Midwifery, Prenatal Care & Home Birth Questions

Families can contact Birthstone Midwifery as soon as pregnancy is confirmed.

Beginning care early provides more time to establish prenatal care, review health history, discuss testing options, prepare for birth, and decide which birth setting best fits the family’s needs.

Families who are further along in pregnancy may also contact the practice to inquire about availability.

Routine prenatal appointments are provided at the Birthstone Midwifery office in Murrieta, California. Home birth clients also receive home-based visits when clinically appropriate as they prepare for birth, and postpartum care may include visits in the home.

Learn more about our Murrieta office and prenatal care.

Start with a consultation so we can learn what type of pregnancy care you are looking for, discuss home birth or hospital birth plans, and identify the next step for insurance verification or scheduling.

Yes. Families can receive prenatal care from a licensed midwife even when planning a hospital birth.

Birthstone Midwifery offers personalized prenatal care for families who want the relationship, education, and individualized approach of midwifery care while planning to deliver at a hospital. Learn how our midwife prenatal care + hospital birth model works.

Midwifery prenatal care emphasizes individualized education, informed decision-making, prevention, continuity, and relationship-based maternity care.

Prenatal appointments may include routine prenatal assessment as well as conversations about nutrition, pregnancy changes, birth preparation, breastfeeding, postpartum recovery, newborn care, and the family's goals for birth.

Prenatal care can include routine maternal and fetal assessments, appropriate laboratory testing, screening discussions, and referrals or orders for additional testing when indicated and within the licensed midwife’s scope of practice.

The exact testing schedule is individualized based on gestational age, health history, pregnancy needs, informed decision-making, and insurance requirements.

For the Prenatal Care + Doula Support program, Tayna Chessman, LM, CPM provides your prenatal midwifery care. Your dedicated doula—not the midwife—supports you during labor and delivery at the hospital.

The hospital’s physician or hospital-based midwife remains responsible for clinical care and delivery at the hospital. Your doula provides continuous non-medical physical, emotional, educational, and advocacy support.

Learn more about the prenatal care + hospital doula program.

Your dedicated doula becomes familiar with your preferences during pregnancy, supports you through labor and delivery at the hospital, and continues with postpartum guidance after your baby arrives.

Support may include birth preparation, comfort measures, positioning, emotional reassurance, partner guidance, feeding support, newborn-care education, and postpartum adjustment. Covered services and visit limits depend on your individual insurance benefits.

Yes. Midwives and doulas provide different types of support and can work together.

A licensed midwife provides clinical maternity care within their professional scope. A doula provides non-medical emotional, physical, educational, and labor support.

Birthstone Midwifery offers a prenatal care + doula program that can combine midwifery care with dedicated doula support.

A midwife is a licensed healthcare professional who provides clinical maternity care. A doula provides non-medical physical, emotional, educational, and advocacy support.

Midwives may provide prenatal assessments, monitor maternal and fetal well-being, order appropriate testing, and provide maternity care within their professional scope.

Doulas focus on education, comfort measures, emotional support, birth preparation, labor support, and postpartum support.

Some insurance plans may cover prenatal services provided by a licensed midwife. Coverage depends on the individual's health plan, eligibility, authorization requirements, provider network, and services received.

Birthstone Midwifery works with multiple insurance plans. Families should complete insurance verification to determine their individual benefits.

Many California families may qualify for doula benefits through Medi-Cal managed care plans and certain other health plans.

Eligibility, covered services, authorization requirements, and provider participation vary by insurance plan.

Birthstone Midwifery can help families explore available options for coordinated prenatal and doula support.

Birthstone Midwifery works with a variety of insurance plans for eligible maternity, prenatal, and doula services. Participation and coverage can vary by plan, service, eligibility, and authorization requirements.

Because benefits change, the best way to get an accurate answer is to review our accepted insurance plans and complete benefit verification before beginning care.

Insurance coverage for home birth varies significantly by health plan and benefit design. Some plans may provide reimbursement or coverage for eligible midwifery services, while other home birth costs may remain the family’s responsibility.

We recommend completing insurance verification and reviewing our home birth investment so you understand both potential benefits and out-of-pocket costs.

For clients enrolled in the Prenatal Care + Doula Support program, the goal is continuity from pregnancy into labor. Your dedicated doula provides non-medical labor support at the hospital, subject to program eligibility, your individual benefits, and hospital policies.

See how our prenatal + doula program works.

No. Birthstone Midwifery provides both home birth midwifery and prenatal care for families who plan to deliver at a hospital.

Families can choose the type of care and birth setting that best fits their needs.

Yes. Birthstone Midwifery provides planned home birth services for appropriate pregnancies within its service area.

Care may include prenatal care, preparation for birth, labor and birth support, appropriate newborn care, and postpartum follow-up within the licensed midwife's scope of practice.

Prospective clients are encouraged to schedule a consultation to determine whether Birthstone Midwifery and planned home birth are appropriate options for their pregnancy.

A safe home birth plan includes clear criteria for consultation and hospital transfer. If hospital evaluation or a higher level of care becomes appropriate, the midwife coordinates the transition and communicates relevant clinical information to the receiving team.

Transfer is a safety tool, not a failure of the birth plan. Transfer planning, nearby hospital options, and reasons a transfer may be recommended are discussed during prenatal care.

Yes. Water birth is available as an option for families planning a home birth who meet appropriate clinical criteria. A professional birth tub is brought to your home for labor and, if you choose, delivery.

Whether water birth is a safe and appropriate option for your pregnancy is discussed and reassessed throughout your prenatal care.

For healthy, low-risk pregnancies, water birth is a well-established option within planned home birth care. Warm water can ease the intensity of labor, support relaxation, and allow for easier movement and position changes.

Your midwife monitors you and your baby throughout labor whether or not you are in the water, and reviews your individual health history to confirm water birth remains appropriate as labor progresses.

No. Choosing to have a birth tub available does not commit you to delivering in the water. Many families labor in the tub for comfort and pain relief and then move out for the birth itself; others remain in the water through delivery.

The choice is yours in the moment. Learn more about water birth at home.

Birthstone Midwifery serves families throughout Southwest Riverside County and surrounding areas, including:

• Murrieta
• Temecula
• Menifee
• Winchester
• French Valley
• Wildomar
• Lake Elsinore
• and select surrounding communities.

Service availability may vary depending on the requested service. See the full list of service areas.

Families looking for a licensed midwife in Murrieta or Temecula can schedule a consultation with Birthstone Midwifery to discuss pregnancy, prenatal care, home birth, hospital birth plans, doula support, insurance, and available services.

Birthstone Midwifery provides both home birth midwifery and prenatal care options for families planning hospital births.

Yes. In addition to Southwest Riverside County, Birthstone Midwifery provides home birth midwifery care for families in the broader Riverside area and North San Diego County.

See our Riverside home birth and San Diego home birth pages, or view the full service areas list.