Mom at her monthly in office midwifery exam

Midwifery care is a PARTNERSHIP

At Wabash Valley Midwives, we know you want to take charge of your health - that it's your right and responsibility to educate yourself regarding all aspects of your healthcare. YOU are the primary decision-maker.

YOUR BABY ・ YOUR BODY ・ YOUR BIRTH

 
Wabash Valley Midwives exam room

☆☆☆☆☆

“Working with Barbara and Samantha was an empowering experience, unlike anything I had ever had in a hospital setting. Each appointment was personal and so informative.”

Sarah

 
 

01. Maternity Care Package

To ensure an affordable cost to our patients, with no surprises, we've created an all-inclusive package with everything you could need in your care. Our desire is for you to know precisely the cost, so you can plan accordingly.

 
 

Investment: $4,200*

 
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PRENATAL

Office visits every 4 weeks until 28 weeks

✓ Office visits biweekly 28-36 weeks

✓ Office visits weekly 36 weeks-birth

✓ 1 prenatal home visit 36-37 weeks

✓ Monitoring of maternal & fetal well-being

✓ Nutrition & exercise counseling

✓ Blood draws

✓ Informed choice for prenatal screenings

✓ Discussion of questions & concerns

 
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HOME BIRTH

✓ On-call availability for births after 37 weeks

✓ Access to birth pool if desired

✓ Birth kit

✓ 2 midwives or midwife & trained birth assistant

✓ Physical & emotional support during labor

✓ Intermittent fetal monitoring

✓ Optimal cord clamping

✓ Immediate skin-to-skin contact

✓ Early breastfeeding

 
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POSTPARTUM

✓ Newborn physical exam

✓ Newborn heart & metabolic screening

✓ Newborn heel stick

✓ 2 postpartum home visits during the first week

✓ Additional office visits at 2 and 6 weeks

✓ Physical & emotional assessments for 6 weeks

✓ Breastfeeding support

✓ Birth certificate and social security number

✓ Postpartum support & meetup groups

 

HOW IT WORKS

01.

BOOK A CONSULTATION

Fill out the consultation booking form with basic information, your due date, and preferred times for an appointment.

02.

MEET US IN PERSON

We’ll respond to you within 48 business hours to set up an in-person meeting where we’ll get to know one another (virtual calls available).

03.

BEGIN YOUR CARE

If you’re ready to move forward, we’ll have you make a retainer fee, create an account on the client portal and schedule your first appointment.

Barbara Purnell with patient at Wabash Valley Midwives office
Samantha Brinkerhoff playing with a child at Wabash Valley Midwives office
Mom and dad in birthing pool after delivery

*Financial Agreement

The total fee for midwifery services is $4200 and must be paid in full by 37 weeks gestation.  A non-refundable deposit of $600 is required to begin midwifery care. This fee secures your place in our calendar.  We accept cash, check, or credit card and will provide an invoice that allows for monthly payments. 

A $400 travel fee will be applied if your residence is more than 50 miles from our office.

Additional Fees

The following fees must be paid at the time of service. Some of these services will be billed separately by the lab or other healthcare providers and may be covered by insurance.

  • Lab services (billed by Lab Corp)

  • Ultrasound performed by another provider (such as an anatomy scan)

  • RhoGAM injections for Rh-negative women (about $150 per dose)

  • Appointments with other healthcare providers as necessary. 

Insurance

Please note that there is NO GUARANTEE that your insurance will pay, as some insurance plans cover midwifery services and some do not. Insurance billing is handled by STM Billing, LLC, a midwifery billing company. Upon verification of benefits by STM Billing, you will be notified of the expected contribution of your insurance. If you have maternity benefits, STM Billing will bill your insurance company once your baby is born. We are out of network providers. STM Billing is paid 10% of insurance refunds. Once the baby is born, insurance is billed, and reimbursement is received, you may receive money back in instances where your deductible is less than $4,200 or your responsibility as determined by insurance is already met. 

