This beautifully appointed suite offers a relaxed, home like environment for women and families who would prefer to not deliver at home, yet have the comfort of home.

Not only is the birthing room appointed with a comfortable queen size bed, a waterbirth option is available complete with a La Bassine tub.

There are many midwives that can assist you in having your baby here. Ask us for a list of midwives.

The birthing suite offers:

• The comforts of home without the preparation
• Postpartum stay is for up to 6 hours- longer at a small fee
• Kitchenette
• Stocked kitchen with drinks and snacks for the birth
• Waiting area for family to be close by
• Playroom for children

Fees

The cost of having your baby here with Birthing Your Way, LLC is $1300 plus $495 for the birth suite. This includes your prenatal care, the birth, postpartum care, newborn exam, waterbirth (if wanted), and a special gift from us to you.

If you have a midwife other than Heather Shelley CPM, LDEM the cost is only $495 plus your midwife’s fee. This is much less than a hospital where the mother’s fee starts at $4000 and baby’s fee starts at $1300, this doesn’t include any extras the hospital may charge.

Contact us today for a tour! Call 801-615-1733 or email for more information.

Labor Suite

For those who live far from Orem and need the extra medical services of a hospital, we offer labor support and comforts at our suites.

When you go into labor, come to our suite, and with the help of a Monitrice* you can labor in comfort until it is time to go to the hospital. This saves families who have a long drive from home, from going to the hospital too early.

You can labor with us until the hospital will admit you, and it saves you that long car ride during active labor to get you to the hospital in time.

We are located near UVRMC, Orem Community and Mount Timpanogos hospitals.

Cost

• $295 up to 12 hours includes Doula or Monitrice fee
• $100 for every 6 hour increment

Includes a Monitrice for labor support.

* A Monitrice is someone trained in labor support. Although a monitrice has additional birth training, a monitrice does not deliver babies.

Insurance Coverage

I am an out-of-network provider with all insurance companies, including Medicaid and TriCare.

However, many private insurance carriers will reimburse their members for midwifery services.

I use a billing service which specializes in midwifery care; they will gladly work with you to determine your benefits and submit claims to your insurance company for reimbursement.

If you would like to know whether your insurance company will cover midwifery services, including facility fees, please visit Midwife Billing and Services and complete the Verification of Benefits form. My billing service will call your insurance company and verify your benefits.

If you have any questions regarding insurance coverage, please call Midwife Billing & Business, LLC at 866.425.6994.

In these classes, expectant parents will learn:

• How to take the fear out of birth
• The anatomy and physiology of normal birth
• Variations on normal labor, and how to respond to them
• The emotional roadmap of the birth experience
• Comfort measures for labor and birth including coping tools and strategies, deep abdominal breathing and relaxation techniques
• Risks and benefits of common interventions and how to avoid needing them
• How to communicate with your caregiver to get the type of birth that you desire
• How to write a birth plan
• How Dad can thrive in his role in supporting Mom and what he can do

The cost for the 4 week series is $95 and includes an informational book about childbirth.   We will be using Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin as our textbook.  This book may be purchased through Amazon or borrowed from your local library and is required for all students.

Private classes are available at a cost of $150.

All classes are taught by Heather Shelley, certified Lamaze instructor at our partner location, Mothering Your Way. To register, please visit the Event Registration or Events Calendar at Mothering Your Way.

More About the Classes

We understand that it takes courage and confidence to plan for a natural birth, and we also know it can be one of the most miraculous and joyful experiences of your life!

The myriad of choices surrounding pregnancy and childbirth can seem overwhelming at times, but we believe in the simple truth that knowledge is power. Our goal is to empower expectant parents to make informed choices.

The first three classes in our series focus almost entirely on the natural process of childbirth. You will learn the physiological and emotional progression of labor. We discuss common fears and concerns and learn tools for dealing with anxiety and the perception of pain. Our students learn and practice proven comfort measures and natural pain management techniques. In addition, we encourage husbands and partners to participate in the birthing process at their full level of comfort.

