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 in the community setting is a model of care that is appropriate for those who are low risk, health conscious, and 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.

***Our service range is up to 35 miles (or 1 hour) from Cherry Hill NJ 08002.

Do you accept insurance?

We are a self/cash-pay practice. We are open to serving families with Health Sharing Plans, such as Samaritan Ministries, 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. ** Please check with your health share first, as some will not cover CPMs in Pennsylvania.

We do not cooperate or communicate with insurance companies, and we are not equipped to determine if your insurance reimburses for midwifery care or homebirth in general, or homebirth with a CPM.

If you would like to work this out with your insurer, you may do so, but unfortunately we are unable to assist with this, and direct payment will be required in order to establish care.

What is the cost of care?

Our standard midwifery care package includes all prenatal care visits, mirroring the standard “obstetric” prenatal visit timeline. This includes all important lab work, and ultrasounds, as well as 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 through 4 weeks, office visits through 6-8 weeks, as well as in-home lactation support.

The total fee is $6800, which is due in full by 37 weeks of pregnancy (earliest we can attend birth at home, and go on call for you). Your 10% retainer fee is due at the first prenatal visit. Discounts available for early payment, 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, supplements such as Oral Vitamin K Drops, or other recommended supplements, which are not standard/routine, and are ordered separately, when needed (iron, magnesium, etc). Your insurance will be billed for routine lab-work, ultrasounds, etc.

Note: You are responsible for understanding your unique insurance coverage, and may have to meet a deductible or have a co-pay, which Motherly Love has no knowledge of, or participation in. We are not able to communicate with insurance companies on your behalf, and all billing to your insurance goes directly through the company which is requiring payment (lab, ultrasound service, etc.)

Check, Cash, and Zelle accepted. Discounts offered for early payment. Payment plans and other financing 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 in the pregnancy?

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 remains 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. Prenatal visits are only a small percentage of the total fee. Additionally, the majority 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.”

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!

Note: Motherly Love Midwifery accepts late transfers up to 28 weeks of pregnancy, with prior care and completed anatomy scan.

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, and committed to remaining so. “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 family 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. Each family 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.

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. We do not feel that this a wise approach, and it can lead to a situation which becomes uncomfortable and unsafe for everyone involved. We work best with couples/families who are aligned in their values, desire to be active participants in the decision-making process, and are fully committed to taking responsibility for their health, preparation, and choices.

If you feel that you have to come up with a plan to convince your support people to trust your choices, have a tendency to people-please, and override your own intuition and wishes in order to keep the peace within your family… or if you worry that a family-member may disturb your stability or create chaos for you at any time throughout the pregnancy, birth, postpartum time — I am deeply sorry, that we are not going to be the right match for you. Maternal intuition is an important element of having a safe and healthy experience, and overriding this would interfere with that safety.

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

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 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 receive a birth pool, which is loaned out by Motherly Love at no extra cost to you. However, you will 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.

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.

In an emergency event, we will transport to the closest hospital.

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.

In a non-urgent transport situation, you may have some leeway in where you would prefer to transport, although we will make recommendations that align with your wishes, such as midwife-to-midwife transfer.

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, and breastfeeding support, unless you opt out.

We will go over your options in depth, and create a formal “Transport Plan” by the time we go on-call for your birth, so that everything is decided on in advance, and our plan is in place.

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, and 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, utilizing different labor positions, comfort tools, and offer 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, before you are ready for your Midwife to arrive.

Sometimes a couple will need more physical support than they originally anticipated, well before you invite your Midwife team.

We recommend Doula support to all of our families, regardless of whether this is your 1st birth or your 4th. If you have already had an unmedicated birth, you may choose to forego doula support, and this is an understandable choice.

However, since first-timers are more likely to transport to the hospital for maternal exhaustion, lack of support, and/or seeking a higher level of pain relief options, we do require those who have never given birth before to hire a birth doula during the pregnancy, to create a solid support plan for early labor, and to take a thorough, independent childbirth education class geared toward home birth, or physiologic birth. Not only does this improve your support and comfort level, and enhance your overall experience, but it lowers the chance of an elective (non-medical) home-to-hospital transport during labor.

Having been a Birth Doula myself, for a decade before becoming a Midwife, I understand the value and impact, and would not birth without one myself regardless of whether it was my 1st or 5th baby. Besides, we 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.

Can I have a water birth?

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 rare 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 make any guarantees.

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, unstable, 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. 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 at no extra cost.

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

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.