Midwife for home birth in or around running springs, lake arrowhead, crestline, twin peaks,...

[snorkel]

I recently moved to running springs california and am almost 5 months pregnant. i am really hoping for a home birth, anyone know of a midwife or doula that would come to my house and deliver the baby? what is the cost? are there any that take medi-cal?

thank you in advance!!

[pammysue]

I just moved to Running Springs too! I don't have any midwife recos, but am interested in responses.

Welcome to MDC. :D

[snorkel]

oh fun!! that's exciting! i hope we will meet some people here, just met a few neighbors, people are super friendly here, we love it.

are you pregnant? or have kids?

We both work from home, and since we can live anywhere decided to move here since it's so nice. Right now I'm considering the Inland Midwife Services, it's a birthing center in redlands, but would really love a home birth, so looking into options for that.

Welcome to you as well!!

[mosomers]

I was helping my friend research this a little over a year ago. I can't remember everything we found, but if I remember right the only medi-cal option is the birthing center in Redlands, Inland Midwife Services. I'll call or e-mail my friend and get more info for you. I know she was in contact with at least one midwife who was willing to come to the mountains. I'll be in touch (this post is mostly just so I can find this thread again).

[snorkel]

thank you so much! that's so nice of you!!!! i really appreciate it!

[mosomers]

Here's what my friend responded:

"I had spoken with Karen Baker (who is a really busy midwife) and Karen Pecora (Who I really liked). Also, about a month ago, I was looking up California Licensed Midwifes who are accredited through the medical board and there was one in Crestline?? Don’t know if that lady is still up here or not so if you want to try and look that up you can or I can do it and get back to you."  

I hope that helps! If you need more info--if you hit a dead end or need contact info or anything, let me know and we'll get it for you! Good luck!

Morgan

[snorkel]

okay, great! thank you!!! i will look into it for sure.

Do you by any chance know if the midwife in crestline was covered by medi-cal? Thanks!!

[mosomers]

I don't know, but I'll tell you that it's worth it to pay out of pocket if you can't find a midwife who will take medi-cal (and I have to say that I personally have never heard of one who does--but let me know if they do in fact exist!). I had three babies in the hospital on medi-cal insurance, all natural, but they don't hold a candle to homebirthing! I kept thinking that we really didn't have a choice because how do you justify any amount of money out of pocket when you are hard up enough to need to be on medi-cal and medi-cal covers everything? But with #4 I decided that I just really needed to do things my way because it was a surprise pregnancy and my last baby was only 9 months old when I got pregnant and I was so not ready to do all of this again. So we just sucked it up and payed the cost out of pocket even though it looked on paper like it was impossible. And I won't lie; it was a painful couple of semesters (hubby's still in school). We were barely scraping by and it was a real struggle. But one that I would NEVER in a million years trade for the experience of a homebirth. SO worth it! Birthing at home is peaceful, calm, warm, and inviting. You have all sorts of comforts that hospitals just can't offer (having my own bed to labor in that my husband could lay in with me made a huge difference in my pain level!) and then you just get to STAY HOME with your new little one. No nurses waking you up at all hours of the night, no hospital food, your own bed and bathroom, and your family around. I don't know whether you have other kids, but to have my three others there when their baby brother was born was a fantastic part of the experience. Visitors coming to your house rather than your hospital room is much nicer for everyone as well. There's just no comparison between a hospital birth and homebirth. Totally worth the financial sacrifice in my opinion and I wish I would have bit the bullet and payed the money with my other births!

[snorkel]

we have decided to go with the inland birth center, it's been aweosme there. i reocmmend it. even if you don't have insurance, it's not expensive at all.

[pammysue]

Thanks for updating. Are you seeing midwives there? Do they offer waterbirth?

I had both my boys at a birthcenter in a hospital with midwives (near Chicago) and they were both awesome experiences.

[milhands]

Hello!  I just joined this forum and am moving to the mountains in June. I found this string as I am looking for a midwife in Lake Arrowhead (or near-ish by mountain standards).  We are curious and interested in having a homebirth if we can find the right person.  Also curious to hear how your experience ended up being (if you've given birth!) with Inland Birth Center...

Many thanks in advance!

[jannak]

A freiend of mine in LE used "Del" as her midwife. I dont know her last name but she was really pleased with her birth.

[EcoConsciousMom]

I know many of you have already delivered your children as this was posted last year, but wanted to throw in my two cents for future mommies-to-be.

My parents have a cabin in Running Springs. I was in Orange County and pregnant. I didn't like the midwife I interviewed in Irvine. My husband and I decided to move into my parents basement for the birth to help with costs, have a house atmosphere, and support.

I had a huge list of questions for future midwives to interview and found Karen Baker (in Yucaipa). She really impressed us, was actually #8 (I think) in the midwives being registered here in California. She was one of the women who helped push midwifery to be legal and certified in California. Her advocacy for midwifery made me like her even more.

Karen answered all our questions with so much information and she just felt like the right choice for us. She does travel up here to Running Springs, but she is very busy and is training many young women into being midwives. If you wanted to hire her you'd want to do it early in your pregnancy as she does book up quickly. She also is open to payment plans and sometimes will trade services if you need help with finances. At the time of my daughter's birth it was $4,000 + supplies + tests (if you want them).

My daughter was born in December 2010 the day before a huge snow storm. I was very happy that she was able to get up the mountain (with 2 road closures) with her assistant, a doula. They both really took care of me, but let me and my body do what we wanted to do. They didn't interfere unless asked or push anything. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. Then after the birth they cleaned up the room and helped me take a bath. It was more than I ever expected from a midwife.

I recommend Karen Baker to anyone in the area.

Here is her information:

Karen Baker

35605 Ave D, Yucaipa, CA 92399
[phone]