very close to where we will be living.  This will be my 3rd birth and with each one it has gotten shorter and shorter so I don't want to have to wait for a midwife to get there during labor.

[phytoangel]

just poking around on here because i am going to be back in the area for some time this fall.  if you wouldn't mind my suggestion, i would say that you should look at bethlehem, coopersburg, center valley and emmaus (this one wins my vote) areas.  there are some great little health food stores, farms and a slower beautiful pace, but you are close to the cities like whitehall.

good luck mama!

[ambrazee]

Does anyone have any personal experience they are willing to share (either here or via PM) about Laurice Dunning?  I had a meeting with her last weekend and am considering using her for homebirth.  We will be moving to Nazareth and because I have 2 young kids to tote with me to appointments, I don't want to drive far (probably more than 1/2 hour is too long). 

Thanks!

[Amanda Sumner]

Don't know where you're going to be in Allentown, exactly, but Bethlehem would be closer. Would guess that the drive from Allentown (depending on where) to Perkasie would be about 40 min.

[thumbtack]

I just had a homebirth with Laurice over the summer.  It was amazing.  She is experienced, highly skilled and very warm.  I have nothing but good things to say about her. You can pm me if you have specific questions.