A midwife in Buffalo tells 7 Eyewitness News that the demand for her services is forcing her to find a new office, just over a year after starting her practice.
Fika Midwifery opened on Delaware Avenue in August 2017, and within the year, owner Maura Winkler has brought on another midwife.
They both deliver about 8-10 babies each month.
Her space is too small, and she says her mothers are looking for a little something more in a practice.
“We are actually looking for a place where our clients can labor and give birth that isn’t the hospital and isn’t necessarily their own home.”
Winkler says that mothers may not want to give birth in their own homes for a variety of reasons - they might be renting, or have older children at home they don’t want present for a birth, or maybe live with family.
Regardless, Fika Midwifery is working to create a space where birthing is convenient and caring.
Midwifery is a holistic approach to birthing.
“Things like going into labor on your own, having support for what helps labor to go smoothly things like darkness, freedom of movement.”
Services are provided for what she says are “healthy” mothers, “that means women who don’t have chronic medical conditions, things like high blood pressure or diabetes would exclude women from our care.”
Winkler says that of the nearly 2 dozen hospitals in Western New York, none offer a midwifery training program.
She claims that limits birthing options for mothers.
Her practice put in a proposition to transform the old Coit House in Buffalo to the new practice.
It wouldn’t be a “birthing center” exactly…
“Birth centers in New York state are regulated by article 28, and that comes with a lot of restrictions that would actually be impossible in a very old house like that.”
If approved, it will be home to the practice’s offices, and one or two rooms for birthing.
Email Madison at madison.carter@wkbw.com, and keep up with her latest posts and stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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