At The Midwife Center, we know that pregnancy and birth are transformational experiences. You deserve compassionate and personalized care throughout your journey. If you’re seeking a natural, holistic, and evidence-based approach to pregnancy, The Midwife Center might be right for you.
The Midwife Center welcomes clients who are transferring care from another provider. You can transfer your care to The Midwife Center up to 32 weeks of pregnancy. Transferring care might feel overwhelming, especially when you’re already navigating all the appointments and decisions that accompany pregnancy. We want to make it as easy as possible with this simple overview of The Midwife Center’s intake process.
How do I decide if The Midwife Center is right for me?
Imagine welcoming your baby into this world in a calm, peaceful environment surrounded by loved ones and qualified health care professionals.
At The Midwife Center, we believe that pregnancy and birth are a normal, natural part of life and that our job is to ensure your safety, comfort, and physical and wellness during this time. Our care is high-quality, evidence-based, and proven to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. You can trust that your care will be personalized to you - not one size fits all.
You will have access to services that are rarely offered in the Pittsburgh area, including water births and nitrous oxide for pain relief in labor. We also have an in-house lab, behavioral health services, and a Community Health Worker who can provide resource-counseling.
This is just a snapshot of the care we provide. You can learn more about us by:
Who is eleigible for birth center care?
Our first priority is always the health and safety of our clients and their babies.
As a licensed birth center, The Midwife Center is able to offer prenatal and birthing care to people with low-risk pregnancies - more than 80% of pregnancies. In general, our midwives can care for pregnant people with healthy, singleton pregnancies who do not have major underlying health conditions. We are not able to offer VBACS (vaginal birth after cesarean deliveries).
Typically, we are able to accept clients for transfers up to 32 weeks of pregnancy for those eligible for an out-of-hospital birth.
In order to start prenatal care or transfer care to us, we will review your medical history to ensure that our care is the right fit for you. If you are 20 weeks pregnant or more, our clinical team must review your records from your current provider before scheduling your first prenatal appointment.
This is to make sure that we are the best fit for your care and ensure continuity of care so nothing gets missed during the transfer process.
What Happens Next?
Once you have decided to transfer, you can follow the steps to start prenatal care, explained on our website. Our team is here to help you with every step. You can reach out to us at intake@midwifecenter.org with any questions you have.
1. Start Prenatal Care Form Review:
When you complete our Start Prenatal Care form, our intake team reviews your responses. We will get in touch with you by email within 2-3 business days.
2. Welcome & Intake:
If eligible to start the intake process, we will send you:
- Our welcome email with all the details you need to officially transfer your care
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An email with a Release of Records form and Medical Records Review fee (if applicable) for you to complete and return.
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Release of Records: This form allows TMC to request your prenatal records from your current provider on your behalf so that we can do the heavy lifting for you.
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Medical Records Review Fee: TMC requires a $100 non-refundable Medical Records Review fee. This fee is ONLY applicable to those with Commercial/Private Insurances or Self-Pay individuals. This fee does not need to be satisfied for those insured under Medicaid/Medical Assistance. Please note - this is an administrative fee only for our clinical team to be able to review records and this fee cannot be billed to insurance. Records cannot be reviewed until this fee is satisfied.
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Access to our patient portal in Maternity Neighborhood for you to complete your full health history questionnaire
If you are not eligible for care, we will let you know as soon as possible.
3. Medical Record and Financial Review:
Once we receive your records and record review fee (if applicable), the clinical team will review your medical records to determine if we can provide you with the safest out-of-hospital care.
The financial team reviews your insurance coverage/financial information to provide you with a good faith estimate for out-of-pocket costs. We strive to provide transparency in the entire process that includes financial estimates. This allows you to make informed decisions not only on your prenatal care, but also what we anticipate your insurance coverage to be.
4. Orientation:
If you haven’t already attended an orientation, we’ll get you scheduled for one so you can hear directly from a TMC nurse and get your questions answered.
What is the release of medical records process like?
Our clinical team needs to review your medical records before starting your care. You will need to complete a Release of Records form authorizing your current provider to send your medical records to The Midwife Center.
Because this process can sometimes take a while, we recommend returning the release of records as soon as possible, especially if you are further along in your pregnancy.
We know this paperwork can feel overwhelming so we are here to help you and answer any questions you have. You can reach out to us at intake@midwifecenter.org.
What should I do about my prenatal care while I’m waiting to transfer?
While you are going through the transfer process, it is really important that you continue to see your current provider for prenatal appointments and complete all needed ultrasounds and lab work. We don’t want you to miss out on receiving care during the transfer process.
How does insurance and payment work when transferring care?
Our team will work with you to navigate the insurance and payment process.
The Midwife Center is in network with most major insurance plans, including some Pennsylvania Medicaid plans. If you are uninsured, we may be able to offer you sliding scale care and/or a payment plan. We also can connect clients to zero-interest and low-cost loan options throughout Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. You can learn more about insurance and payments and view our maternity fee schedule here.
We know that healthcare is expensive and often confusing. We work closely with our clients to help you navigate this process and make things less stressful. As a nonprofit, our goal is for our care to be accessible to everyone. Our finance team is deeply compassionate and committed to helping every client get the care they deserve.
What else should I know before transferring care?
No matter where you are in your pregnancy, you can contact our intake team with questions about your eligibility, how everything works, or anything else before starting the transfer process. We want to make it as easy as possible for you. Please feel free to contact us at intake@midwifecenter.org.
Traci's Story
Hear from one of our clients, Traci, who transferred her prenatal care to TMC around week 17 of her pregnancy:
“After announcing my pregnancy, a good friend of my husband shared his experience at TMC and I then sat down and spoke to his wife more about her care, labor and birth. She had described the care, setting and birth I had hoped for but couldn't find.
Every visit I made to TMC, whether virtual or in-person, I felt at ease, like I could let my guard down from society's standards of labor and birth. I fully trusted the midwives and Jul to help me make informed decisions. Reflecting back on my daughter, Carmella's birth, that trust is what made her birth perfect. We all worked as a team to peacefully bring her into this world and our lives.”
