POST FALLS, Idaho — Midwives in the region are seeing a surge of interest for their services as more expecting mothers choose to welcome their babies at home or at birth centers instead of hospitals.
“I really sought a peaceful place for moms to land,” said Andrea Roltgen, a licensed midwife who owns In The Vine Midwifery.
The facility has two birth suites and practically everything else someone would need to feel at home.
Roltgen says she notices an increase of mothers turning to options like this, but there’s a supply problem.
“We don’t have enough midwives in the area to answer all of the inquiries,” she said.
In the Idaho Panhandle, out-of-hospital births are up by around 1.5%. Some North Idaho counties, like Bonner, are seeing a sharper increase increases of around 5%.
She and other midwives attribute the surge to a few things. One is a growing interest in having their baby outside of the hospital. The other is a lack of access to care.
“It’s just there’s a lot of people and not a lot of doctors,” said Kasha Deroos, a midwife who works in both Idaho and Washington.
Deroos says she started to notice a big jump in interest after the pandemic.
“I think it is a resurgence in people not realizing they have the autonomy they thought they had, which is a beautiful thing,” Deroos said.
Both midwives say it can be challenging to keep up with the rising demand, but they believe birth centers are filling a growing need.
“In the obstetrical community, there is, a growing understanding and respect for the work of out-of-hospital midwives, because, number one, we’re taking a whole lot out of off of their plate in this area,” Roltgen said. “I think that this is still a huge service and option for families to evaluate.”
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