Corvallis Birth and Wellness Center

What I want 35-45 year olds to know?? Now is the time to focus on muscle strength; don’t wait until the effects of changes have already occurred.

Females achieve peak bone density at age 30 and bone density can start to decrease as early as age 35.
Bone density can decrease up to 20% by menopause and 1-2 % yearly every year after - up to 30% by 5-7 years after menopause.
Exercise and strength training for muscle strength and bone density are essential to start before menopause.

Choosing where to have your baby can be one of the most important decisions you make about your birth.

What are your options for prenatal and birth related care:

1. Community birth care, which include home birth and birth center
2. Hospital Birth

General Philosophy of care:

1. Community birth:
- Normal birth is a natural birth. It is a healthy life event that is the safest and most satisfying without routine interventions.
- Environment matters; familiar surroundings and undisturbed labor facilitate a joyful birth and family bonding.
- The midwife is a watchful guardian to an intimate process that “belongs“ to the laboring person and her chosen supportive community.

2. Home compared to birth center:
Home: you are in your own environment
Birth Center: an environment that you are comfortable in, but don’t need to prepare your home setting (“ dirty our house instead of your own”). Oriented towards supporting natural birth, but offers some additional options which may not be available at home.
3. Hospital birth:
- With a midwife routine interventions can be kept to a minimum within the constraints of hospital protocols.
- General Hospital birth is the belief that birth is safeguarded by medical technology and procedures.

4. Questions to consider:
- Does environment matter?
- Is there value in minimal interventions?
-Is natural birth, realistic for many women?
-Does controlling pain medication lead to greater satisfaction?
- Is actively managing labor and birth in generally the best policy?

DID YOU KNOW???

1. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women (heart attacks and strokes).

2. The fastest growing rates of CVD are in females ages 45 to 64.

3. Early menopause (before the age of 45) is a risk factor.

4. Female rates of cardiovascular disease significantly increase after menopause due to loss of estrogen.

5. There’s a link between hot flashes (Vasomotor symptoms ) and risk for CVD.
- More than six episodes in a two week period of time or more persistent, going on for more than five years.
- Association with risk does not mean causation, but additional screening is appropriate, and reduction of other risk factors also are important (blood pressure management, lipids, smoking, etc.)

6. Noticing changes in lipid profile with menopause.
- increase visceral, fat and changes in fat distribution can affect cardiovascular risk.

7. Considering cardiovascular disease risk in females, complications in pregnancy need to be considered:
- Pregnancy complications such as gestational, diabetes and pregnancy induced hypertension, or pre-eclampsia are associated with later life risks for type two diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

8. Longevity was significantly higher in…
- Woman with later age at firstchild birth (those 25 years and older at first birth were more likely to live to age 90)
- White women with 2 to 4 pregnancies compared to one term pregnancy but not black women.

We had so much fun at the community resource fair today in Albany. Thank you to all who came out to see us!

Come visit us in Albany TOMORROW at the Community Resource Fair from 9am to 12pm.

August is National Breastfeeding month. Join us in a month of celebrating and supporting breastfeeding.

The menopause transition deserves to be honored and those experiencing it need to be heard and cared for. This work is so important. Today reinforced for me that this is my work and that this work truly matters.

Happy Mother’s Day, from our team to you!

Join the celebration!! 8 years ago we opened our doors and started this joyous adventure. Join in the festivities!! Come celebrate from 4-6 PM. May 1, 2016 - our birthing day.

Early ultrasounds, performed in the first trimester of pregnancy (weeks 7-12), are an effective way to confirm viability of a pregnancy and establish a due date.

They are recommended even when someone knows their last menstrual period.

Give us a call to schedule at (541) 286-4030. We accept all major insurance plans.

Join us to celebrate the Corvallis Birth & Wellness Center’s 8th “birthday” with an anniversary celebration on May 1st, 2024 from 4pm-6pm!

