Frequently Asked Questions

What services does Motherly Love Midwifery provide?

Motherly Love Midwifery offers complete midwifery care throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. This includes personalized prenatal visits, home birth attendance, extensive postpartum follow-up, breastfeeding support, and well-newborn care during the early weeks after birth. Midwifery care is model of care that is very specific to those who desire a more personalized and involved approach to the care they receive throughout their pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience.

Where do you attend births?

We primarily attend births in the comfort and privacy of your home. That is the goal for most. During our prenatal care visits, we will discuss what is most important to you, your vision for your birth space, your deeply held birth preferences, and any preparations needed to ensure a safe and supported home birth experience. At Motherly Love Midwifery, how you experience your care is a priority.

As CPM’s we do not attend hospital births as a primary care provider. If you or your baby require advanced monitoring or medical care at any time, due to a pre-existing or pregnancy-induced health condition, we would refer you to one of our trusted hospital-based care Midwives (or OBgyns), and our role would be supportive, moving forward.

Do you accept insurance?

We are primarily a self/cash-pay practice. We do serve clients with Health Sharing Plans, such as Samaritan Ministries, Zion, Liberty HealthShare, and Christian Healthcare Ministries. Depending on your plan, we can submit an estimated bill early in your care. In many cases, all of the costs associated with home birth are covered by these plans. We also accept HSA payments for certain installments.

What is the cost of care?

Our standard midwifery care package includes all prenatal care visits – mirroring the standard “obstetric” prenatal visit timeline exactly, including all important lab work, and ultrasounds – as well as personal phone/messaging access to your Midwife when needed, on-call availability, birth attendance (delivery), presence of an additional skilled trained birth attendant (RN/CPM/BA), immediate postpartum/newborn care, home postpartum and newborn care visits, extra office visits through 6-8 weeks, as well as lactation support.

The total fee is $6500, which is due in full by 36 weeks of pregnancy. Your 10% retainer fee is due at the first prenatal visit. If you come into care later in the pregnancy, your retainer will increase accordingly. Discounts for early payment in full, fellow birth workers, previous/current client-families of Northern Star Doula, and repeat clients of Motherly Love Midwifery.

The total fee does not include your birth kit fee, or individual client-specific medications such as Oral Vitamin K Drops, IV antibiotics or RhoGam injections as these are not standard/routine, and are ordered separately, when indicated. Your insurance should cover routine labwork, ultrasounds, etc.

If you are outside of our 40-mile/40-Minute service range, there will be additional travel fee incurred for those who prefer to have all home visits.

Check, Cash, and Zelle accepted. Payment plans and other options are available to help make home birth care accessible for families.

Is there a discount/reduced fee for switching to Motherly Love Midwifery later on

No, there are no reductions in the total fee for transferring later in the pregnancy. Regardless of when you come into care with Motherly Love Midwifery, the fee is the same. The total fee for care is based on the available monthly spaces, and the expenses required to maintain equipment, supplies, medications, skilled on-call birth assistants, and more. The prenatal visits are a small percentage of the total fee. Most of the visits occur mid-pregnancy through 6 weeks postpartum. Therefore, skipping the first few visits in early-mid pregnancy does not constitute a reduction in the total fee. In fact, there is often a significant amount of catching up that needs to happen, which doesn’t make things easier or make “less work” on our end. Please don’t hesitate to reach out as early as possible, and take advantage of the time we can spend getting to know each other and building a relationship. The time goes by so fast!

How far along must I be for my first prenatal visit?

Usually between 8-10 weeks of pregnancy. We may also decide to schedule one sooner!

Who can have a homebirth?

Homebirth is a reasonably safe option for those who are low-risk and healthy. “Low-Risk” is defined as someone, with no pre-existing or current health conditions, that which require medication to manage, or would make a birth at home unsafe, as well as those who are pregnant with a single, head-down baby, who births spontaneously between 37 and 42 weeks gestation. Obviously there are some outliers to the 37-42 week range, but only an extremely small percentage of women will need to consider this.

Questions of safety and risk are deeply personal—something each person must consider, no matter where they plan to birth. Every birth carries some level of risk. Giving birth at home or in a birth center involves a certain set of risks, just as giving birth in a hospital has its own risks. There are many layers to the risk discussion. Each person will have to decide for themselves how they will approach the risk/benefit discussion. What are your feelings around each set of risks? Your spouse’s? After careful consideration, which set of risks is most aligned with your values – Individually, and as a couple?

Please take your time, do your due diligence, and make the decision that feels right for you and your family. I am not here to sway you or your spouse, one way or another. While it can be common for a spouse to have some misgivings or concerns around planning for a home birth, Motherly Love Midwifery will not join in on any efforts to convince a spouse or family member to get onboard with a planning a home birth if they have expressed that they are against it.

Midwifery care applies a risk screening criteria throughout, in order to maintain safety. Open communication, relationship, trust, honesty, transparency, partnership, and preparation are essential to Midwifery care and the risk screening process.

Film:  Why Not Home

Article : Why Choose Homebirth

Study by The Lancet

MANA study

Study on Perinatal mortality and morbidity

Outcomes of planned home births

Outcomes of home births with CPMs in North America

ACOG Committee Opinion on Planned Home Birth April 2017

Note: In the state of New Jersey – Breech, Twins, and VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) are outside of the scope of a Licensed Midwife to attend outside of the hospital. This does not mean that you cannot have your birth at home, but it does mean that you may have some logistical legwork to do, if you are a NJ resident, and you are faced with any of these circumstances and still wish to birth outside of a hospital.

