When we give birth we find the inner strength and the ability to follow our nature and trust our feminine powers

IMAHI was established with the basic concept of freedom of choice regarding birth. This includes the place of birth, the manner of birth and the mother’s ability to choose her caregivers. These are are the fundamental right of the birthing mother and are enshrined in the Basic Law: "Human Dignity and Liberty". For healthy women, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding are natural processes. In cases of a healthy pregnancy, midwifery check-ups are sufficient to identify early signs of complications. To ensure best outcomes the mother is provided with a supportive and familiar environment, education, encouragement and love.

Our worldview

The Home Birth Midwifery Association in Israel – IMAHI, was established in 2000 by qualified and experienced midwives, who specialised in accompanying women during pregnancy and birth and in supporting the mother and her family after the birth. We have a professional license from the Ministry of Health in Israel and work under the protocols of the Ministry of Health.

The organization works to promote the professional development of home birth midwives and serves as a support group and a resource of knowledge for midwives. We promote the rights of women who give birth at home. Each of us, in our own way, helps create a conceptual and practical change for the progress of childbirth in Israel .

We base our work on findings and evidence from recent studies that have proven that childbirth, for healthy, low-risk women, is a natural phenomenon that usually ends in happy results. The midwife's role is to monitor and accompany the pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, in order to identify early signs of complications, to avoid as much as possible intervention in the process and to allow a supportive environment with encouragement and love.

We believe that:

• At home, there is an optimal environment for natural childbirth that allows the birth process to unfold at a pace appropriate for the mother and the fetus. Natural childbirth under optimal physiological conditions allows birth hormones to flow uninterrupted and harmoniously, leading to a chain of psychophysiological processes shaped by a million-year-old evolution.
• It is the right of every mother to choose based on well-founded, up-to-date and reliable information where she will give birth, who will be her caregivers and how she prefers to give birth.
• Giving birth is a formative experience for the newborn, and the way they meet the world and their parents has a profound impact.
• Continuous support for a pregnant woman, during childbirth and breastfeeding, by a midwife chosen by the mother, promotes the health of the mother and the newborn.
• It is the duty of the State of Israel (Ministry of Health, National Insurance Institute) to provide the necessary conditions for childbirth in the community as is given to mothers in hospitals, in terms of access to knowledge, funding for the birth and access to midwives. In addition, it is the duty of the State of Israel to ensure adequate insurance for homebirth midwives.

Our guiding values:

• Our work is based on the principles of the midwifery paradigm
• Evidence-based professional work

Open and respectful empathic communication based on trust, integrity and transparency