[Earthymomma]

Hi mommas, we are *hoping* to move to Maine sometime this year(as soon as DH finds a job there). I was wondering if Maine is a homeschooling friendly state?
Also, how is birthing with a midwife/homebirthing in Maine? Is it legal?
Thanks for any info!

 

[mooliette]

Hello Earthymomma, first off Welcome to MDC

And hopefully welcome to Maine sometime soon.

I'm not a homeschooling mama, but I have many friends that do so, and as far as I know they haven't had any issues, just gotta file the right paperwork in the timeframe they request and your all set. You can probably get some information about rules and regulations here: http://www.state.me.us/education/hs/homepage.htm

I am however a homebirthing mama, completely legal here! I know of a few midwives in southern, central and northern Maine.

 

[Corvus]

mooliette, who are the midwives in Maine who do homebirths? And are they CNM's or lay midwives? You can PM me if you prefer.

When I had dd, I used a midwife (CNM), and gave birth in a hospital. That experience was fine, but next time I'd like to birth either at home or at Ballard House (birthing center).

 

[e&e's_mama]

Hey Earthymomma--

I hope all goes well with a move to Maine. My family loves it here. We've lived here for 6 years.

As for the home birthing, my closest friend is having her second here at home. She loves her midwfe and has had a lot of community support. I have two other friends who have also birthed at home. I have another friend who had her dd at the Ballard House. All had great experiences.

As for the homeschooling, my only connection is knowing that many resources like the museums, visiting farms, etc. all have homeschool-designated times and days. I am sure that adds much to the homeschoolers experiences.

Good luck!

 

[mooliette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corvus mooliette, who are the midwives in Maine who do homebirths? And are they CNM's or lay midwives? You can PM me if you prefer. When I had dd, I used a midwife (CNM), and gave birth in a hospital. That experience was fine, but next time I'd like to birth either at home or at Ballard House (birthing center).

Hello Corvus,

Here is a list of some of the midwives in Maine that support homebirth http://www.homestead.com/midwivesofmaine/2.html I know there are a few more, I did a search on google and there were several pages. The three midwives that attended both my births are listed in this group, they are all Certified Professional Midwives (CPM), and actually one was an intern and has now gotten her own practice

All three are amazing women, and two on the list we actually interviewed prior to our first birth.

I don't know of anyone personally that has birthed at the Ballard house, but I'm on a list for Maine Mama's and I think a few have birthed there that live in the area.

If you want anymore information feel free to email or PM me

 

[SLY]

Hi Earthymomma-

I am not currently homeschooling (DS is 2) but I have looked into it. I dont have any specific info re: laws/rules (that link that Mooliette sent should help), but I can say that I have met many many HS folks in Maine, both in the southern area as well as up near Rockland.

Maine is awesome, BTW.

 

[Jenny219]

HI EarthyMomma! I don't have much to offer in response to your inquiry- in fact I have some of the same questions in mind. My family is moving to Maine sometime within the next few months. We plan to build a cordwood house on our property in Mariaville, but in the meantime are looking to rent a place nearby. Where in Maine are you looking to move?

Also if anyone can recommend a pediatrician/ family physician who is accepting of non- vaxing, I'd appreciate it. We'll also be looking for a good chiropractor and a yoga studio. I guess Ellsworth would be most convenient, but anywhere within a 30 mile or so radius is feasible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mommymarliah]

I live in Maine and will be homeschooling (and was homeschooled my whole life) You have to file paper work with the stae UNLESS you form what is called a "non approved private school" all you need to do in order to do that is find one other family *raises hand* and have 3 or more children between the two families and you can get out of filing TONS of paperwork. As far as homebirths go they are legal but only are done by lay midwives from what I have seen (or you can do what I did and have a super fast labor and your husband can deliver LOL)....Something about the CNM's have to have insurance or something and its so expensive that they don't bother doing homebirths (I looked into it and there is not one CNM in the state that does homebirths) there are numerous lay midwifes that do though

Jenny- I go to an office that is VERY supporting of non-vaxxing its called "New Horizons Healthcare" in Unity Maine, there are 2 docs there Dr. Kriegel (my doc he rocks but I don't think hes accepting new patients) and Dr. Ducker (hes cool too).

If anyone has any other quesitons ask away I'll do what I can to help

 

[LiminalOne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earthymomma Hi mommas, we are *hoping* to move to Maine sometime this year(as soon as DH finds a job there). I was wondering if Maine is a homeschooling friendly state? Also, how is birthing with a midwife/homebirthing in Maine? Is it legal? Thanks for any info!

Hi Earthymomma

We live in South Portland, so if you're heading in this direction, let me know and I can pass on information about homeschooling groups (they have a really active yahoo group) and homebirth midwives.

We also have a message board for mindful/natural/instinctive Maine parents that I'll link below if you're looking for more information as opposed to the link in my signature. But you have to create an ezboard id and then apply to join the group. Kind of complicated, but it keeps things nice and private.

http://p221.ezboard.com/bmainemamas

Good luck to you and Jenny as well. And hello to all the other Maine Mamas (it's great to see so many at mothering)

Angie

 

[Fiddlemom]

We are also seriously considering a move to Portland, so glad to see this thread! Thanks for getting it started

Happy to hear that homeschooling regulations are not overly restrictive. At the moment I'm homeschooling my 3.5 year old and may just continue when kindergarten rolls around, so this is definitely an issue for us. Great to hear there are homebirthing families around there. We recently relocated from Seattle (great place to have babies) to the E. Shore of MD (which I wouldn't call a great place to have babies). It would be nice to be back in a birth-friendly environment.

OK, back to just listening.....

Jenny