Services

We offer safe, affordable, quality care throughout your pregnancy, including lab work, routine prenatal visits, and caring communication. Labor and delivery takes place in our beautiful birthing rooms. Our fees are often a quarter of those charged in a traditional hospital/doctor setting. We accept payment directly from most insurance plans. Please contact our office for more information. Interested clients are invited to sign up for a free one-hour tour and interview with one of our midwives. During this time you will have an opportunity to discuss any aspect of midwifery, pregnancy and the Austin Area Birthing Center with us. Austin ABC also provides annual well-woman exams, Pap smears, birth control, and pre-pregnancy counseling, all at reasonable rates. First time mothers are required to take childbirth preparation classes. We recommend the Bradley Method and we have names of various instructors in the Austin area.

Prenatal Care

Austin ABC offers mothers the same prenatal testing as they would expect at a physician’s office in addition to more time for counseling, teaching, and getting to know the midwife.

The first prenatal visit:

At this time a physical exam is performed to ensure that the mother is a healthy, low risk client.

Routine pregnancy blood work is drawn and any extra tests as indicated by the mother's health history are performed.

If the pregnancy is difficult to date using traditional methods, a dating ultrasound may be performed. If the parents wish, our ultrasonographer can perform a "first trimester screening test". This is an optional, early, non-invasive method of checking the baby's health.

Please schedule approximately one hour and 20 minutes for this first visit.

The second prenatal visit:

At this time the focus is on individualized diet teaching and counseling. The rest of the visit includes:

a.      Review of the lab work from the first visit

b.      Measuring the fundus (uterus)

c.      Checking the mother's vital signs and the baby’s heart rate

At this time the mother may chose to join our CENTERING group prenatal program for the middle part of her pregnancy. Centering involves mothers joining together with the other moms who share similar due dates. Various pregnancy topics are covered as well as the information needed to prepare for birth. The group is part prenatal visit, part support group, and part childbirth class. Many strong bonds are established between these “centering moms”.

Please click on this link to learn more about Centering.

Some moms prefer to continue on with traditional prenatal visits, rotating among the midwives and getting to know all of them in a private setting.

Most clients receive a twenty week ultrasound or anatomy scan of the baby at our North location.

As the due date approaches, the Centering/Group moms return to weekly private visits with the midwives at their location.

 

Well Women Care

AABC offers annual checkups and pap smears for all women in every phase of their lifespan, from puberty to menopause. A wide variety of birth control choices are available including:

• the birth control patch
• the Mirena IUD
• the NuvaRing
• counseling and instruction regarding Natural Family Planning

The midwives also offer a pre-pregnancy checkup which addresses the physical and emotional concerns of those women thinking about a pregnancy in the future