Frequently Asked Questions
Do you accept insurance?
The short answer is YES! Most PPOs will cover home birth midwifery services, however, nothing is guaranteed. Insurance billing is done as a courtesy at the completion of care (six week postpartum visit), as a means of getting my client reimbursed (my goal is always fully reimbursed, but it doesn’t always happen.) The following link is the most helpful resource I have found thus far for ensuring your success in being reimbursed.
Do you bring any equipment to births?
Absolutely. My birth bag is full of all kinds of stuff! I bring equipment for routine monitoring of both Mom and baby; blood pressure, temperature, urinalysis sticks, doppler for intermittent fetal heart rate monitoring, etc. Some emergency equipment I bring includes: oxygen tank equipped with resuscitation gear for both Mom and baby, pulse oximeter, anti-hemorrhagic medications, suturing kit as well as numbing medication, urinary catheters, IV supplies, and neonatal suctioning. Since we only care for women who are “low-risk” and strive to support them in staying that way, it is not often that we have to utilize emergency equipment. In order to maintain our emergency skills, we renew our NRP (neonatal resuscitation) and CPR certificates every two years and frequent emergency skills practice sessions with other local birth workers.
What is the difference between a doula and a midwife?
This is definitely a frequently asked question! Doulas are amazing and are there to serve the pregnant woman as a non-medical professional. They specialize in supporting women through all aspects of pregnancy, labor/birth, and postpartum. Midwives are medical professionals who provide prenatal, birth, and postpartum care. We are also able to provide well-woman care such as Pap smears, clinical breast exams, routine blood work, and pre conception and/or contraceptive counseling.
How does midwifery care differ from traditional OB care?
There is such a vast difference, it might be easier to start off with how we’re similar. We are both maternity care providers and typically follow the same schedule of frequency of prenatal visits, i.e., every four weeks until 28 weeks, then every two weeks until 36 weeks, then every week until birth. OBs are surgeons who rarely experience normal, physiologic birth. Midwives specialize in normal birth. We spend an average of 45 minutes to an hour with our clients during our prenatal visits, whereas, you’d be lucky to get 5-10 minutes with an OB. We spend so much time throughout pregnancy discussing nutrition, exercise, fears, birth plans, etc. So much of midwifery is building connection with our clients and I can definitely say most clients remain friends long after we catch their babies.
Have a question you’d like answered by a midwife?
Feel free to submit a message using the contact form here. You are sure to receive a response within 48 hours.