How do prenatals work?
The prenatal schedule is the same with me as that of what you would receive regardless of where you receive care; every 4 weeks up until 28 weeks then every 2 weeks until your 36th week.  At 36 weeks is where my care and that of a typical OB/GYN differs.

At 36 weeks we have a home visit at your house, and then we meet weekly back in the office until delivery.  The visits are 1 hour in length, of which only 10-15 minutes is spent on the actual physiological measurements that must be made, i.e. urine dipstick, blood pressure, weight, pulse, fetal measurement, the baby’s position and fetal heart tones.  The rest of the 40 minutes or so are spent connecting with one another, answering your questions, going over what tests may be coming up, and doing exercises to get you ready both physically and emotionally for birth and parenthood.

 
Do you take insurance?
Sure, I take any and all insurance providers and plans.  However, not all insurance providers and plans cover homebirth and CPM's.  This coverage is actually something that is constantly changing within the companies and so I can’t even provide you with a list of cooperative carriers.  What I can tell you is that I hire an insurance biller to do that work for me.  I did not go to school to be a biller and so the codes are just a bunch of numbers to me.  I work with Larsen Billing, an established company that serves midwives and birth centers all over the country.  They will do an initial Verification of Benefits to see how your plan may treat the situation and give you an idea on how/what your insurance company will pay.  Larsen Billing also follows up monthly with your claim and gets your money back much quicker this way (as opposed to waiting until after birth).

 
What do you bring to the birth?
I think some people’s idea of a homebirth midwife are straight out of a movie, or from a  great grandparent.  I bring several bags filled with medical equipment as well as oxygen tanks and neonatal resuscitation equipment.   During one of your prenatal visits, I will go into complete detail and provide you the chance to see my equipment first hand.

 
Who Attends the Birth?
The midwife as well as at least on assistant.  At the moment Mosaic Midwifery is proud to have Jen Anderson Tarver as an apprentice/intern.  You can learn more about Jen by clicking the Meet the Midwife link on your left.  For your part, you can invite any one you think would be helpful to you and the process.

 
What about the mess?
I can’t even count how many times I have been asked this question.  Despite what we are all shown on movies and on TLC, birth isn't really that messy.  As midwives, we do clean up any mess that is made.  We leave your house as clean, if not cleaner, than when we got there, dishes loaded, laundry in the washer and mom, dad, and baby tucked into bed.

 

What if there is an emergency?
During our 36-week home visit we develop an emergency plan, detailing where and when we would seek outside medical assistance.



Do you have backup?
I do always have at least one other homebirth midwife on call for me in the event more that two mothers were to go into labor simultaneously (something that has thankfully yet to happen).  In this instance your birth team would split up, which means that you would always have at least one known person at the birth.  I do not have a back up ObGyn; for liability reasons this is virtually impossible in the State of Colorado.

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