The last class in our series specifically covers birth in a hospital, including a study of common medical interventions and their risks, how to effectively communicate with hospital staff, a discussion of what it means to provide “informed consent”, and basic patient rights.

We understand that every couple is unique, and we take great pride in respecting and fully supporting all our clients’ choices. We offer education and support to couples seeking a low-intervention hospital birth or childbirth in a birthing center and at home. A key part of our practice, however, is supporting and empowering those who seek the more fully natural, intimate experience of a truly natural birth.

Our conviction is that, when armed with a thorough knowledge and compassionate understanding of childbirth, most women and their partners will find the confidence they need to experience this amazing process in the most natural setting possible.

Have you ever wanted to learn what choices are really out there for your birth?

Did you know that there is more than just the standard birth at a hospital with an OB?

Did you know that there are many options that your insurance isn’t telling you about?

Would you like to know about ALL of your options in childbirth?

This free class is offered once a month at Mothering Your Way, located in Orem, Utah.

Immediately following Choices in Childbirth, there is a Meet The Midwife and Doula Q and A session that is very informative and fun.

Comforts in Childbirth

Have you given birth before? Have you taken childbirth classes? Do you feel like you’d like some more hands on learning?

This 3 hour class is all about making childbirth more enjoyable and comfortable. Come and learn the tricks to relieving the pains of childbirth easily and naturally.

This is a great class for mom, dad, and anyone else helping a loved one or friend with their birth.

Nutrition and Health Class

Pregnant? Thinking of becoming pregnant? Would you like to learn how to prepare your body for pregnancy and how to maintain a healthy diet throughout pregnancy?

This class will help you to learn how to reduce your chances of things such as toxemia, PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension), low iron, and other diet related conditions.

Learn good recipes, resources for information, and connect with other mothers learning about a good diet in pregnancy.

This 2 hour class costs $25 and is offered once a month.

Registration and Information

All classes are taught at through our partner service, Mothering Your Way. To register for these classes please visit the Events Calendar or Registration Page of Mothering Your Way.

• Breastfeeding
• Pumping Milk and Returning To Work
• Newborn care and the Fourth Trimester: How to get your baby to settle down and stop crying
• Birth plans and Effective Communication With Your Care Provider
• Infant Massage
• Father’s Class
• Nutrition and Early Pregnancy
• Choices in Childbirth
• Cloth Diaper Making

Please contact us for more information on these class offerings.

Decoration

Your bellymask can be decorated any way that you would like. Some things that could be used are colored tissue paper, leaves, flowers, herbs, sequins, and hand painting. You can also have your bellymask custom hand painted in a beautiful design of your choice. There are no limits to this!

Displaying

Some places to display your bellymask are the nursery, bedroom, office, and family room. it can be mounted in a frame or hung as a piece of free art. Display your mask where you will enjoy seeing it the most!

Time

It takes about 2 hours to complete. The actual casting time is under an hour.

Styles

• Belly only
• Belly and Breast
• Belly, Breast and part of arms and neck
• Belly, Breast, arms, and hands
• Belly, Breast, arms, hands, and upper thighs

Belly Casting Classes Available

For those that would like to learn to do this themselves I offer classes. They are done in two parts– each class lasts 1-2 hours.

Class 1: Casting Of The Belly

Class 2: Smoothing and Shaping the Cast

Materials are included except decorations, and classes may be done in your home for privacy.  To learn more about belly casting classes, please contact us via Mothering Your Way.

Prenatal Massage

Please visit Mothering Your Way for prenatal massage information.

We are passionate about the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child and offer a variety of services geared towards the nursing mother’s needs, they include:

• Breastfeeding classes
• Support groups
• Free 10 minute individual consultations at the office
• 1 hour affordable appointments

Babes in arms are always welcome, please feel free to nurse your children on premises. Our hope is that you feel comfortable in this sanctuary created for mothers by mothers.

