Active Birth Unit
Mowbray Maternity Hospital, Cape Town

The following letter was sent by our community board member and representative to all the GP's in our region.

Subject: Private midwives in the Cape

Dear Doctor,

The purpose of this email is to provide you with information about the availability of private midwifery practices in the Cape, which is otherwise difficult for many GPs and patients to access.

As a lay person, I am an active volunteer member of the board of the Active Birth Unit at Mowbray Maternity Hospital (http://activebirth.za.org). As a father, I have experienced the joy of natural childbirth as well as an emergency caesarean caused by brow presentation.

Midwife-led care for pregnant women and babies is a safe, effective, low-cost option that many more patients may choose if information is more widely available. Cape Town has an experienced group of private midwives in well-established practices, who are able to provide a personal, highly professional service to women during pregnancy, delivery and early babyhood.

Midwifery is grounded in the belief that having a baby is a natural life process that requires high levels of medical intervention only in unusual cases. Midwifery is traditionally holistic, combining an understanding of the social, psychological, spiritual, psychological and physical aspects of a woman's reproductive experience. Midwives promote wellness in women, babies and families both in their own right and in collaboration with other health care professionals.

Some advantages of midwife-led care include:

  • A midwife stays with her patient throughout labour and birth. The support of a familiar and trusted figure is tremendously reassuring to the mother and can help to minimise unnecessary medical interventions.
  • Midwives will promote early bonding between mother and child, which contributes to higher rates of successful breastfeeding.
  • A midwife will conduct home visits during the days after the birth to check up on the wellbeing of both mother and baby.
  • A midwife will respect the preferences of her patient, but will not hesitate to refer either mother or baby to another professional if she judges this to be in their best interests.

Midwifery is a partnership, based on mutual respect, between a midwife and her patient. The mother is placed at the centre of the childbirth experience, with many benefits for her own well-being and that of her baby.

While birth and pregnancy don't always go as desired and planned, a midwife who is registered with the Active Birth Unit can be trusted to have the best interests of her patients - including mother and baby - and the patient's family in mind at all times. The following midwives are regularly reviewed by the Active Birth Unit in partnership with Mowbray Maternity Hospital.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Alan

The following list contains those private midwifes that have been accredited to use the ABU:

Midwives Inc. - 021 465 0346

  • Joy McPherson - - 082 5571790
  • Louette Van Kraayenburg - - 083 302 8306
  • Susan Lees - - 082 321 0177
  • Ingrid Essl - - 083 525 4882

    Birth Options - 021 762 4138

  • Kate Christie - - 082 894 5934
  • Glynnis Garrod - - 082 894 5934
  • Jenny Visser - - 082 508 5842

    Individual practice

  • Karen Clarke - - 082 639 5954 - 021 782 3764
  • Ciska van Straten - - 073 452 0952 - 021 447 6684
  • Marianne Littlejohn - Birthrite - - 082 498 7622 - 021 447 4143 Back to the home page
    • for more information contact:
    Active Birth Unit - Mowbray Maternity Hospital
    Private Bag, Mowbray, 7705, South Africa
    tel: +27 21 685 3026  fax: +27 21 685 2991
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    Copyright 2003 Mowbray Active Birth Unit