I offer care for vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) in Texas for clients who meet certain criteria. We’ll review your previous surgical report to confirm the type of uterine incision, discuss the reason for your previous cesarean birth(s), and consider whether those circumstances may affect your current pregnancy or birth.

In Louisiana, state law does not permit me to attend VBAC births outside the hospital, so I cannot offer homebirth VBAC services there.

Absolutely! You can purchase or rent a birth pool from a few places online, or you can potentially get one from me. We will discuss these details as your time to deliver draws closer. If you opt for a water birth, I will make sure you know how to set it up correctly.

I can file insurance claims with most companies but most insurance companies don’t cover out-of-hospital births and it may be difficult to get a reimbursement. It typically goes better if you contact your insurance company and ask them what they cover. That gives us an idea of what portion of my fee you will be responsible for. I would have you pay that estimated portion and then we can file a global bill with the insurance company after your last postpartum visit (along with a separate claim for any “extras” and your baby’s care). Once the claims have been completely processed, you may owe more or be due a refund because we were working with an estimate.

Alternatively, I can give you detailed billing receipts that you can then use to file reimbursement claims yourself with your insurance company. Even if the policy doesn’t cover out-of-hospital births, you may be able to be reimbursed with me as an out-of-pocket expense counting towards your deductible. You may also see any reimbursement sooner this way.

I am always happy to work with Christian sharing plans (they usually cover the entire fee with no hassle and are so easy to work with - highest recommendations!).

Regardless of your insurance coverage, most will at least pay for lab work and routine sonograms, and filing those services to insurance is straightforward (even Medicaid should cover these). If you have any questions about insurance, please ask at your consultation.

Unfortunately I don’t, but they should still pay for lab work and sonograms. If you have a birth center birth (especially in Mount Pleasant) Medicaid should pay the birth center fee.

I serve a 75-mile radius from Longview - so as far north as Texarkana, as far northwest as Sulphur Springs, as far west as Canton, as far south as Lufkin, and as far east as Bossier City. I am licensed in both Texas and Louisiana.

Yes. I usually wait until the placenta is delivered, unless there’s an issue like the cord is too short to allow for easy holding the baby. In practice, it ends up being about an hour after the birth by the time I get around to cutting the cord.

There are two major understandings of birth, from the mother’s perspective. One is that care during her pregnancy is something that is done TO her - that is, she is a bystander as her provider cares for her body and her baby. The other is that care during her pregnancy is something that is done WITH her - that is, she is an active participant (and, really, the only caretaker) in her prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum recovery. A mother with the first mindset does not tend to care for herself well during the pregnancy, and is at higher risk of developing complications because of the lack of care. The women who have the second understanding are less likely to develop complications because they are doing everything they can to have a healthy pregnancy. This mindset, coupled with the presence of a well-trained birth attendant, helps a home birth to be safe. Of course, not even a hospital birth is completely safe, but studies show that for a normal, low-risk, healthy pregnancy, a home birth is just as safe as a hospital birth.

There are a few specific things that might go wrong that would be deemed a “true” emergency. I have specific training and medications that can be used in these situations, and I would immediately either transport the mother/baby to the closest hospital while giving emergency care, or I would give care until EMS arrived to transport the mother/baby. Because I recognize that I don’t have things like an operating room readily available in case of a true emergency, I would typically make “the call” on a big problem before it gets to be a big problem, with the informed consent of the parents in a joint decision. Most complications are actually non-emergent, which means we have time to discuss and have informed decision-making. The most common reason for non-emergency transfer to the hospital is “failure to progress”, which in my usage means that the mother is having regular contractions that don’t seem to be moving the baby down or out. This is not decided by looking at a clock, but rather by looking at the whole picture of the mother and the baby and how they are both coping with labor.

All pain medications have side effects for you and the baby that require constant medical supervision and care (such as continual fetal monitoring), which is something that would need to happen in the hospital; so if you really feel that you need pain medication in labor, we would transport. However, birth outside of the hospital compared to birth in the hospital is like comparing apples to oranges. Outside of the hospital you are in an environment that you have control over, and you are able to move around, eat, drink, bathe/shower, and rest where, when, and how you are most comfortable. You aren’t confined to a room or a bed, I move with you wherever and however you need to be, and you are able to work through your contractions however your body tells you to. Also, your labor isn’t being augmented by Pitocin or any other medications, and your body releases endorphins along with more oxytocin to help provide natural pain relief. You might just find that, under these circumstances, the contractions are manageable.

This does happen rarely, though I try to limit the number of clients that I take so that this doesn’t happen. It depends on where both of you are in your labors. The goal is always two trained birth attendants at a birth, so one might be able to check on the other person if they are nearby and the first mom is in early labor. More likely, though, I would call another midwife to go check on the other person and attend that birth unless or until one of us could make it. My clients are always welcome to arrange a meeting with any of my back-up midwives.

I have backup arrangements with a couple of other midwives in the area.  You are welcome to arrange a time to meet them if I have vacation time planned or some other reason I might not be at your birth. I do try to make sure that I do not accept clients at times when I am planning something like a vacation. I always want two trained birth attendants at a birth.

Pregnancy can be an amazing time of self-discovery and learning on the part of the mother. Learning about not only the process of labor and delivery but also her body during the pregnancy serves a woman invaluably. How a woman brings life into the world is at least as important as the fact that she does, and midwifery care addresses all of these things from a perspective that honors and respects the mother-baby dyad, the process of normal, low-risk, natural birth, and the sanctity of the family unit. The time spent in education and individualized care lends itself to an actual relationship between the midwife and the pregnant family, and in the context of that relationship real good, lasting change can happen that will impact the woman, the baby, and the entire family for the rest of their lives. In the short-term, mother and baby bond better, long-term breastfeeding is more successful, babies are healthier, mamas experience less trauma, the c-section rate is lowered, and labors are often smoother and shorter.