FAQs

Please fill out our contact form or email our director at laurel@sbbirthcenter.org to schedule a phone consult free of charge. We are currently offering an open house every first and third Thursday from 12:30-1 at the Birth Center.

Because we spend such a lot of time with our clients ( about 40 hours total per client), we do not contract with insurance, since their set rates do not come close to covering our costs of providing such extensive care. However, our clients with a PPO can get significant reimbursement afterwards with the help of our insurance biller, whose services are included in your fee.

We are excited to announce that in partnership with The Victoria Project we have funding to assist a limited number of families with due dates between July 1 and November 31, 2024.

Consider:

Compared to a birth in the hospital where costs can soar, our care is extremely cost-effective. Our fee is our fee no matter how long your birth takes or how many supplies are used.

Hospital births cost an average of $18,865, a cesarean upwards of $26000 depending on insurance (Forbes 2024). Insurance will probably cover much of that-but in the case of a PPO, when you consider the amount of your deductible and the cost of your co -insurance and co-pay, it may still cost you more than out-of-pocket midwifery care.

We are happy to discuss our fee in a one-on-one consultation. There is so much included that it warrants an individual conversation. We are open to discussing custom financial plans for those who may need financial assistance. We have a subsidy fund to help cover the cost of the Birth Center fee for those who qualify.

There are many extras with midwifery and birth center care:

SB Midwifery services included are:

Hour-long prenatal exams every three weeks until 28 weeks, every two weeks after 28 weeks, then weekly from 36 weeks until birth

Prenatal and postpartum support groups

Nutritional and exercise counseling

Community resource referral list

“Freshtest" healthy glucose screen, custom pregnancy tea blend

24/7 direct midwife access from start of care

In-house lab draws

Management of labor, birth and postpartum

All medical supplies and medication for birth

Initial newborn exam, Vitamin K, eye ointment

Rhogam

Non-Stress Tests at SBBC

Take-home custom SBBC tote bag filled with postpartum supplies

Four postpartum home visits and follow up newborn evaluations

Newborn metabolic screen

Congenital Heart Defect Screen at ~24 hours

Up to date lactation support as needed from midwives

Final exam/ office visit at 6-8 weeks

SBBC SERVICES INCLUDE

Midwife Assistants/ doula support during labor, birth and postpartum

Use of facility upon arrival in active labor, for as long as needed until birth

All medical supplies for birth & postpartum

Use of birth tub as desired, water birth

Food and beverages during labor and homemade hot meal after birth

Use of the facility for 6 hours following the birth unless medically needed for longer.

We welcome your partner to share the birth experience with you every step of the way. He/She can share in your prenatal appointments, classes, and during the birth itself. Many partners get in the birth tub with the laboring mother, help catch the baby, and cut the cord. The partner stays with you and the baby after the birth.

The midwives can do all of your prenatal care and testing. You do not need a physician unless the pregnancy becomes complicated, in which case we will make a referral. We refer to perinatologists for ultrasounds just as the local OBs do.

Yes, we offer the chance for a person who has had a previous cesarean birth to have a trial of labor with the hope of a vaginal birth. We have had about an 80% vaginal birth rate for those attempting VBAC.

When your baby is born it goes right up onto your chest and stays there until after the first breastfeeding if at all possible. Often the partner will cut the cord when it stops pulsing or after the delivery of the placenta. The midwife checks for any needed repairs if any lacerations to the vagina have occurred. We do not do episiotomies routinely, and our midwives are very good at helping you to stretch naturally, so any repairs they must make are usually superficial. Any newborn procedures, exams, and testing are delayed until your baby has been welcomed, warmed, and fed in your arms. The midwife will then do the newborn exam there in your presence an hour or two after the birth. We feed the parents a meal, help mom shower if she would like and tuck everyone into a clean warm bed for a good nap before going home.

The midwives work in a team practice. They have on call days that they deliver babies, days they work in the clinic, and days off. We want to make sure you know all the midwives well before the delivery. Our appointments are much longer than typical OB appointments so you have time to get to know and become comfortable with the four midwives. Our midwives are committed to helping you have the safest and easiest birth possible in an environment that is sensitive to you and your baby.

We seldom have more than one mother in labor at a time. If we do, we call in more staff. We have never been so busy that we have to turn our clients away. We have a homelike office space with a bed and inflatable tub that can used as a third birth room should we be unusually busy.

Some of the things we can offer that hospitals can not are:

Continuity of care: The people you see during your prenatal appointments are the people who will be at your labor and birth, all the way through.

We have an experienced team dedicated to providing sensitive individualized care that honors the miracle of birth and the sensitivity of the newborn.

All of our midwives and support staff have many years of experience in their field, supporting natural birth.

In labor you will receive one-on-one care and support from your midwives.

Options – You choose how you labor, how you birth, who will be present, and in what atmosphere. More importantly, you always have the option to change your mind.

All exams of the baby are done right on the bed next to the parents- no separation of mother or baby.