Medicaid

Unfortunately, at this time, Indiana Medicaid will not pay us for home birth. However, Wabash Valley Midwives is a Medicaid-approved provider, so we can order your lab work and ultrasounds and Medicaid will cover those costs. 

Healthcare Sharing Plans

We are happy to provide a receipt for you to receive reimbursement from your healthcare sharing plan or to invoice your healthcare sharing plan directly if that is preferred.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Midwives provide individualized care. We work with you in all your health care decisions, considering your needs, desires and individual health. We use evidence based research to help you understand your options. Not only that, but we respect that you are the best decision maker when it comes to your own as well as your baby’s health.

    Women who birth at home with midwives are less likely to experience interventions such as induction or augmentation of labor, episiotomy, instrumental birth and C-section than if the birth occurred in a hospital. Home birth clients also report a higher degree of satisfaction and may experience more success with breastfeeding.

    Women choose to birth at home for a variety of reasons including, autonomy, increased control of environment, family/partner support, and comfort of being home. You can have who you want at your delivery and who you want caring for you. You can eat, drink, sleep, walk, dance or do whatever feels right.

    Women who have a home birth usually report a greater sense of accomplishment and greater satisfaction when compared with birthing in a hospital setting.

  • If you desire to give birth as undisturbed as possible, the answer is likely yes! For women experiencing low-risk pregnancies (meaning that neither you nor your baby has a medical condition), home birth can be a safe and satisfying experience. During your free consultation, we will discuss your health and that of the baby and answer questions to help you decide the best option.

  • It is normal to wonder about the pain of labor. Many women have concerns about how they will be able to cope. Labor is hard work, and pain may be involved, however, giving birth does not need to include suffering.

    The physical discomfort of labor may coexist with feelings of satisfaction, enjoyment, and empowerment as you give birth in your own home with your chosen support persons.

    Research shows that women who have continuous emotional and physical support from a partner, loved one, doula, or midwife report less pain in labor. As your midwives, we will be with you during your labor, assessing how well you are coping and providing suggestions for comfort measures that may reduce pain.

  • We provide care to women within 50 miles of our office in Terre Haute, Indiana - exceptions with an additional fee may apply. If you have questions about whether we can travel to you, please contact us.

  • Absolutely! Immersion in warm water during labor and birth provides comfort and supports relaxation. It also tends to provide a gentler birth for the baby. It is a safe and effective non-medical method of providing pain relief and promoting normal physiologic birth. Research shows that water birth is just as safe for the mother and baby as a "land" birth.

    If you have a sizeable garden-style tub in your home, that can work well. If not, we have inflatable birth tubs available.

  • Ideally, your first prenatal visit occurs within your first trimester of pregnancy - within 12 weeks after the first day of your last menstrual period. However, some women choose to wait until early in the second trimester. If you are considering a home birth, contact us as soon as possible to check for availability.

  • Each of these situations will be considered on an individual basis.

  • We are out of network provides. Insurance billing is handled by STM Billing, LLC, a midwifery billing company. Please note that there is NO GUARANTEE that your insurance will pay, as some insurance plans cover midwifery services and some do not. We encourage you to speak with your insurance provider to learn about your coverage.

    Unfortunately, Indiana Medicaid will not pay us for home birth at this time. However, Wabash Valley Midwives is a Medicaid-approved provider, so we can order your lab work and ultrasounds, and Medicaid will cover those costs.

    We are happy to provide a receipt for you to receive reimbursement from your healthcare sharing plan or to invoice your healthcare sharing plan directly if that is preferred.

  • As your midwives, we are trained to handle obstetric emergencies at home. We carry oxygen, monitoring equipment, and medications to handle emergencies for both the mom and baby. We maintain current certifications in CPR and NRP (neonatal resuscitation). The most common emergency for a mom is bleeding too much after birth. We treat this situation using the same medications used at a hospital. The most common emergency for an infant is needing help to begin breathing. This, too, is handled using similar equipment and following an evidence-based protocol for neonatal resuscitation from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

    We will develop an emergency care plan during prenatal care just in case transport to the hospital becomes necessary during labor. In the event of a transfer to the hospital during labor, we will accompany you and continue to provide care until arrival. We will deliver your records and update the hospital provider. In some situations we are even able to stay with you to provide emotional support. Most transports are not emergencies and occur during labor when a decision is made that you and/or your baby would be safer or more comfortable at the hospital.

