Home Birth Midwife in Chestnut Hill & Northwest Philadelphia
Chestnut Hill isn't quite the city. It's not quite the suburbs either.
It's the kind of place where people know their neighbors, choose the independent shop over the chain, and make deliberate decisions about how they want to live.
More families here are making a deliberate decision about how they want to give birth.
Cardinal Birth Midwifery serves families in Chestnut Hill and across Northwest Philadelphia. We come to you — experienced, prepared, and clear about one thing: this is your birth, not ours.
Our services
Traditional Home Birth Midwifery
Full scope. In your home. In the city.
Prenatal care — in-home visits, pregnancy monitoring, lab access, informed conversation
Birth attendance — with you through labor, delivery, and the hours that follow
Postpartum and newborn support — home visits, breastfeeding guidance, newborn observation, maternal recovery
Birth certificate and Social Security card filing
Water birth support and traditional placenta preparation available
Birth Advocacy
We are a midwifery practice and an advocacy group.
Informed consent. Bodily autonomy. The right to make your own decisions in the hospital, at home, or anywhere in between.
We give you the resources and the backbone to exercise those rights.
Functional Wellness
Preconception through postpartum.
Natural fertility guidance, holistic nutrition, breastfeeding support grounded in evidence and tradition.
ABOUT ABIGAIL IOVINE
Learn more about Abigail on our About Abigail page.
Quiet streets, big families, same steady care.
Chestnut Hill sits at the northwest edge of Philadelphia, along Germantown Avenue and beside Wissahickon Valley Park, with the Montgomery County community of Flourtown just over the line. Mt. Airy and Roxborough are nearby neighborhoods. It is a mix of older homes, shops, and green space. We bring traditional midwifery care to your home: prenatal visits, birth attendance, and postpartum and newborn visits.
Whether this is your first baby or your fifth, and whether you homeschool or not, you will be treated as the lead in your care. Children are welcome at visits and at the birth. Your home visit covers access, parking, and where the birth space will be. We also plan for the drive from Stroudsburg. Consults by phone or video are free.
Why Northwest Philly families call us
Stone twins on Germantown Avenue. Old houses in Mt. Airy with steep stairs and small bathrooms. Roomier homes out toward Wyndmoor and Flourtown. None of it rules out a home birth.
Families here tend to read everything, ask hard questions, and want a midwife who answers them straight. That's the job. Prenatal visits are in your home and unhurried. Your decisions stay yours, including informed refusal. We attend your birth and come back for postpartum and newborn visits.
We also plan for the unexpected. Before labor, we identify the nearest appropriate hospital and walk your family through how a transfer would work. See nearby hospitals, blood banks, and EMS on our Safe Passages map.
On Legal Status in Pennsylvania
Cardinal Birth is a traditional midwifery practice. Not state-licensed. Our work is rooted in faith, education, and tradition.
Pennsylvania's legal landscape for traditional midwives is complicated and, frankly, contradictory. I write about it openly on my Substack. We discuss it openly with every family we serve.
Every family has the right to choose who attends their birth. We stand behind that completely.
Where we serve
Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown, East Falls, Roxborough, Manayunk, Andorra, Wyndmoor, Flourtown, Erdenheim and Lafayette Hill.
Nearby areas we also serve: Philadelphia · Montgomery County · Main Line
READY TO TALK?
Schedule a free call. No pressure. Just a conversation about your birth, your family, and whether Cardinal Birth is the right fit.
✉ cardinalbirth@gmail.com