Packages and Prices
The midwives of BetterBirth,LLCspecialize in beautiful, natural births at Bella Natal Birthing Suites or at home. All of our packages include attentive prenatal visits, delivery, and postpartum visits. Also included are the initial prenatal lab work and Group B Strep test (if you desire it), and the hearing screening test for the baby. You can also check out books from our extensive library.
We encourage you to consider a waterbirth. Dubbed the "natural birth epidural" by midwives, you won't believe how great it feels to labor and/or birth in a warm tub of water. Melt the tension and pain away, erase gravity, and adopt any position you choose. Waterbirth is included in all of our packages.
While ultrasounds are not included in our packages, we do offer them as an add-on. See below for other optional services.
The most important factors to consider are:
Where do you want to have the baby?
We deliver at Bella Natal Birthing Suites, a supremely comfortable spa-like environment in which to give birth. There are queen-sized beds, fireplaces and fully stocked kitchens to help you relax and take care of all your needs. Water birth (or water labor) is wonderful in the specially-designed jetted tubs. All necessary equipment and medications are there for safety, of course, and all supplies and towels are provided by the facility. You can be fully pampered, safely cared for, and fully in control while birthing at the birth center.
The birth center option is particularly good if you prefer to birth in a dedicated birthing facility but don't want a hospital, or if you want an out-of-hospital birth but don't feel comfortable with home birth. It's also great if you'd like a home birth, but your home is not conducive to your plan (for example, if you live with other people whom you don't want present at your delivery). The birthing center also works well for our many clients who come from out of state to deliver with us.
We also deliver at your home. There is really nothing like being in your own space, your own bed. With this option the midwife comes to you, bringing all necessary equipment with her. Waterbirth (or water labor) is available either in your own tub or in our portable birthing tub that can be set up anywhere in your home. This option is excellent for families who want their children to be present for the birth (or right after), and for mothers who deliver very quickly. Our home birth packages include a birth kit with the supplies you'll need for the birth, as well as our famous towel service (no mess and no laundry for you!).
Who do you want to provide your care?
Our midwives work in small, tightly integrated teams to provide you our world class personal service. Each midwife will get to know you, consult with you and her team members about any special issues in your care, and work to make your birth a great experience for you. BetterBirthLLC is also a premier clinical training site for midwives, and our students come from all over the United States and Canada to learn from our team. You can choose to receive your hands-on care directly from our exceptional midwives (the Midwife Program), or from our students under the supervision of our midwives (the Student Program).
How do the Midwife Program and Student Program differ?
With both programs you get excellent care. Both include the same features (initial lab work, prenatal and postpartum visits, group B strep test, labor and delivery including water birth, hearing screening for the baby). However, there are some differences you should consider before choosing a care program:
| Midwife Program | Student Program |
|---|---|
| Hands-On Care: | |
| The midwives on your team primarily perform the hands-on activities required during your care (such as vaginal exams, delivering the baby, stitching if necessary). Student midwives assist the midwives at appointments and at your birth. | Our student midwives primarily perform the hands-on activities required during your care (including vaginal exams, delivering the baby, suturing if necessary), always under the close, in-person supervision of a midwife on your team. Vaginal exams (and some other procedures) are done twice, once by the student and once by the midwife, to ensure each assessment is correct. |
| Contacting the Midwife: | |
| When you call with a question, complication, or to inform us you are in labor, your call is routed directly to a midwife on your team. | When you call with a question, complication, or to inform us you are in labor, your call is routed to one of our student midwives who will give you an initial assessment. The student will then call the midwife to coordinate with her. She will relay back to you any changes or communication from the midwife. |
| Learning Experience: | |
| While your midwives are happy to explain anything you want to you during your care, they will not automatically explain things from the point of view of teaching a student midwife how to perform midwifery skills. | The supervising midwife will often be teaching and explaining to the student how to perform a skill using you as a model. She will often describe what to look for, what to feel for, how to recognize and correct problems, etc. |
| Getting to Know You: | |
| We expect your team of midwives to remain constant throughout your care, so you will get to know them well, and one of your team will attend your birth. Only in an emergency would you have a midwife at your birth whom you do not know. | Student midwives come for varying lengths of time, some as short as two weeks, others a few months. You will meet many more students during your care than midwives, and because it is possible that a student may arrive shortly before you deliver, you may or may not have met one or both students managing your delivery. |
| Postpartum Stay: | |
| Your postpartum stay at the birth center is 8 hours once you are stable. | Your postpartum stay at the birth center is 4 hours once you are stable. |
| Homebirth: | |
| Homebirth is available with this program for an additional fee. | Homebirth is not available with this program |
| Price: | |
| The price for your care is $2600. | The price for your care is $1800. |
Home Birth Midwife Package $2900
- Prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care
- Delivery at your home, including waterbirth if desired
- Initial labwork and Group B Strep test
- Hearing Screening Test for the baby
- Birth Supply Kit
- Towel Service
Birth Center Midwife Package $2600
- Prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care
- Delivery at Bella Natal Birthing Suites, including waterbirth if desired, 8-hour postpartum stay
- Initial labwork and Group B Strep test
- Hearing Screening Test for the baby
Birth Center Student Package $1800
- Prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care with our master-midwife supervised apprentices
- Delivery at BellaNatal Birthing Suites, including waterbirth if desired, 4-hour postpartum stay
- Initial labwork and Group B Strep test
- Hearing Screening Test for the baby
If you need help paying for our services, consider our Utah Partners for Health program. If you qualify, the program pays for part of your prenatal care and can be applied to a birth package.