What supplies or equipment do you bring to the birth?

Midwives bring important medical equipment, supplies, herbs and medications to support a low-risk home birth, including items to perform basic routine monitoring of you and your baby’s vitals, as well as manage abnormal bleeding, or other emergencies should they arise. These include anti-hemorrhagic medications, neonatal resuscitation set-up, IV Fluids, Oxygen, and more. We rarely have to use these, but they are on hand just in case.

We tend to use herbs and other holistic tools first, before we move on to medication, though medications definitely have their place when the time calls for it! As crunchy as I may be, I will not hesitate to utilize them when it means saving a life, or preventing a negative outcome for mom and/or baby.

You’ll also purchase a small home birth kit with disposable, one-time-use items, which we’ll help you order in advance.

If you desire a water birth, you will also choose your preferred birth pool, which is loaned out by Motherly Love at no extra cost to you. However, you will have to purchase your own disposable pool liner, floor tarp, as well as a hose and adapter (if needed) at the same time you order your Birth Kit.

We have a Birth Pool in a Box Mini (white), a Tubina Wild (Original) and an Earthside to choose from – Check out the POOLS!

What happens if I need to transfer to a hospital?

Your safety and your baby’s safety are top priority.

If your risk level changes at any time during your labor, birth or postpartum, and a transfer becomes medically necessary, we will do the wise thing together, and make that shift. In extremely rare instances, we may need to activate Emergency Medical Services. Your midwife will accompany you and/or your baby to the hospital (either on the ambulance or in our own car, following behind you), where we will provide a thorough handoff and report to the receiving medical team. We will remain with you for continued support whenever possible.

If the transfer is initiated by the family, in order to access tools that are not available at home – such as an epidural – a discussion will be had around on-going support, and what that might look like moving forward.

Once you are discharged from the hospital and have returned home, we will resume our originally planned course of postpartum care, as well as well-newborn care, breastfeeding support, etc.

Do I also need a doula?

You may not need a doula, but I would be selling you short if I did not recommend one! The role of the doula is very different from that of Midwife. A Doula is specifically tuned in and able to completely focus on emotional, physical, and informational support – to help you and your spouse prepare for the act of childbirth, including comfort measures, logistical and practical support as well as coping skills. Doulas work closely with you both, and utilize labor positions, comfort tools, and other tips and tricks to reduce discomfort and anxiety throughout the process. A Doula will usually be the one to come to your home once labor starts to pick up, but before you are ready for your Midwife to come.

Sometimes a couple will need more physical support than they anticipated, which may be more than the Midwife is capable of providing especially if the labor is long. Midwives are focused on safety of Mom and Baby, and therefore attempt to conserve their own energy to remain sharp and ready and able to think critically, and act quickly during intense moments. We recommend Doula support to all of our families, and strongly urge first-timers to have a plan for early labor, to hire a doula early on the pregnancy, and take a thorough childbirth education class geared toward physiologic birth. Families who utilize a birth doula, will receive a discount.

I was a Birth Doula for a long time, understand the value and impact very personally, and would not birth without one myself. Besides, I know some GREAT ones! Just ask!

Do I also need an OB/Doctor?

If you hire a Midwife to provide the full course of Maternity care throughout pregnancy through postpartum, then no you do not need to see an OB Doctor regularly for prenatal visits, unless there is a need for consultation due to a pregnancy concern with you or baby. Or unless you prefer this, in which case I have some recommendations for you. Midwives are primary maternity care providers trained to support normal pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and the well newborn. If you feel more comfortable with Obstetric care, you may decide to see an OBGYN/CNM concurrently, with a plan to birth in the hospital. We support your choice. Motherly Love Midwifery is happy to provide referrals or initiate collaboration with higher level medical providers if/when needed or wanted. We are all in this together. Or at least we should be.

Can I have a water birth?

I sure hope you do, if that’s your wish! Many families choose to labor or give birth in water. You may use your own sanitized bathtub, use one of our pools, or rent/purchase a birth pool of your own choosing — and we’ll guide you through setup, use, and safety during your prenatal visits.

Note: There may be instances where birthing in the water may not be appropriate or safe, and we can speak about these in detail during consultation and visits. Midwives can only help you prepare for a water birth, support and cheer you on in your plan for a water birth – we cannot guarantee you one.

Who can be at my birth?

You’re welcome to invite anyone who helps you feel calm, loved, safe, and supported — your spouse, children, Doula, family members, or close friends. We’ll discuss your preferences and help create the peaceful environment you envision for your birth. Small children should have another carer, besides the spouse and doula present to provide continuous supervision and support.

Motherly Love Midwifery does not attend births at home where there are unsupportive, disruptive, or abusive persons present. No exceptions.

What kind of postpartum care do you provide?

Your care doesn’t end at birth. In fact, extended postpartum care may be even more important for some. There are many reasons why this may be the case. Regardless, the model of care we are educated under, provides for solid post-birth care for you and your baby. We will visit you at home multiple times during the first days and weeks postpartum to monitor recovery, breastfeeding, and newborn wellness, and perform all important newborn screenings such as the Metabolic Screen, The CCHD “Heart Screen” and Hearing Screen.

You’ll receive compassionate, individualized care in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Your baby’s birth certificate will also be filed.

How do I get started?

After you fill out the contact form, I will be in touch to schedule a consultation where you can learn more about midwifery care, home birth, water birth…. This visit is a wonderful opportunity to ask questions, discuss your goals, and see if Motherly Love Midwifery is the right fit for you and your family.