Expectant parents are often overwhelmed by the many decisions they must make as they prepare for the birth of a child.

The pregnancy journey generally starts with prenatal care, and in Limestone County, options are fairly limited. As of today, there are only two practicing obstetricians and a handful of midwives who extend prenatal care to women in the area. Dr. Belinda Maples, a family medicine practitioner, includes obstetric care at her practice, Athens Primary Care Associates.

She is accepting OB patients and honors most insurances, including Medicaid for her OB patients only. Her office is located at 108 Sanders St.

Dr. Oliver Carlota and his wife, Amy Carlota, CRNP, of Carlota Obstetrics, have been taking care of area moms for the last 20 years. The couple provides comprehensive prenatal care to expectant moms and specializes in normal to high-risk pregnancies. They welcome women who seek more natural birthing options and note many of their patients write their own birth plans.

A birth plan contains a list of a mother’s expectations during the labor and delivery of her child.

Carlota Obstetrics, located at 1005 W. Market St. in Athens, accepts most private medical insurances and Medicaid. They do not accept Medicare. Patients often choose the Carlotas because of their reputation for personalized care.

“I think a large segment of women prefer to get to know their provider and know who is going to delivery their baby,” he said, “as opposed to wondering who is going to show up at the hospital.”

Last year, Dr. Carlota estimates that he delivered 150–175 babies.

The only other OB-GYN clinic in the area is Valley Women’s Center, located at 22335 U.S. 72, Suite C. The clinic consists of Laura Stewart, family nurse practitioner; Dr. Martha Mclaughlin, OB-GYN; and Dr. Sharon Bush-Coaxum, who is in the process of joining the practice. They are currently accepting patients and take most insurances, including Medicaid and Medicare.

The doctors at Valley Women’s Center work with a full range of patients, including those who are considered high-risk. They only deliver at Athens-Limestone Hospital.

Last year, a little more than 5 percent of Limestone County women gave birth. Four-hundred and seventy of them chose to do it at Athens-Limestone Hospital’s Baby Place, the only delivery facility in Limestone County.

Hospital spokesperson Felicia Lambert said the Baby Place “provides a continuity of care unmatched in larger facilities.” Expectant parents can sign up for childbirth and parenting classes led by Jill Adams. Once the baby is born, mothers who choose to breastfeed have access to two experienced lactation consultants, Glenni Lorick and Traci Bullock.

Lorick also heads an ongoing support group for breastfeeding moms after they are discharged.

“It’s all about building relationships that will last throughout life’s different milestones,” Lambert said of the hospital’s philosophy of practice.

For more information about any of the education classes offered by Athens-Limestone Hospital, contact the Mother-Baby unit at 256-233-9484.

In 2017, nearly 95 percent of the deliveries at Athens-Limestone Hospital were attended by a physician. However, a growing segment of Limestone County’s expectant mothers are turning to midwives to delivery their little ones.

A midwifery bill recently signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey will soon allow Certified Professional Midwives to attend home births.

In the interim, women who prefer a more natural birthing route must turn to women like Stacie Hunt and Karen Brock, both Certified Professional Midwives.

According to Hunt, she is currently taking care of about nine Athens women. They travel a little over an hour to her practice in St. Joseph, Tennessee, for their monthly prenatal appointments.

She said women under her care get the same testing and prenatal care they would get in a doctor’s office. She generally recommends that her patients see a consulting physician at least once during their pregnancy.

In the weeks leading up to the delivery, expectant parents who live in Alabama must rent a home in Tennessee where Hunt can legally tend to the birth.

Hunt delivered 84 babies last year. Of those births, only one had to be transferred to a hospital for an emergency Cesarean section. By contrast, 31 percent of births at Athens-Limestone hospital were C-section births.

The national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is 32 percent.

Hunt and her business partner, Laura McClure, bring resuscitation equipment, an IV setup and an anti-hemorrhaging kit to every home birth they attend.

Once CPM’s have the legal right to practice in Alabama, Hunt hopes that there will be enough demand in this area for her to open a clinic in Athens. For more information about Hunt’s practice, Whole Woman Midwifery, contact her at 931-629-5043 or visit her website at www.wholewomanwellnesscenter.com.

Brock, a CPM out of Cullman, has delivered babies since the mid-1980s. She is also accepting patients from Limestone County, but one day envisions a community midwife who will live in Athens and serve the many women who prefer to give birth in a home setting. Brock can be reached at 256-339-1893.