Ronnie Falcao, Licensed Midwife
Holistic Postpartum Midwifery Care for Mother and Baby
In-Home Postpartum/Newborn Care and Breastfeeding Support
European-Style Postpartum Midwifery Care

Mothers and babies thrive best when receiving in-home midwifery care, in the style of many European countries. I offer in-home clinical midwifery care as needed to support an optimal postpartum recovery for mothers, an optimal start in life for babies, and lactation assistance for an optimal establishment of a happy breastfeeding relationship.

I am a homebirth midwife, routinely providing comprehensive midwifery care – prenatal care, birth attendance, and postpartum care for new mothers and babies, including lactation consulting.  I am also available to provide in-home postpartum care for new mothers and babies after a hospital birth with another healthcare provider.

A mother’s body changes day to day in the days and weeks after birth. Many breastfeeding challenges peak about 4 days after the birth. Newborns are still adapting to external life for two weeks after the birth. I can help mothers to be more comfortable in their recovery, provide guidance regarding new babies, and facilitate breastfeeding success.

This is especially helpful for women who request an early discharge from the hospital.  I can perform the baby's heelstick and specimen collection for the Newborn Screen at the optimal time.

Each of these appointments includes the following for the newborn:

1) Status of the umbilical cord and clamp
2) Vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, lungs)
3) Weight gain
4) Skin color – evaluation of skin rashes
5) Feeding, hydration status, and elimination
6) Sleep/wake patterns
7) Bonding and family response to the baby's needs

1) General well-being and emotional temper
2) Vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure)
3) Review of herbs or medications
4) Nutrition and elimination
5) Perineum/sutures/incision
6) Lochia/bleeding
7) Fundus/afterpains

1) Breastfeeding evaluation, education and support
2) Addressing the concerns of the family

Fees

Google, Apple, Samsung, Adobe and many other insurance plans cover my services very well. Google’s plans require pre-arrangement with Anthem, so please contact me before the birth.

I accept a number of insurance plans that have reliably covered my services in the past.  If you do not have insurance that will cover my services, my fee for a two-hour in-home postpartum appointment is $470; payment is due at the end of each appointment. [NOTE – although I feel that postpartum care, especially lactation consulting, is best provided in the home, the care described above is also available in my office for $350.]

If you would like to meet me during your pregnancy to arrange in-home postpartum care, I offer a one-hour office appointment for $75 just to discuss postpartum care.  However, one of the most important factors for a happy postpartum and breastfeeding experience is to avoid a c-section. The c-section rate in our area is around 35-50%, depending on the hospital and your situation. So clients who are interested in my postpartum services are also often interested in c-section prevention, so our first appointment is often a combination of meeting and talking about c-section prevention or other birth planning. For that, we identify any particular challenges and discuss ways to reduce or overcome the challenges. So, really, the non-clinical introductory appointment is primarily useful for someone who is planning a c-section.

Ideally, prenatal midwifery support would start by 24 weeks, or even earlier.  Even meeting just once at 36 weeks can provide a tremendous benefit; we can develop a plan for you to avoid  c-section, and I can assess your baby's rotational orientation, i.e. anterior or posterior.  You can read more about my prenatal supplemental midwifery care.

Availability

If you'd like to learn more about my  midwifery services, please phone me at 650-961-9728 with your e-mail address or send me e-mail.
My e-mail address is "ronnie" at "gentlebirth.org".  Please put the word "midwife" in the subject to get through my spam filters.  Please let me know your due date and where you live; if you also let me know what kind of insurance you have, I can share my experience about the insurance reimbursement you can expect to receive for my services. Thanks.

I provide care in homes within about 15 miles of Mountain View, California and will drive further by special arrangement.

Some pages I've written:

Perspectives on Normal Childbirth - An article I wrote for the ICAN journal about my internship in an El Paso, Texas, birth center. I was astounded that they had a cesarean rate of less than 1% without compromising the well-being of the mother or baby.

Homebirth Safety and Benefits - Homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital birth in most cases; homebirth also offers intangible benefits beyond superior safety.

Information about VRE - Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus - It was recently reported that the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, enterococcus, has infected 100% of the surveyed hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area.
 

Some pages I've edited:

The Midwife Archives - As a way of organizing my notes about information and wisdom shared on the various birth-related distribution lists, I created the Midwife Archives. Please visit those pages for answers to many practical questions and for an interesting perspective on the mystical side of birth.
 

Some pages I've formatted in co-operation with the authors:

Benefits and risks of episiotomy: A review of the English-language literature since 1980
A journal article by Robert J. Woolley, MD.

Is Homebirth for You?  6 Myths About Childbirth Exposed
An online version of the booklet originally published by Friends of Homebirth (Editor: Janet Tipton, 1990)