Steps to inquiring about and establishing care with Moonlight Midwifery
Due Date Availability-
Nov, early Dec, Feb, Mar, April, May
We can also work together in other ways, if you look at my women's health site Wild Herb.
Please follow each of these steps and do not skip one. Save the time you have during your consult with me for things that are not answered here..
1. Read these webpages
2. Look at the documents attached to these webpages
3. Review risk criteria and whether you fit
3. Watch the videos on here
After reading and watching the available information, please
submit your details in the inquiry form below.
Early pregnancy? Read this webpage on options.
If it sounds like you might be a homebirth candidate, we'll send you can schedule a virtual meeting. I ask that your partner/husband be present. The consult is a 20min complimentary time to talk to Crystal about your history, your case, your questions, and your interest in homebirth. She also uses it as a way to feel if you'd be a good fit for our philosophy and practice.
Wait... is your partner on board? I like them on the consult call, but they should review the videos too and learn more about birth options and safety (like watch Business of Being Born).
After the consult, if it mutually feels like a good fit, you'll be emailed contract documents and a medical record request form to sign.
After signing the contract for care, the $500 deposit is due. Within the next two weeks you'll have a 1 hr intake tele-visit and a 1 hr in-person prenatal visit to start care.
Prenatal care then continues on the routine schedule, with 1hr appointment spots on Thursdays in my Decatur office.
Partners and kids are welcome to attend visits and birth.
d
Y
Thanks!
Intro...
Come see my office... (ugh why does it show such a scary pic of my face)
Here's what comes with me to births...
Let's talk about risk factors for homebirth... and hot topics like gestational diabetes....
And the reasons women and babies transfer to hospital and how that goes down...
Talking finances... but part 1 got deleted when my phone died... until I make a new one... please make sure you look at the FINANCE PAGE on here because I added a link to an instagram video explaining insurance.
Thanks for joining me.
Click the inquiry form to be in contact!
It asks you a few questions so I can review my availability and potential to serve you... please be patient for response. I always respond... sometimes I am just planning my life 9 months from now! ????
Please note radius of coverage: 45miles from Decatur (includes Canton, Cumming, Lawrenceville, Covington, Fayetteville, Newnan, Bremen)
Other homebirth midwives can be found at https://www.gamidwifery.org/team-2
Other needs? Email admin@moonlightmidwifery.com
Prior to your consultation appointment, please be sure BOTH you and your partner review the available information to answer basic questions about homebirth. Thanks!
How are complications managed?
What protocols does the practice follow?
Why homebirth vs birth center or hospital?
Expectations for first birth clients
...and because you keep asking
Final notes about how I practice, since you're probably interviewing several midwives and I keep getting asked if I am "hands on".
I firmly believe different midwives fit different mommas. That's beautiful.
I midwife for an optimized pregnancy and coach from a place of wanting solid babies and placentas and a trusted relationship between us. Babies grown during well-nourished and low-stress pregnancies are usually 7-10lb and that's important for homebirth. You should be interested in the value of these things: whole foods diet with good protein intake, working with chiro or pelvic PT, practicing daily diaphragmatic breathing, learning how to push well, preparing breastfeeding and getting educated on care for a newborn.
I'm pretty focused on healthy pregnancy and making healthy babies.
If you feel this is just a natural process that will magically unfold, and not a process dependent upon your actions, I'm not comfortable being responsible for your birth and baby. If you resist the hospital as if it's just a conspiracy theory of bad people, then I'm not aligned with you because I am eternally grateful for nurses, OBs, pitocin, epidurals, cesareans and NICUs.
I'm the low-risk part of your plan. You need to seriously consider your backup plan.
I ethically cannot and will not convince you that homebirth is the safest option or that I can guarantee it's uncomplicated..
However, If you AND your partner feel the decision to homebirth is what resonates deep in your body as the right support system for your birth, if you can lean into surrender and resiliency, and if you can be vulnerable and trusting with your midwife, then I'd love you as a client!
In the consult call, I want to feel inclined to want to be your midwife.
Bring questions, absolutely. Curiosity, not drilling, is the right vibe.
Perhaps wait for consult calls until you feel confident in what you want.
This is a hard profession- from hours to responsibility.
Sometimes we are legit tired or have new boundaries we put up because of recent cases. Always have grace with a midwife, and be able to demonstrate compassion toward hospital nurses & doctors too. I have no interest working with people that have conspiracy theories that healthcare workers are the cause of women not being able to birth babies. So much is complicated, from modern women to the modern healthcare system, but things work out best for those who bring faith, not fear.
Midwives don't need to explain the entire system or your insurance.
I get energetically exhausted talking about the problems with OB care in GA, the reasons things are the way they are, how insurance companies do whatever they want, and the oppression of midwifery. I like to explain some things, but consult calls aren't for us to go deep in these rabbit holes that frustrate me. Let's talk about you and me.
I am proudly a hands-on midwife
(I'm actually not 100% sure what that means when you ask though, haha).
I actively midwife during labor to help you make adjustments that facilitate an easier and more embodied process.
I like to use my hands to guide babies through perineums with less tearing for mommas, and less stress for babies... but this still means you and partner can "catch." I'm in this profession because of my concern about how babies are born, and the cool thing is that midwives can make babies' journeys a lot easier on them, so I love midwifing. I don't cut cords or rub babies down because you rarely need to disturb those processes. Midwifing is knowing what needs supported and what doesn't.
I'm also a "let's try this" midwife.
Let's be patient a little while to see what the body is allowing to happen, then let's try some different things that may help, then let's agree about what the end point is when we will be transferring so that we don't end up in a situation where we let time pass way too long or we didn't try everything we could. We are not bound by state policies or rules, so the process is organic and shared in decision making. When you choose homebirth, you essentially consent to traditional midwifery clinical decision making, with boundaries of what is evidence based or medical standards. Lots of common sense and intuition is used.
I love doulas.
Part of your prenatal care is formulating support that works best for you and your scenarios. We discuss doula options. If it's your first birth, yes please... you'll be so grateful for this extra support!
I mentor new midwives.
I'm seasoned and the fresh ones need mentoring. I aim to have a consistent team for any mom to experience that beauty, but a new apprentice or birth assistant may a part of your care, and I celebrate this expansion of the midwifery workforce for sustainability for both birth options and midwife lifestyles.
My birth vibe is to be a quiet and serious spaceholder.
I became a midwife because I believe a baby's birth is sacred, and I don't let anyone stand or talk loudly in that space... so I'm not the midwife for people that want tons of people at the birth because then I end up as an event manager.
I really only feel called to midwife the environment of peace and sacred for souls entering this world.
Good luck choosing, y'all!
-Midwife Crystal
Learn about how birthing at home can be not only a Safe, but the safest option.