In labor, about 20% of our women are transferred to Cottage Hospital. The main reason for transfer is labor with a first baby that has stalled and is no longer progressing. A stalled labor is very disappointing but is NOT an emergency. In any non-emergency the woman is transferred to the hospital by private vehicle and one of the midwives or assistants accompanies her and stays with her as support throughout the rest of labor, birth and recovery. We do not have admitting privileges at the hospital so we work with the obstetrician on call. For emergencies, we call an ambulance. Of our mothers who are transferred to the hospital, only a few are delivered by cesarean, for an overall rate of 4% for the midwives. (primary C-section rate is 32% nationally and 28.7% at our local hospital) In the unlikely event of a hospital transfer, we want you to rest assured that the care you receive will be in your and baby’s best interest. Our local hospital physicians and nurses are an extended arm of our team. We couldn’t be here without their support. They are always available and provide the expert care our transferred mothers and babies need. They are an integral part of why we have the good outcomes we are so proud of, and grateful for. When you visit them for a tour, please keep in mind that their services address special circumstances and their high technical units are what a transferred mom or baby needs. This network of support allows Santa Barbara Birth Center to provide natural childbirth services to our clientele. While we understand that a transfer may be disappointing, our excellent outcomes for mothers and babies are the result of the expert care provided by our local hospital physicians and nurses. Please remember that while the atmosphere and procedures in the hospital are quite different from those at SBBC, like us, they are dedicated to the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies and deserve the support and respect of all of us.

We have oxygen and resuscitation equipment and are certified in resuscitation for mother and baby; IV fluids for hydration, volume replacement and/or the administration of medications to control hemorrhage. We are trained in emergency birth maneuvers for various scenarios. We are conservative in our transfers and do not delay going to the hospital if we feel the mother or baby is at increased risk at any point. Cottage Hospital is only 5 blocks away form the birth center.

At every prenatal visit our clients are assessed for their suitability to birth at the birth center. If for any reason it is not appropriate, usually due to medical conditions, for a client to birth at the birth center, their care is transferred to a physician, or transferred to a hospital. Midwives adhere to the same standards of care as physicians, so the clinical care you receive is the same, just with a more personal approach, and a stronger emphasis on nutrition, exercise, and complimentary therapies such as chiropractic and acupuncture. Midwives are limited to caring for people with low-risk pregnancies (age does not risk you out of midwifery care or a birth center birth). That means that the pregnant person is healthy, and has only one healthy baby coming head first. If you and baby come into labor healthy, the odds are stacked in your favor that you will deliver safely.

Most of our families are ready to go home between four and six hours after delivery; depending on what time the birth has happened. We make sure both mother and baby are recovered and stable before sending you home. We then come to see you in your home within 24-36 hours after the birth, and again on day 3, to be sure all is going well and to evaluate breastfeeding. Then you have a two week and six week post-partum visit at the birth center. If you are having any difficulties with breastfeeding or any aspect of your recovery we are available for visits and phone consultation.

We feel strongly that being in a familiar, comfortable environment that is warm, quiet and supportive, surrounded by familiar caregivers, goes a very long way towards making labor an empowering and very ‘do-able’ experience. Women very rarely need or ask for pain relief when they are birthing in environments such as this. We use natural pain relief methods stemming from complimentary therapies, such as massage, visualization, vocalization, acupressure, and aromatherapy. To promote your comfort in labor, we do not use fetal monitors which strap to your tummy. We want you to walk around and change position freely, and we check the baby’s heartbeat periodically with a Doppler which gives us the information we need. Laboring in the tub is a terrific help with the discomfort of labor. Warm water relaxes the mother, counters gravity and creates pleasurable sensations that compete with painful ones. Most people love the tub in labor, whether or not they choose to birth in the water. The tubs are big enough for partners to join in the bath.

We provide complete prenatal care, labor, birth and recovery, post-partum care, well-woman care, and contraceptive counseling for our clients. As a birth center client you receive a complete network of maternity and women’s health services including:

Comprehensive community resource list

Complete prenatal care with hour-long prenatal visits. Children and partners welcome

In-house lab draws including genetic testing.

In-house fetal non-stress test as indicated.

Referral for ultrasounds.

Consultation with physicians as necessary.

Transfer to a hospital if the need should arise.

Our birth center has beautifully appointed private birth suites with private attached bathrooms. There are large tubs for labor and water birth, birthing balls, birthing stools and slings, and a supportive environment that encourages the laboring person to be actively involved in the process.

A free standing birth center is an outpatient facility for labor and birth, staffed by certified midwives, that is often close to a hospital. Many hospitals call their labor and delivery wards “birth centers” however, they are not the same. The difference is in how labor is approached: as long as mother and baby are doing well, there are no arbitrary time limits on how long labor may take or how or where the mother may give birth. We work with only healthy people with low-risk pregnancies, so natural, unmedicated, family-centered births are our specialty and our area of expertise. The SB Birth Center allows our clients to move around in labor as they like and does not use interventions that restrict a laboring person to the bed. Our clients are encouraged to birth in many positions, including standing, squatting, hands and knees, on one side, and in the tub. A birth center allows active birth, unmedicated, and results in better outcomes for both mother and baby. There is no separation of mother and baby after the birth. Birth centers hire their own staff who are specially trained to attend and facilitate normal birth. The SB Birth Center is a place that gives you a caring, warm, and home-like environment where you are supported and respected as well as safe and secure. You will have a private room for giving birth where you can:

Make yourself comfortable with music and candlelight, queen sized beds and familiar caregivers.

Wear your own clothing.

Eat when you feel hungry.

Soak in a tub or have a water birth.

SB birth center welcomes your children, your parents, and your friends so you can decide who will be with you or near you as you give birth.

The Midwives and staff of SBBC give you continuing support well into the postpartum time; holistic pain management; and information on infant care, breastfeeding, parenting, and family planning. SBCC is the first and only free-standing birth center in Santa Barbara County. We are a nonprofit organization, established with the help of the Santa Barbara community in response to the public’s need to have different birthing options available.

Please email our director Laurel Phillips at laurel@sbbirthcenter.org and schedule a phone consultation free of charge. We also offer an open house every first and third Thursday of the month from 12:30-1 at the Birth Center.