  • Yes, we will assist you with the necessary paperwork so that your baby will get a birth certificate and social security number.

  • There are very few differences between CNMs (Certified Nurse Midwives) and CPMs (Certified Professional Midwives). Both are certified (although by different certification organizations), and both are licensed to practice in Indiana. Both are extensively educated in the normal pregnancy cycle and how to recognize abnormal conditions. Both receive extensive hands-on training in the clinical setting. Both work in partnership with women to promote healthy pregnancy and informed decision-making regarding care during labor, birth, and postpartum.

    CPMs are trained to care for women throughout their childbearing cycle in an out-of-hospital setting, such as a home or a birth center. CPMs are also called CDEMs (Certified Direct Entry Midwife) in Indiana. This is because CPMs enter the profession of midwifery directly without first training as a nurse.

    CNMs may provide care either out of the hospital or in a hospital if they get privileges to do so. They also provide non-pregnancy-related medical care to women from puberty through menopause.

  • Possibly. In those situations, we will work with you to provide the same individualized prenatal and postpartum care that all of our clients receive. However, we do not have hospital privileges, so you will need to be seen by a physician during pregnancy and your hospital birth.

  • The global fee covers all prenatal visits, your labor and birth, and postpartum visits up to 6 weeks after the birth. Our fee also includes birth pool, and birth kit. a breastfeeding class and childbirth class for first time parents. a Newborn metabolic screening (heel prick) and pulse ox done at first postpartum visit. It does not include labs and ultrasounds. It also does not include physician visits or hospital birth, should transport be needed.

 
 

02. Women’s Health Exams

We provide a full range of services outside of our maternity care package, such as well woman’s exams, preconception counseling, and health and wellness education. We work with women of all ages including teens, childbearing, peri-menopausal, and menopausal women.

 
 

Price: $100 - $150 per visit

 
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WELL-WOMAN EXAM

✓ Pap Smears

✓ Breast exam & referral for mammograms

✓ Minor gynecological concerns

✓ Screening & treatment of STIs

✓ Family Planning & Contraception

 
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PRECONCEPTION COUNSELING

✓ Physical exam

✓ Routine lab work

✓ Lifestyle & nutrition evaluation

✓ Ovulation tracking guidance

✓ Discussion of questions & concerns

 
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HEALTH & WELLNESS EDUCATION

✓ Physical exam

✓ Lifestyle counseling

✓ Discuss health concerns

✓ Monitoring of thyroid levels

✓ Mental health referrals

Barbara Purnell CNM headshot

BARBARA PURNELL

CNM

SAMANTHA BRINKERHOFF

CPM

Samantha Brinkerhoff CPM headshot

Meet Your Midwives

When you choose Wabash Valley Midwives for your maternity care, you're not just choosing someone to 'deliver' your baby. You're selecting partners to support YOU as you make health decisions for yourself and your child.

Samantha Brinkerhoff, CPM, and Barbara Purnell, CNM of Wabash Valley Midwives, believe in this process. As mothers themselves, they know first-hand how hard it can be to find a provider that feels the same. That's why they provide something different.

Their midwifery practice is evidence-informed, compassionate, supportive, and personalized, and they work to serve as many women as efficiently as possible in their area.

Learn more →

☆☆☆☆☆

“It was such a positive experience working with the midwives - after having three hospital births. Office visits were relaxing, and I never felt rushed.”

Staci Mercer

You need a care team that PARTNERS with you.

Most conventional medical models are restrictive and don’t allow time for a personalized experience, which makes you feel invisible. As midwives, we are here to give you that personalized time, and partner with you as YOU give birth.

Book your free consultation to get started, we’ll meet in person and get to know each other, then begin your care right away - so you can start taking charge of your health.