Optional Additional Services
Ultrasound
Not sure of your due date? Want to know the gender of your baby? Need to check if the baby is breech? There are many good reasons to have an ultrasound (sonogram) during pregnancy. We are so pleased to offer full medical ultrasound at a terrific price which includes the reading and report by a radiologist. Ultrasounds are also available to non-clients with an order from your provider.
Our Price: $150.00
Prenatal Care Only
Planning on birthing elsewhere? We welcome clients who want to do only their prenatal care with us. Each visit is 30 minutes. If you later decide to birth with us, everything paid for prenatal care will be applied to your choice of birth package. If you qualify, you can receive prenatal care at a reduced price through Utah Partners for Health.
Our price: $41 per visit
Beta Strep Antibiotic Service
If you have tested positive for Beta Strep, the administration of antibiotics during labor can drastically reduce the chance your baby will become ill. With BetterBirth LLC antibiotic service, you will receive either injectable or IV ampicillin every 4 hours in labor to protect your baby. (Includes up to three doses.) To learn more about Beta Strep and possible treatment options, click here.
Our Price: $65.00
Vitamin K Newborn Injection
A rare deficiency in vitamin K could cause a bleeding disorder in your newborn. The vitamin K injection will prevent damage in most cases. To learn more, click here.
Our Price: $25.00
Newborn Eye Prophylaxsis
Erythromycin ointment placed in the newborn's eyes within an hour of birth can prevent blindness from neonatal eye infections. To learn more, click here.
Our Price: $35.00
Newborn Metabolic Screening (PKU) Test
This test checks for thirty-seven rare but serious conditions that might affect your baby. We perform the heel-stick test at your first postpartum visit (24-72 hours postpartum), and we'll repeat it at your 2-week checkup. To learn more about the diseases checked for and about this test, click here.
Our Price: $140.00
Newborn Blood Typing
Take advantage of this unique opportunity to know your baby's blood type without an invasive needle stick to the baby! The blood in the umbilical cord is the baby's blood and can be typed at the birth with no pain to your infant. Never again in your son or daughter's life can you obtain the blood type non-invasively. Keep the results in your child's medical records or baby book for future reference throughout his or her life. If your blood type is Rh-, this test may let you know whether or not it is necessary to receive expensive lab work and a Rhogam injection after birth, and may save you hundreds of dollars and a few needle sticks yourself!
Our Price: $15.00
Newborn Hearing Screening
Although most parents believe they can tell if their newborn can hear, you can't by simply observing the newborn. Hearing deficits can go undetected for 2-3 years causing major problems with language development and social skills. It can also become less treatable the later they are diagnosed. Utah law requires all newborns to receive a hearing screening but most babies born out-of-hospital are never screened. Newborn hearing screening is included in all of Better Birth's delivery packages. We also offer low cost hearing screenings for newborns delivered by other providers.
Our Price: Free with our Birth Packages
$20.00 for newborns deliverd by other providers
Pap Smear
Try a gentle, sensitive pap smear at a great price.
$160
IUD Removal
Looking to have your IUD removed? We will remove your IUD for FREE. The IUD strings must be accessible. If your IUD proves complicated to remove, we must refer to you a physician for removal.
Prices and package contents subject to change without notice. We guarantee you the package you elect as specified in your payment agreement, or its equivalent.