Philosophy of Care

Wholehearted care for your transformative journey into parenthood!

Why Thrive?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, thrive means:

1) to grow vigorously
2) to progress toward or realize a goal despite or because of circumstances

Thrive Midwifery is not just about meeting the basic needs for you and your family, it is also about thriving, about growing vigorously, about being nourished in just the right way for you and your baby to be all that you can be.   We recognize that the childbearing journey can be challenging, but when we feel connected, we build resilience to face those challenges.

Years ago, when midwifery first became regulated, there was not a lot of choice for midwifery practices. If you wanted a midwife, you went to the one practice that existed in your area. Thankfully, the desire for midwives has grown, and so have the number of midwifery practices; but with that perhaps came a different issue; how do you go about choosing a midwife?

One of the deepest beliefs that we have at Thrive Midwifery is that there will always be the right midwife for the right client.  Pregnancy can be a raw and vulnerable time; it’s so important to ensure that you have the best possible fit for you so that you can feel comfortable and at ease with your care provider.  We strive to bring to you our most authentic and genuine selves possible so that you can get to know us. To help you make your decision as to whether this midwifery practice is for you, here are some of our guiding principles:

1. We prioritize safety. At Thrive Midwifery, we are aware that you bring to us a range of past experiences, both positive and negative. Some of you may even have experienced enough negative experiences to feel like the world is not a safe place. Pregnancy is a new experience, and it is a dive into the unknown. This is something that is exciting for many, but it can also be scary. While there is much that we cannot know during the childbearing year, we do our best to create safety by having clear expectations, creating a welcoming space, providing clear information, and by acknowledging and understanding the role that previous experiences have had in shaping how you interact with the world.

2. We create opportunities for choice and connection. We firmly believe that choice is more than about having conversations about a variety of medical topics. We also believe that you can have a choice in how you wish to connect to your care-provider and what you would like your care to look like. We also believe that as care-providers we also have choice, which means the setting of appropriate boundaries in order to provide care that is optimal and compassionate for you.

3. We focus on building skills and fostering resiliency. After being part of the childbearing journey for hundreds of families, there is much that we know to be true. We know that people have an inner core of tremendous strength. We know that in every journey, there will be moments of doubt, fear, courage, and faith; in those moments of doubt and fear, it is not medical information that is helpful. What is helpful is tapping into one’s inner resources and receiving present, consistent support. With the right support, parents can build a mindset that is solution-focused instead of outcome-focused, and can create a story about their experience that is built on compassion and love for themselves. Such parents can and do find power in their childbearing experience.

4. We honour the entirety of your experience. The childbearing journey is transformative. The moment you became pregnant, whether this was a planned pregnancy that you’ve been wishing for for years, an unplanned pregnancy you were not hoping for, or even pregnant for a second, third or fourth time, you entered into another world, a world which you are unfamiliar with. With that unfamiliarity comes so many different emotions, and at Thrive Midwifery we honour them all. We also see the opportunity the childbearing journey can bring to learn more about how you interact with yourself, with others, and the world.

5. We celebrate diversity. At Thrive midwifery, we welcome all different types of families; not only do we look forward to tailoring your care to what you need, we also appreciate the opportunity to learn from you. We also honour the diversity of birth. Babies are born in many different ways, just as the families to whom those babies are born to will also all be different. For each family, the birth of their baby is a significant and life-changing time. What looks like family now, is not what it looked like before. It takes resilience, strength and determination to voyage through the uncharted territory that is the childbearing journey. In this video, you can see parents digging deep and finding courage and connection while bringing forth their new family.

6. We get real. Your beliefs about pregnancy, birth, and parenting started years before you became pregnant, and these beliefs led to expectations. Unmet expectations often lead to birth trauma. As such, we aim to keep things real and honest. We avoid cliches and outcome-focused thinking, and we do our best to prepare you for birth by creating realistic expectations of possible outcomes.

7. We do our own work too. Being a midwife is a rewarding as well as a challenging job. We recognize the importance of turning to our own support systems when needed to keep us compassionate, present, and safe. Being mindful and aware of our own biases, assumptions, and feelings is a top priority here at Thrive Midwifery.