We’ll have snacks, cake, sidewalk chalk, face paint, and great company. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

How do you view pain in labor? Why do people desire unmedicated birth and view it as important? The information on these slides is from my unpublished doctoral research entitled, “Psychological Birth; Understanding why women choose physiologic birth and what supports the choice”. In this research I asked two simple, yet complicated, questions. 1) Why choose unmedicated birth? 2) What supports the choice of unmedicated birth? The summary of the results of the first question are on these slides. While this research was conducted 13 years ago, the results ring true for what we see today in our practice.
The second question, what supports the choice of unmedicated birth, is what has resulted in the creation of Corvallis Birth and Wellness Center. People need a place, an environment, and practitioners, who support their choice and believe in their innate ability to birth.

Why receive your care ?  We are an independently owned and operated Birth Center practice.  We offer complete, individualized and professional Midwifery care throughout your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience. 

Give us a call at (541) 286-4030. We accept all major insurance plans.

At your next visit, please try our lending library!

We invite our clients to enjoy our books on fertility, pregnancy, birth, breast/chestfeeding, parenting, pelvic health, menopause, and more!

Books can be checked out with the front desk

Celebrate International Women’s Day!! To truly include women means to openly embrace their diversity of race, age, ability, faith, body image, and how they identify. Worldwide, women must be included in all fields of endeavor, and health care through the life span is a human right.
Women are half the population. Isn’t their health important? Reproductive health, including location of birth, health care access, and information about one’s own body is essential. Puberty, pregnancy and childbirth for those who choose it, and menopause are dynamic and import phases of life and the hormonal life cycle. Assess to care, respect, informed consent, and support for research is essential for all humans.

Just finished our 6 week workshop, the “Period of Transition”. Learning about menopause. Such important information, conversation, and sharing. Thank you all for participating. Keep learning and talking!! There is wisdom in aging. There is growth in sharing and community. More workshops to come. Join us!!!

It is with great joy and pleasure that I announce the newest member of our team , Ali Paul, CNM. One of the greatest joys of creating our Birth Center, and being in practice as long as I have, is seeing this next generation of midwives and practitioners coming into being. To be able to sharing my wisdom and experience with those new to the practice of midwifery and share these new up and coming stars of our profession with the community I love. I met Ali in 2015 when her father asked me to talk to his daughter, who wanted to be a midwife. After meeting Ali, she then volunteered with our practice in the very beginning - helping to put together furniture and set up the birth center in the days leading to the opening of Corvallis Birth and Women’s Health center in 2016. Ali then went off get her RN and to graduate school to now hold the title of Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. I am incredibly proud of Ali’s accomplishments and feeling immensely honored to be able to offer her a position with us . It feels like full circle and I feel like a proud mentor to have encouraged and supported Ali in her decision to join our profession. Our staff is amazing. I am truly honored and humbled every day by the work each and everyone one of them does, the dedication of everyone at our Center to the community, and to the individuals who trust us with their health, and their very lives and lives of the families. I am so proud of this team we have. Forgive me for this long dialogue but, adding Ali Paul to our staff feels like a full circle for our practice, and for me as the creator (and dare I say “mother”) of Corvallis Birth and Wellness Center. Creating this amazing place and practice was been one of the most challenging and fulfilling personal and profession accomplishments of my life and career. I am proud, honored, and grateful to this amazing staff and the work we do. I hope you will join me in welcoming Ali to our practice. With love and peace, Susan.

Upcoming events for our pregnant and postpartum clients!

we provide a safe and comfortable environment where your choices are honored and supported. Birth environment really does matter; and not only do we provide a lovely birthing environment, we are experts is natural physiologic birth.

Corvallis Birth & Wellness offers water or land birth. Your choice!!

“The Period of Transition”. Back by popular request, our second menopause workshop. If you are experiencing this transition, join us to learn about perimenopause and menopause. Learn what to expect and how to navigate the changes. Options for treatment, as well as ways to embrace these changes. Be part of the community of women aging, growing, changing and thriving. MENOPAUSE IS A TRANSITION. TALKING SBOUT MENOPAUSE IS AN ACT OF REBELLION. Join us in the rebellion. The main feedback we received after our first workshop was, we need MORE TIME. So, this workshop will be six weeks. Wednesday evening starting January 17, 2024. Let’s start the new year learning, growing, and transitioning together as we get older, wiser, and healthier. Limiting the group size so register by using the QR code on the flier or this link: https://adept-knitter-1359.ck.page/36d878e86e.

