We had our oldest daughter there in July 1994 at the tower road house on The Farm. It was a great experience. Ina May, Pamela Hunt and Carol Nelson were all 3 at her birth plus an apprentice from Holland, but Carol was my primary midwife. We only had a couple months of prenatal care there before the birth (the rest was in New Mexico before we moved back to TN). It is a very down to earth place of course - feels kind of like summer camp. At prenatal appts, they never used an ultrasound or even an electric doppler (whatever that is called - heart monitor) - just the kind they press firmly onto your belly and listen. And in the clinic they told you if you went potty not to flush if it was just pee - they only flushed after several people would go to conserve water. There were always Amish ladies there for their prenatal appointments, so that was neat to see them in their traditional clothing. We had to bring our own birth kit or maybe part of it and we purchased the rest from them. After the birth, someone gave my hubby a bucket with the placenta in it and a shovel and directed him to go bury it in the woods! But anyone heading to the farm isn't going to balk at something like that I guess. We drove down from my parents farm where we were living - about a 2.5 hour drive, and I had our dd within 6 or 7 hours if I remember right. We stayed one night and then went home. I labored in the tub (just a regular bathtub - I didn't bring an inflatable pool or anything) and then got out and pushed for 20-30 minutes or so and she was born. Carol massaged my perenium with olive oil before my daughter was born and Ina May reminded me to keep my mouth round and loose and make low sounds instead of screeching (I was catterwalling a bit!) I mostly just chilled alone in the tub for the vast majority of the labor though, and they left me alone (I am a pretty solitary birther - can't stand to be touched for one thing except a cold cloth to my face) so my hubby was kind of just hanging with the ladies. My sister drove us down while I was laboring and was there to cook, make tea or whatever. Our daughter cried a lot her first night - it was absolute pitch dark there - there was no moon and no nightlight or anything in the cabin. I guess a newborn shouldnt care about darkness, that being what they are used to, but I guess it was just hard to tend to her in the pitch dark and then turning on the bathroom light was so bright in the little cabin, so maybe take a nightlight or something. And you have to take all your own supplies, linens, etc., so it was kind of like a homebirth where you pack up and take home with you. Part of why we went there is it was the only place we could find that I could have a real midwife (not one where a dr. still had to deliver the baby) that was covered by my insurance. My benefits would not cover homebirth but would cover a freestanding birth center, which the farm counts as. However, as someone else mentioned, the insurance wouldn't pay the full amount of their claim because it was more than the reasonable and customary charges for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery with no interventions. They literally did not intervention of any kind which could be counted as extra services and so the insurance didn't cover it all and we had to pay a thousand or two out of pocket. It was well worth it to me to pay extra for what we did NOT get! LOL! But I do think they could change their billing a little, like instead of just charging us separately for the accommodations, they should bill for the overnight stay and I am sure it would cost more than the minimal amount they charged us. Overall a unique and gentle birth!
Renting a house was $200 per week. I don't remember other expenses...
You might want to talk with the midwife about splitting up the charge (into checkups, breastfeeding consultation, birth attendance, whatever), because ours was submitted as one lump sum, and I think that might have affected how little we got back.
