Frequently Asked Questions
Fees for Midwifery Care
Our global fee for midwifery care is $6000, and includes all your prenatal appointments and standard lab tests such as blood draws, infection swabs, and Pap screening, the birth and care immediately after, the birth assistant fee, and all your postpartum appointments. It does not include the birth supply kit, ultrasounds, or extra labs that could be needed. The fee is due in its entirety at no later than 36 weeks of pregnancy. Care will be terminated/transferred to another provider if it is not paid in full by this time.
We are able to give a limited number of clients a year on TennCare a $1000 discount. This is largely made possible by our Equity Fund. If you have access to wealth and want low income members of the community to have access to homebirth, we would love it if you contribute. You can donate here: Equity Fund.
Do you accept insurance?
We accept HSA and FSA payments, and are able to offer a super bill or global bill at the end of our services for clients seeking reimbursement from their insurance. However, at this time other insurance payouts to healthcare providers do not cover the cost of our care, or allow for spending adequate time with each client during prenatal appointments. This is a reflection of the priorities of insurance companies and healthcare system, and its attitude toward family-centered and individualized midwifery care. We will be overjoyed to accept insurance when this changes, as we wish to be accessible to everyone. We believe out-of-hospital midwifery care should be available to anyone with a low-risk pregnancy who desires it, and we also must support ourselves and our families in order to continue this work.
A hospital birth in Nashville and surrounding areas costs anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000, and at times more. Our global fee is far below this range, and steeply discounted compared to the total we get when we itemize all aspects of our care and add them together. As a small practice, Maypop has limited its income to the lowest possible amount needed in order to remain sustainable.
If your insurance will reimburse you or partially reimburse you for out-of-hospital birth, we will provide you a super bill to submit to them at the end of your care. We cannot speak directly with your insurance or negotiate with them, as this takes away from our time providing needed care to our clients and our families.
Is homebirth safe?
Homebirth is a safe option for pregnant people giving birth at term, without complications of pregnancy, and attended to by a professional midwife. For families who are at higher risk of experiencing complications in pregnancy or birth, the hospital is a more appropriate option. To learn more about homebirth safety, please see the following studies:
Outcomes of planned homebirth with CPMs in North America
Midwives are trained to handle emergencies that can happen in the home setting, such as excessive bleeding right after birth, or helping a baby breathe who is having trouble transitioning. We carry the same medications used in birth centers and hospitals to treat bleeding immediately after birth, are certified in Neonatal Resuscitation, and carry equipment for resuscitation. We are also trained to recognize when labor is veering outside of “normal,” and would benefit from a transfer. Transfers to the hospital are not common, but are a successful use of tools and resources. The vast majority of transfers from home to hospital are not emergent, but due to a laboring mom/parent nearing clinical exhaustion, and needing pain management from the hospital in order to rest.
What are the benefits of homebirth?
Parents who have planned home births have lower rates of interventions such as epidural or Pitocin (4.5%) compared to those in the hospital, where 67% use an epidural and 26% have Pitocin augmentation. The national average of cesarean birth is 37%, whereas those with planned homebirths average at only 5.7%. There is also a much higher success rate for vaginal birth after cesarean in planned homebirths with professional midwives than in the hospital. Fewer babies are born premature under homebirth midwifery care: 97% are carried to term and weigh on average eight pounds at birth. 1% of babies need to transfer to the hospital after birth, and most of these transfers are for non-urgent issues.
These statistics are from the most recent research on planned homebirth in the United States, Outcomes of care for 16,924 planned home births in the United States: the Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project, 2004 to 2009.
The Midwifery Model of Care includes practices such as personalized care and evidence based care to yield the above outcomes, as well as continuity with the same midwife or small group throughout your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We take time for education and counseling in each of our appointments to help you build your confidence and prepare you for birth and parenting. We work around you and come to your home in labor, the place you hopefully feel safest and most at ease. You are in the position of authority in your own space, free to move and eat and be as you please, with whom you please. The Midwifery Model of Care also includes much more attention and care during the postpartum time, with multiple visits between your baby’s birth and six weeks of life. We are there to provide you with the support and information you need to heal after birth, establish a lasting breast/chestfeeding relationship if you so choose, and help your baby to thrive.