Heart Folk Midwifery believes that the benefits of homebirth are many and include:

• Partnering with your midwives and the midwifery model of care to affirm your innate gifts and ability to birth on your terms.  

• Holistic care provided by midwives addresses the physical, emotional, psychological and social well being of the mother/birthing person throughout the entire childbearing cycle 

• Being in the comfort and safety of your own home

• Supported in a Family centered birth and postpartum planning process

• Co-creating an undisturbed birth environment.

• Preparing for a physiological birth through somatic, spiritual and biomechanical support.  

• Informed choice and decision making process for you and your baby with respect for your preferences and experiences 

• Agency and understanding around medical interventions 

• Bonding and Breastfeeding support 

• Reduced risk of infections

https://www.nacpm.org/midwives-model-of-care

The largest study on the safety of homebirth in the US and Research on planned home birth, released in 2014 by the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), found that among 17,000 families:

• Better outcomes for babies: 97% of babies were carried to full-term, and weighed an average of eight pounds at birth. Only 1% of babies were transferred to the hospital after birth, most for non-urgent conditions.

• Low rates of intervention: Only 4.5% of the 17,000 study participants required oxytocin augmentation and/or epidural analgesia. This is much lower than average for the United States, where 26% have oxytocin augmentation and 67% have epidurals.

• Low rates of cesarean birth: The 2014 MANA study also found that of the 17,000 planned home births, only 5.7% ended up birthing their babies via cesarean. This is compared to the national average of approximately 31% for full-term pregnancies.

• High VBAC success rate: For low-risk individuals, the chance of having a vaginal birth after cesarean ranges from 68-87% when birthing outside the hospital.

For more detailed on the studies around the safety of homebirth follow link below: 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30063-8/fulltext#fig0001

The global fee for Care with Heart Folk Midwifery is based on a tiered system. With our varied economical situations in the Bay Area, families have differing abilities to pay.  We want our programs to serve as many families as possible regardless of financial situation while maintaining our needs as providers. Thus we’ve created this tiered pricing as part of our commitment to community based midwifery care that ranges from $6500-9500.

A 25% non refundable deposit is due at your initial visit. We offer monthly payment plans  

All fees for your care with Heart Folk Midwifery are paid out of pocket  and in full by 36 weeks of your pregnancy.

Most HSA and FSA accounts cover homebirth. There are some health insurances that coverages may extend to include Heart Folk Midwifery fees (in whole or in part), you have the option of hiring our biller to help with this. She is able to do a Verification of Benefits prior to the start of care to help you understand more what your plan may cover. PPO plans seem to have the most consistency with coverage for homebirth. Heart Folk midwifery midwives are out of network providers. The insurance claim is filed after the birth of your baby and the end of our postpartum care together. 

Heart Folk Midwifery is committed to supporting women, birthing people & their families of all backgrounds with authentic and individualized care.  We are deeply curious about how we as a collective go beyond transactional relationships and cultivate bonds that are transformational and rooted in sacred reciprocity.

We do this through a deep commitment to community based midwifery as a path of devotion, steeped in tactile skills and the intuitive arts.  Our care is collaborative and relational. We view each mother and baby dyad as their own unique ecosystem. We view grounded transparency as the foundation between each client and midwife. By aligning with these values, we can build our relationships into sources of strength, inspiration and fields of safety.  This includes epigenetic and physical healing, remembering ourselves as mammals, the shapeshifting journey of pregnancy, the portal of birth and the life long path of parenting.

We believe that these containers of love and devotion are an integral part of being in a healthy community, evolving our families and birthing humanity as the most divine act of creating more peace on earth.

● One-on-one, personalized midwifery care with two deeply experienced Midwives.

(Shiela’s been practicing for 21 plus years and Taya 16 plus years.)

● Regular in person appointments on a routine schedule that are a minimum of an hour long

and in depth in every way.

● Prenatal care and counseling that is somatically based and cooperative

● Direct connection with your Midwives

● Primary care outside of an Institution

● Individualized & Ongoing Self Care Planning including Nutritional, Supplemental &

Herbal Support

● Birth Preparation, Education & Attendance

● Counseling, Education and primary care on Lactation including breastfeeding,

chestfeeding, induction of lactation and necessary supplementation for all the various

reasons.

● In-depth Postpartum Care for the mother/birthing parent including pelvic floor

assessment, healing and rehabilitation.

● Pediatric care for newborn through the fourth trimester. Additional ongoing care for the

first year can be an additional per diem service.