What to Expect:

 

We offer several options for payment, including a $100 discount for paying in full by 34 weeks.  Download our Financial Policies document for more information on policies, insurance questions, payment plans, and a look at our payment contract. We do our best to be affordable for anyone who wants midwifery care.  We greatly appreciate clients who are able to pay the full fee so that we can also afford to serve those who can't.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prefer to have a payment plan and stretch payments out?  We are happy to refer you to United Credit, who specialize in Medical Financing.  They've been very easy for our clients to work with in the past, and are often able to help people even when their credit is bad. 

 

 

Midwifery in Colorado 

Birth at home with a midwife has been legal in Colorado since 1993. There are currently 2 Types of Midwives legally available in Colorado. 

CNM: Certified Nurse Midwives 
CNM's are trained first as nurses in a hospital setting. They then go on to earn a Masters degree in Midwifery so that they can serve as a woman's sole maternity provider. Nearly all CNM's in Colorado practice in the hospital setting. There is currently one local birth center run by CNM's (Bloomin Babies in Grand Junction). CNM's also perform Well Woman care, offer birth control, and are able to accept Medicaid. They provide a wonderful service for those women who prefer to give birth in the hospital or birth center.. 
 

RM/CPM: Registered Midwives/Certified Professional Midwives, also known as “Direct Entry Midwives” 
A direct entry midwife differs from a CNM in a number of ways. They are not required to train as a nurse first (although there are some nurses who choose to train as direct entry midwives). Second, direct entry midwives train specifically for out of hospital birth in birth centers and in homes. CPM’s are not trained in the hospital setting or allowed to practice as midwives in the hospital. If a home birth client is transported to the hospital for care, her midwife can act as her doula once there, but not as her midwife. Direct Entry Midwives registered by the state of Colorado are known as RM's (Registered Midwives). Most RM's in Colorado also carry the credential of CPM (Certified Professional Midwife), a nationally recognized credential. 
RM's and CNM's are trained differently and have a different scope of practice. RM's are primarily trained to handle low risk births and the range of possible complications and emergencies in a home birth setting. CNM's have a wider scope of training, including the ability to perform Well Woman Care, write prescriptions and administer contraceptives. They work in collaboration with Doctors who handle high risk patients and complicated cases. They provide high quality childbirth care in the hospital and birth center setting.  If you develop complications in your pregnancy, we can arrange to transfer your care to a CNM or a Doctor.

Global Midwifery Fee Covers: 

• A full schedule of prenatal visits including 2 chiropractic/wellness visits and 2 lifeline coaching sessions if desired 
• Routine Lab Fees (OB panel, GDM testing, CBC checks, GBS testing, etc.) 
• Home visit at 36-37 weeks 
• Home Prenatal Care Kit 
• A registered midwife & at least one trained assistant at your labor and birth
• Emergency birth kit 
• Delivery pack/birth kit
• Water birth tub and drain set-up
• Postpartum Care 
• 1-2 home postpartum visits 
• Newborn care for first 6 weeks
• Postpartum office visits (as desired) up to 6 weeks 
• Newborn exam and newborn screenings (blood spot, CCHD) 
• Keepsake footprints and commemorative birth certificate 
• Basic Breastfeeding assistance for 6 weeks
• State birth certificate submission (includes Social Security request

 

Global Midwifery Fee DOES NOT Cover: 

• Any additional labs you want or need (DNA testing, etc.) 
• Ultrasound fees 
• Ambulance, hospital or physician fees in case of transport 
• Vitamins, supplements, herbs you purchase through Grand Valley Holistic Homebirth

An Abbreviated History of Home Birth in America:

Midwives have served birthing women for all of the world's known history, and they continue to do so in most countries around the world today. Around the turn of the 19th century in the United States, Midwives were vilified, persecuted and driven out of the profession by medical doctors working in hospitals. 

By 1921, 30-50% of women now gave birth in hospitals. Midwifery care continued only in very rural and poor communities where doctors tended not to go. Women inclined towards the healing services mostly became nurses, serving under doctors.

By 1950, 80% of births in the United States took place in hospitals. By 1960, 97% of births took place in the hospital. Native Americans were forced into hospital care and routinely sterilized in Reservation hospitals without their consent. African American “granny midwives” continued to practice in smaller numbers, quietly serving in rural communities, but they were unfairly looked upon and seen as only fit to serve the rural poor. 

Skip ahead 1/2 a century to the 2020's!  Today the midwifery movement is well and alive, striving to educate more midwives and provide safer, affordable options for low risk women (which is most women) desiring home birth. Maternal mortality (pregnancy related deaths) in the U.S.A is well above the numbers of simlarly developed nations, with Black women  3-4 times more likely to die of childbirth related causes.  These women of color are our "canary in the coal mine" to warn us of the dangers of the modern technocratic model of childbirth. Midwifery model care needs to be more available to women of color in our nation, and MEAC schools are actively striving now to make this model of care more accessible by improving educational access and training to BIPOC communities.  The intent is to increase access to the Midwifery Model of Care to ALL women in the United States who desire respectful care.  We aren't there yet, but we're working on it.