^{Congratulations! Pregnancy and the birth of your baby are extraordinary life experiences full of profound transformation. You deserve excellent care and support.}

^{Maitri Midwifery offers compassionate, holistic midwifery care in South San Francisco Bay area/ Silicon Valley/ San Jose, California. Please contact Maitri Midwifery to learn more about homebirth midwifery care, waterbirth, VBAC, gentle, empowering well-woman gynecological care, dual midwifery care for mamas birthing in the hospital, doula monitrice care, and professional placenta preparation.}

^{At Maitri Midwifery, it's all about the quality of care- high quality, evidence-based, compassionate, respectful, empowering, individualized, gentle care for you and your baby.}

^{What does Maitri mean?}

^{More than just a name, Maitri is a philosophy.} 

^{Maitri Midwifery's Philosophy of Care}

^{~ I believe deeply in the ancient wisdom of undisturbed birth. Human beings exist as a species because the natural process of pregnancy, labor and birth is innately biologically perfect. Women's bodies are perfectly designed to give birth.}

^{~Birth is a profound journey in a woman's life preparing her for motherhood. Birth is a challenging transition and the passage through labor and birth changes a woman profoundly, instilling in her a primal wisdom and rendering her a mother.}

^{~Birth is deeply important and the birth experience is intrinsically valuable for mother and baby. The physical, physiological, emotional and spiritual process of natural birth lays a critical groundwork preparing a woman for motherhood, a couple for parenthood and a baby for a healthy extrauterine life.}

^{~I believe deeply in the oneness of mother and child. The mother-baby dyad is a mutually-dependent, attached unit, harmoniously inseparable. What is good for the baby is good for the mother and, likewise, what is good for the mother is good for the baby.}

 ^{~Love and joy, ecstacy and bliss are the  nourishment of the human spirit. Pregnancy and birth are an act of love. The hormones of mothering and love are those of  conception, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Love and joy are a critical part of pregnancy, birth, attachment and breastfeeding.} 

^{~Each woman is unique, each birth is unique and each baby is unique. Birth is a dynamic unfolding. In honoring the unique experience of each birth, the shifts and changes during the process and the mother's experience of the process, I am dedicated to providing unconditional support and unwavering presence. Every mother deserves compassion, support, flexibility. Every mother in every circumstance needs to be heard and honored and have her needs and wishes respected.}

^{~I believe that the Midwives Model of Care is the optimal way to nurture health and wellbeing in the childbearing year, and to provide care for pregnant mothers and their babies. I conduct my care of pregnant and birthing women with respect, honesty and reverence for the sacredness of birth.} 

copyright Jacque Shannon-McNulty 2008-2013, all rights reserved, please ask permission before excerpting or using any part of this publication