Establishing a foundation of trust while offering individualized care throughout the pregnancy journey.
Midwifery Services
From First to Fourth Trimester
North Florida Midwifery & Homebirth provides community-based midwifery care in the comfort of your home. We travel to you for all prenatal and postpartum appointments, including lab collection.
The cash package fee is $6500 for our in-home prenatal care, homebirth, and postpartum care.
While we do not accept insurance, we do offer payment plans. In addition, we offer discounts for having a doula, military families, and late transfers. Give us a call for more details.
To help families with insurance, we have partnered
with a reliable billing company to assist you with the reimbursement process.
We collect our fee upfront, but we have a biller who will provide a free verification of benefits (VOB) to give you an idea of how your insurance reimbursement will work.
Labs and ultrasounds may be billed to insurance.
Comprehensive Prenatal Care
A healthy pregnancy, labor, and birth are built on a foundation of excellent prenatal care. The emphasis is on promoting healthy pregnancies through evidence-based education, nutritional counseling, promoting physical activity, stress management, and mental wellness. Prenatal care generally starts between 10-12 weeks of pregnancy. Your first prenatal appointment will last 60-90 minutes and include a detailed health history and risk assessment to ensure you are a low-risk candidate for out-of-hospital birth with a Florida Licensed Midwife.
Subsequent appointments will last 45-60 minutes. All prenatal care and lab collection is performed in the comfort of your home. Our extended visits allow for plenty of time to ask questions, talk through any concerns, discuss natural ways to help with common pregnancy discomforts and monitor your pregnancy and growing baby. Family and friends are always welcome during your visits.
The cornerstone of our prenatal care is developing a trusting connection that will carry into labor and birth, following the Midwives Model of Care.
The Midwives Model of Care™ is a fundamentally different approach to pregnancy and childbirth than contemporary obstetrics. Midwifery care is uniquely nurturing, hands-on care before, during, and after birth. Midwives are health care professionals specializing in pregnancy and childbirth who develop a trusting relationship with their clients, which results in confident, supported labor and birth.
North Florida Midwifery & Homebirth follows the standard prenatal care schedule: Prenatal visits every four weeks until 28 weeks gestation, every two weeks from 28 to 36 weeks gestation, and weekly from 36 weeks until delivery.
20-Week Ultrasound: For a 20-week anatomy scan, we provide a referral for clients to an imaging center of their choice. This one ultrasound is required to ensure there are no issues with the placenta or the baby that would necessitate more assistance or care than what could be provided at home.
Florida Licensed Midwives cannot deliver multiples or breech babies.
Homebirth
During your prenatal appointments, there will be plenty of time to discuss how you envision your birth, who will be present, and what aspects are most important to you. We will make every effort to fulfill your birth preferences while keeping safety as our main priority. Your midwifery team will be on call for you 24/7, beginning at 37 weeks until birth. Florida Licensed Midwives are allowed to deliver babies between 37-42 weeks gestation.
Every birth is unique in terms of how labor starts. Once labor begins, we will stay in communication with you and your support team to make a clear plan on when to head to your home. When the time is right, the midwife and trained birth assistant will head to your home. Once the team arrives, they will check on you and your baby and answer any questions or concerns you or your partner may have. Our team will continue to support, encourage, and assess you and your baby throughout labor. You will be encouraged to eat, drink, and change positions as you listen to your body and give birth to your baby in any position you choose.
Your birth kit and use of our birth pool for labor and birth are included in your fee.
Intermittent monitoring with a fetal doppler will be used during your labor to assess the baby's well-being. You will be given all the information necessary to make an informed decision about what to do if your midwife has concerns about you or your baby throughout your labor. We will also discuss emergent and non-emergent transfers during your prenatal home visits. Following delivery, you and your baby will have immediate skin-to-skin contact with delayed cord clamping. If requested, eye prophylaxis and vitamin K are available. You will have ample time to research and make an informed decision about these newborn procedures during your prenatal care. Except for a newborn exam performed in your presence at the foot of your bed, you won't be separated from your baby.
Hiring a birth doula is strongly recommended, whether this is your first child or your fourth. They are a vital member of your birth team who can support you emotionally and physically during early and active labor and offer helpful postpartum care.
Postpartum Care
The 4th Trimester
The best-kept homebirth secret is the postpartum recovery in the comfort of your bed. Shortly after birth, depending on where that takes place, the birth team will help get you and your sweet baby tucked into bed.
As always, our priority is to ensure you and your baby are stable and doing well, which continues with the immediate postpartum period.
The next most important goal is to provide uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact, better known as the golden hour, while surrounded by your loved ones. While you bond with and feed your baby, the birth team will ensure you replenish fluids and have a nice protein-rich meal. We'll walk you through each step of the postpartum plan before we begin. A thorough head-to-toe newborn assessment will be completed on the bed beside you. Our team usually stays 2-3 hours to ensure everyone is well-fed, cared for, and stable. Finally, we will clean up the birth space, make sure your laundry is started, and leave the family comfortably tucked into bed to bond, rest, and recover.
The next day, your midwife will call to check in and schedule a visit for the 48-hour mark. At your first postpartum visit, the midwife will discuss your recovery, assess how things are going, and chat about any concerns. We will also complete two newborn screenings and file the birth certificate and social security card. We review what to expect over the next few weeks and warning signs that require additional support. We will revisit you and your family around 5-7 days postpartum, two weeks, four weeks (if needed), and 6-8 weeks.
We measure your postpartum adjustment and coping throughout these appointments, so it's not just about the baby. We review worries regarding postpartum mood and the potential for postpartum depression or anxiety. Between 6-8 weeks postpartum, we can complete a pap test and discuss family planning if desired. We are available to answer questions, address concerns, give referrals for lactation specialists, pelvic floor therapy, emotional support, and much more. We aim to continue surrounding you with support and individualized care during the fourth trimester.
