[nan]

Hi everyone,
My sister is pregnant with her second, and is trying to decided between the Takoma Park Midwives and Maternity Center. She wants a homebirth, but Birthcare doesn't take her insurance, and she won't go out of pocket. I've searched the archives on both practices, but haven't turned up much specific information. Can anyone share their experience with either practice? (I understand there's been a lot of turnover at both practices, so would especially love to hear recent stories, or about midwives who are still there.) I'd especially like to hear specific complaints/compliments, and names of midwives you particularly liked or disliked. Any and all feedback would be much appreciated.
BTW, her insurance is AETNA. Does she have any other homebirth options?
Many thanks,
Nan

 

[Artisan]

I know there is a CNM who does homebirths near Baltimore and will drive to the DC area. Hopefully someone who knows her name will reply here.

I don't think the Takoma Pk midwives have a birth center, do they? (I haven't heard about it, but maybe I'm out of the loop.) If not, that would be one plus for the Mat Center.

I can write more later.

 

[Awaken]

I'm in the same situation

I really want a homebirth but I called BirthCare today and they don't take my ins., I am so bummed!!

Anyway- I had my son at the Maternity Center and had a great experience. Some say that they are "too medical", however, I did not need any interventions or have any complications so I didn't have any unnecessary interventions- not sure if my experience would have been different had I had to make hard choices about induction, or other medical issues. Although I appreciate the fact that some things they have to do to keep their malpractice insurance and stay in business! I really like it there and have always recieved good care and response from the midwives. The office can get pretty crowded in the afternoon and sometimes you have to wait a while- BUt they spend a lot of time with you and don't rush, and I just schedule first thing in the morning appointments and that works out fine. I just didn't want to do the 45 min. drive while in labor again

Oh well!

I have heard from many people that the Takoma Midwives are wonderful. However, they only do hospital births. So if she wants to have a birth center birth, MC is her best bet, unless she can find a homebirth midwife who takes insurance or is affordable!

Can someone who is familiar with any of the homebirth midwives in the area please enlighten me? I assume none of them take insurance and you pay outright? What kind of fees are we talking about? And what if you need bloodwork or an ultrasound or other test- how does that get ordered and paid for? How would 'parallel care' work in this situation?

 

[quakerlady]

I don't know if this counts as recent, since my 2nd dd will be 2 in August, but I had a great experience at teh MAternity Center. It probaly helped that I'd taken hypnobirthing class and I had fully communicated what I wanted to my dh(my first dd was born in a hospital and my dh had NO idea what I wa trying to do).
I had a pretty big baby (9 lbs 10 oz) and the only medical intervention was suctioning her lungs b/c of meconium. Other than poking her head in occasionally to see if I was ok and occasionally mentioning a possible comfort measure, the midwife completely left us alone until she heard me making pushing noises. And I think if I had requested it, she would have let my husband do everything, but he wasn't up for that so I don't know for sure. I had everyone there I wanted, including my then 2yo. If I did it again (which I'm not planning to) I might want a home birth, but the Maternity Center is pretty close.

 

[mavery]

I had a mostly good experience at the maternity center about 18 months ago. The prenatal care I was happy with, I liked their basic approach and the way I was treated. There were a couple of things I didn't like so much about the way the labor went, though not major issues - e.g. the day before I went into labor I was given a very vigorous exam (deliberate on the part of the midwife, but not requested by me), which I think caused my water to break the next morning. I also didn't like the amount of pressure I was under to go into labor once my water had broken - though I understand why they do that.

Some of the midwives I loved, some I didn't like so much and some I didn't get to know. Nancy is absolutely fantastic. She seems to handle a lot of the hospital births, though (which mine wasn't).

So on the whole my opinion of MCA is quite positive - but nevertheless I'm hoping I can do a homebirth if I have another.

For homebirth midwives, I've heard great things about Evelyn Mulhan(?) - hope I got her name right - who's a CNM and I think used to be with BirthCare but is now independent.

 

[Quirky]

Nan, I tried to respond to your email but the server bounced it back saying your email address didn't exist. So here's what I wrote:

That's so nice of you to do research on your sister's behalf. Has either of you had a baby before, esp. with a midwife? I used Evelyn's services for my second; I went to the Maternity Center here in Bethesda for my first. I learned that all midwives are not created equal - I had a fairly negative experience at the Maternity Center with my first and that led me to choose homebirth with Evelyn for my second. I can't say enough good things about Evelyn - I would do it again in a heartbeat. Although it was a little far to schlep for prenatal appointments, Evelyn takes a lot of time to answer questions, talk about concerns, etc. Way more than you'd get in an OB's office. She was very hands-off for my birthing, which is exactly what I wanted (although I think she would also be hands-on if that's what your sister felt like she needed). Basically, she trusted my body to do what it needed to do to birth my daughter and didn't get in the way - I never even had a vaginal exam, so never got hung up on how many centimeters dilated I was. She knew I was in transition and ready to push because she could tell by looking at me and listening to me. She's very experience and also very compassionate and intuitive.

Did you read my birth story at MDC? It's long but I think it gives a good picture of what it was like to see Evelyn. If you go to Birth Stories and search for my user name (Quirky) you will find it.

There's a Yahoo group for homebirth http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NoVahomebirth that's really great and has other women who have birthed with Evelyn as well as other area midwives.

Since you found me through MDC I'm sure you've seen the birth forums there, which are a great source of information and support. I don't know whether you're just starting out on researching or have already done a lot. If I can point you in the direction of anything in particular, let me know.

Oh, and Evelyn was not with Birthcare - she was with Gentle Beginnings up in Balto. which has closed.

Insurance - Evelyn takes insurance. You can always submit as out of network as well. Although I understand money can be a big issue, I think it's important to choose your provider based on who you're most comfortable with. With my first, my insurance covered the birth and we paid one hundred total (great insurance), but I wasn't happy with the birth experience at all. With my second, we had to pay more (dh's insurance is not nearly as good as mine was) including the tub rental, but it was worth every penny.

 

[nan]

Hi all,
Thank you so much for your responses. I had a my first with Maternity Center at Shady Grove, having transferred from the birth center. My labor was very long, and frankly, I think that the MC midwife (Nancy) kind of gave up on me since it was my first, and my labor was stalled. (Nevertheless, I really liked Nancy.) For my second, I chose Birthcare and had a wonderful second labor. I definitely felt that they were far less intervention-oriented, and really trusted me and my body to birth my baby. At one point, I heard the midwives (Cindy and Susan -- then a student) doing my dishes upstairs. They were so relaxed and matter-of-fact! Birthing my son at home was one of the most empowering things I've ever done, and I'm kind of a homebirth fanatic.
Anyway, thanks to several women on this site, my sister contacted Evelyn Mulhan and will be interviewing her shortly. I'm so excited, as I'd given up hope on a homebirth for her! Thanks especially to Quirky for your recommendation. I just read it aloud to my sister who was thrilled. (This is her second.-- Her first was a classic disastrous hospital birth...)
It makes me want to have just one more....
Thanks again everyone,
Nan