Homebirth Midwife in Bay Area Accepting Medi-Cal??

[mamma_bear]

hello!! i have spent countless hours looking for the magical woman -- does she exist?

does anyone have info on a homebirth midwife in the marin/san francisco/east bay area, accepting medi-cal?

or, someone who is able to offer a sliding scale to a woman on medi-al with no income?

thanks

[Monarchgrrl]

This is my homebirth midwife team. I don't know about Medi-Cal but I know that they do sliding scale and you tell them what you can pay and they work with you on it. Maybe give it a try?

[cristeen]

I honestly don't know any HB MWs that take medi-cal. But I suppose it's possible. How many have you spoken with? There are literally dozens in the area.

[moonyoungi]

I searched around for these, had no such luck.
The lowest sliding scale fee for homebirth or birth center in Bay Area was around 2500-3000 for the whole thing...I don't have that kind of money!

Medi-Cal does have some CNMs available as their provider. I did not like the CNM that I saw through Medi-Cal. At the end, I just chose a nearest random OB and a doula for my birth. Everything went pretty okay, I had "natural" birth, but I did have to argue with my OB on the phone for 30 minutes while I was in active labor!

You might be able to find a nice CNM through Medi-Cal. I didn't search deep and wide in CNM pool, because I got so tired to lack of options. You may get lucky.

Good luck!

[Briannasmom]

My friend and due date buddy is using Awakenings and loves them... they are totally working with her as far as $..... http://www.awakeningsbirthservices.c...hServices.html

[poppan]

Not sure if she still accepts Medi-cal but you should check because she used to. SHe's a CNM based in Burlingame.
http://homebirthcnm.com/index.html

[Vegan Princess]

It's not a homebirth, but I believe Sage Femme birth center in SF takes medical and they also work on a sliding scale. I was charged the full amount (and reimbursed by my insurance), which was $3500....so I'd have to guess that it would be less than that on a sliding scale. I can't say enough good things about my experience there.

Cindy

[elonwy]

I just found Sage Femme online and it looks amazing. The full amount was $3500? What insurance do you have that reimbursed you?
Apologies if I am thread hi-jacking.

[Vegan Princess]

I can't remember for sure which insurance I had since I switched to DH's right after the birth and have totally blanked. I think I had aetna PPO? It was out of network but somehow what they billed the insurance for totalled more than 3500 so I did end up getting fully reimbursed. She said I had the best coverage she'd seen. Unfortunately I don't have the same insurance now so we may have to pay more when we have #2.

Cindy

[WarmHandsDoula]

I'm looking for a midwife to work with out of the East Bay as well- I'm in Livermore. Sage Femme is now closed :( and I don't know of any other birth centers in the Bay. Any thoughts or resources? Thanks Ladies.

[Vegan Princess]

Sage Femme has closed, but the midwife, Judi Tinkelenberg, is now doing homebirths. She is based out of Alameda now. I'm sure she is likely still accepting medical and doing sliding scale.  Also, I believe there is a birth center in Oakland? Not sure of the name. 

Cindy