Cost

Investing in a safe, supported pregnancy, birth and postpartum period isn't as expensive as you might think, and it's worth more than you might imagine!

Midwifery package prices are given below, and here's what's included in them. It's a long list!

Education

One of the most important aspects of our care is helping you become more educated about the various different aspects of your care, so that you can make truly informed decisions about what you'd like to consent to, and what you'd like to refuse, as well as enabling you to make lifestyle changes that will help you become the healthiest (in mind and in body) that you can be.

Scheduling

We have group prenatal appointments available on weekday evenings and weekend mornings, allowing more folk to be able to attend at a time that fits in with their daily lives. We aim to book individual appointments between 9am and 3pm on weekdays whenever possible, but can plan appointments for evenings and weekends if you need us to. On occasion, we may need to reschedule an appointment for a client in labor, but we try very hard to never make you wait to see us.

Home Visits

Regardless of where you deliver, all postpartum appointments in the first 2 weeks after birth are offered in the comfort of your own home (NO cleaning required for our visits!). Of course, if you'd prefer to come to our center, you're more than welcome. Additionally, for those wanting a home birth, we have a home visit at around 36 weeks so that we can help with planning for your birthing space.

Supplies and Devices

If you've seen other midwives in the past, you might wonder what supplies we ask you to provide for birth. The answer is that we provide almost everything, including for home births. We have various items available for you to use at no additional cost, such as a TENS machine for labor, breast pump for augmenting labor, blood glucose monitor, and fetal monitor (for appointments and/or birth if we jointly decide to do so - we rarely have continuous fetal monitoring during labor, and folk can still use the birth pool while on the monitor if they do). We also give our clients a gift bag at the time of birth, containing many useful items for the early postpartum.

Tests

Standard blood tests (such as CBC, testing for various infections, and GTT) are all included in the global midwifery package. If you need or want additional testing (such as genetic screening), we charge a very reasonable price for these. Additionally, we perform a critical congenital heart defect (CCHD) test on newborns, as well as newborn screens (heel prick tests) at no additional cost. We refer out for ultrasounds, and the costs of these are paid directly to those providers. In most cases, we only require an anatomy scan at around 20 weeks, but may need others in certain situations. Prices are generally around $100 for cash pay. We do not currently offer a newborn hearing screening in-house, and so this should be done at a pediatrician's office.

Out of Hours Care

We're on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (including over holidays) for urgent questions and situations throughout your care. We do ask that you only contact us by phone or text during business hours whenever possible for non-urgent matters, as our phones are never silenced! If we're ever not available, you'll be given the contact details for a backup midwife. We're on call for attending your labor and birth from 37-42 weeks. For any births outside these timeframes, we'll do our best to attend the hospital in a doula role, if you'd like us there.

Medications, including nitrous oxide

We don't want the cost of medications to factor in to your decisions over whether or not to use them, and so these are almost all included in the global price (with the exception of RhoGAM, only used by Rh- clients). Medications we have available include progesterone, antibiotics for UTIs and GBS, antivirals for HSV, IV fluids, medications to protect against or reduce excessive bleeding in the immediate postpartum, Vitamin K for newborns, and, by far our most popular, nitrous oxide for use during labor and the immediate postpartum. For those who've not come across this for labor before, whilst it's (unfortunately) rarely used in this way in the US, it's used at up to 80% of births in other countries, and by an even higher percentage of our own clients. Being short-acting, it's breathed on demand just during the first half of stronger contractions, and its effect is wearing off by the time a contraction ends. It helps clients feel more relaxed, and helps them cope better with those stronger sensations. The vast majority of our clients love it! We help prepare you in advance so that you can safely use this medication at the time of birth.

Hydrotherapy

Water feels wonderful during labor! Being able to move around more easily in a deep tub, the warmth of the water, and the gently prickling of a shower's drops of water are all great at helping folk relax through their contractions. We happily offer water birth in all three spaces at our birth center (with inflatable pools and one-use liners in the spaces that don't have the beautiful clear tub), as well as showers. Our tubs are filled from a powerful tankless water heater and our showers are supplied by a hot water tank, and so we can quickly fill the pool with beautifully warm water, even if you're taking a shower at the time. For home births, we'll lend you an inflatable birth pool and liner at no additional cost.

Birth Certificates

Regardless of whether your baby is born at our birth center or in your own home, if we're providing midwifery care at your birth, we'll file the birth certificate for no additional cost. We'll also file for a SSN, if you would like one assigned. It's not likely to happen, but we can actually file a birth certificate for you if baby is born in your car while you're on the way to us (just don't get out the car until we're there!)

Midwifery Care

Your package includes everything listed above, with the birth in one of our beautiful spaces at the center in Brownsville:

Mother's Nature: our most popular room, decorated with calm blue walls, cherry blossom-laden trees, and our stunning clear tub.
Crowning Moment: a room fit for the royalty that you are, with wainscoting and damask wallpaper, decorated in shades of blue and champagne gold.
Ride the Waves: a fun and relaxing outdoor space for those rare occasions that the south Texas weather cooperates!

Birth Center

$6,500

Your package includes everything above, with the birth in the comfort of your own home (or the home, motel or other location you're staying in). We also try to leave the space ready for a peaceful postpartum period:

We'll pretreat any laundry from your birth that needs it, and will put it on to wash if you have laundry facilities
We'll wash dishes you've used during your birth, and will try to catch up on any other dishes
We'll pack up and take all our equipment with us (we take a lot!), and will try to ensure we leave your space at least as tidy as when we arrived.

Home Birth

$7,500

This package is for those who won't have their births with us, either because they're going to be out of the area at the time they're due, or because they're too high risk for an our of hospital birth, but not for midwifery care during pregnancy.

The package includes all the relevant (i.e. non-labor and birth) items listed above. If appropriate, you can have postpartum appointments with us, too, as detailed above.

The price is per appointment, with a maximum cost of $4,000. Once you've reached this limit, any remaining appointments do not have a charge. You might want to consider adding a doula for the birth, if you'll be local.

Montrice Care

$250

/appointment

Doula Care

Having a doula support you throughout labor and birth can have a huge impact on not only the outcome of your birth (e.g. a lower chance of a section), but also how you experience labor, birth, and your early postpartum period.

We offer doula care for $1,500, which includes at least one appointment during pregnancy to discuss labor and birth plans, supporting you physically and emotionally through your labor and birth, and a postpartum appointment to talk about your birth and your postpartum experience so far, and to try to work on any issues surrounding caring for baby or yourself. For labor care, your doula would normally go to your home before you transition to the hospital or birth center where you plan to deliver, and then accompany you there, staying with you and providing support throughout. Please note, a doula does not provide medical care, including monitoring things like vital signs.

Health Share Programs & Insurance

Health Share programs generally cover our care in full, and often include things like your nutritional supplements, too. Not all insurance policies cover our services, but most cover at least a part of it, as long as you're not seeing another healthcare provider, such as an OB, for the 'same' services (we know it's not really the same!). If you have health insurance, we'll provide information on how you can attempt to file a claim for the maximum coverage possible, such as how you might be able to have the services covered as in-network, since there are no in-network providers in the city providing the same care. We'll also attempt to provide you with all of the information and paperwork you might need to file a claim. We cannot guarantee that the claim will be approved, but many are.