Strength training is important your whole life, but as we age muscle mass decreases and it becomes even more important. Some light free weights, resistance bands, or body weight exercises help to increase muscle mass and thus help with bone health as well. Strength training is good for your body AND your brain.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays as It is a time to reflect on the blessings in my life. Starting Corvallis Birth & Wellness Center was an dream of mine and an act of faith that we would find a place in this community, and belief that we can provide unique and valued care to all we serve. There have been many challenges along the way but at this time of year, I can’t help but reflect on my gratitude for what I’ve had the privilege to build with the support and devotion of an amazing team and our cherished community.

I want to send a heartfelt thank you to all who have entered our doors and trusted us with your most precious moments in your lives; with your health and the health and care of those you love. And to the amazing team of providers, midwives, and office staff you have my never ending respect and admiration. This has been and amazing journey, and a dream come true. Thank you. With love and peace always, Susan

we offer a safe, comfortable environment that encourages and supports the birthing process. And supporting unmedicated birth is what we do. We are experts in supporting spontaneous, unmedicated birth. Come meet us and check out our birth center. Call for a free “meet and greet” visit or come to our open house the second Tuesday of each month.

Just completed our first menopause workshop, “the Period of Transition”. It was a wonderful group and a great experience. Thank you all who came for your trust and participation, and suggestions for our next workshop. Coming soon in 2024, the next workshop will be longer, 6 weeks. Look for info soon about specific dates, to start mid January. So excited to be doing this important work.

Why receive your care ?  We are an independently owned and operated Birth Center practice.  We offer complete, individualized and professional Midwifery care throughout your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience. 

We accept and are in network with all major insurance companies.  

* Do you like the idea of receiving your prenatal care in the same comfortable environment where you will give birth? 

* Do you want to have supportive care during your labor and birth experience from providers who truly understand physiologic, unmedicated birth, and who know you and you know?

* Do you want to birth in an environment where you have freedom to move and be comfortable?

* Do you want water birth or birth in positions that feel natural and spontaneous to you? 

* Do you want to receive home visits after the birth of your child with newborn care in your home, support for breastfeeding, and care and support during these precious new days with your baby?

* Is informed consent and participation in your health care important to you? 

If these ideas are important to you, and this care sounds like what you want or need, come and meet us and see our special place.  We offer a free “meet and greet” visit to tour and ask your questions, and have an open house on the second Tuesday of each month.  Come see what care looks olike.  Check us out at Corvallisbirthcenter.com. 

We’d love to share our home with you!

Another amazing group at our in person childbirth class. So happy to be using our community room again. Thank you Emily for being our amazing childbirth educator.

World Menopause Day! A day of raising awareness, breaking the silence and stigma associated with menstruation, perimenopause and menopause. Today we celebrate and honor those experiencing this transition and recognize the importance of offering support and improving the health and well-being of those experiencing menopause. It’s time to shout out for menopause. Menopause is a transition, talking about menopause is an act of rebellion. Join the rebellion. Celebrate.

Excited to announce our first menopause workshop; The “Period of transition”. If you are experiencing this transition, join us to learn about perimenopause and menopause. Learn what to expect and how to navigate the changes. Options for treatment, as well as ways to embrace these changes. Be part of the community of women aging, growing, changing and thriving. MENOPAUSE IS A TRANSITION. TALKING SBOUT MENOPAUSE IS AN ACT OF REBELLION. Join us in the rebellion. Four Wednesdays in October starting October 4th. Limiting group size so register now at https://adept-knitter-1359.ck.page/perimenopause-workshop.

It’s wellness Wednesday . V***a and vaginal changes can occur due to diminishing estrogen during the transition into menopause and beyond. This is know as genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). What many people do not realize is that this change is often seen, but often ignored or untreated, post partum as well, especially with lactation. If you are experiencing pain or decreased lubrication during these times, know you are not alone and there are options. Call for an evaluation. wellness