In Office or At Home Support Available

I am available to assist mothers with breastfeeding and/or pumping and storing milk. If you need help with your baby’s latch, sore nipples, feeling discouraged, fussy baby, low milk supply or other breastfeeding related issues, please give me a call to set up an appointment.

If you would like to join us for our support group please visit our partner, Mothering Your Way for more information.

Rates:

In Office:

• $15 30 minutes
• $25 60 minutes
• $40 90 minutes

At Home Visits

• $20 30 minutes within 8 miles
• $30 60 minutes within 8 miles
• $45 90 minutes within 8 miles

Beyond 8 miles there are additional travel fees.

A wonderful online resource for breastfeeding support is Breastfeeding.com

Birth Photography is a wonderful way to remember some of the most precious moments of your life. Whether capturing them on vide0 or photographing the once in a lifetime experience of bringing a life into the world.

As a birth photographer, I am there to capture the candid moments of your labor, birth, and the bonding done afterward with your new little one. I do this within the boundaries that we will have previously discussed.

The photos are done in black and white and in color. I do recommend that black and white be done at the time of the delivery as it portrays a more intimate feeling.

If hired as your pregnancy and/or birth photographer, that will be my one and only responsibility at the birth. I find that I do better work if I’m not worrying about the mothers needs, and am able to catch those precious moments surrounding birth in a better light.

I offer a free meeting for you to come and see a portfolio of my work and to talk to me about what you would like in capturing the moments of your birth.

Childbirth Photography Package $400

This package includes:

• Up to 100 digital photos
• A CD of all photos

Prints and enlargements are available at an additional cost.

Childbirth Digital Video Package $250

This package includes up to two hours of video footage on a DVD. Editing of the video is available for an additional cost. Additional DVD copies are $15 each.

Video and Still Photography Package $550

Includes everything from both the photography and digital video packages.

I have enjoyed capturing home, birth center and hospital births.

From my youngest childhood, I have been fascinated with pregnancy. When I became a mother myself, that fascination grew and expanded until I found the role of a doula. Having attended many births both in hospital, birthcenter and at home- and helping women through one of the greatest experiences of their lives, I knew that I had found my passion, to help women through birth.

I started Birthing Your Way after the birth of my second son. I took my doula training through ALACE (Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators) and DONA (Doulas of North America), and my childbirth education through ALACE, Lamaze and CAPPA, and postpartum training through CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association Years later I enrolled in midwifery school and started on my path to midwifery.)

I am now a Certified Professional Midwife with the North American Registry of Midwives, and a licensed midwife practicing in Utah. I have four beautiful children and a very understanding husband (husbands of midwives need to have a lot of understanding, as we keep odd hours). Through the years I expanded my knowledge of not only birth, but also of breastfeeding and the postpartum care of new mothers and babies. I recognize birth as a natural process of the female body, one that doesn’t require routine interventions.

We have become such a busy society that new mothers and babies are often left on their own without the help of a mentor (this used to be the grandmother’s role) to teach and guide them through the learning processes of parents. This deficit of care can cause a difficult recovery and be a lonely time for the new mother.

I hope to help women through not just childbirth, but also through as much of the childbearing years as I can.

Salt Lake County services are available beginning in November. If you are interested in any of our services, please call or email us for details.

Certifications and Education

• Licensed Midwife with the State of Utah
• Certified Professional Midwife, North American Registry of Midwives, 2009
• Midwifery Associates Degree, Midwives College of Utah, 2009
• Birth of my four children
• EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) 1991
• Childbirth Educator training started with ALACE, Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators, September 2000
• Certified Doula, Doulas of North America, October 2000
• Advanced Doula training, integrating High Touch and Nurturing in the High Tech Birthing Environment, February 2001
• ational Childbirth Institute Conference, March 2001
• ATM (Association of Texas Midwives) Conference and Workshops May 2001
• Advanced Childbirth Educator Training through CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association), June 2001
• Advanced Doula training with Penny Simkin, September 2001
• Postpartum Doula training, October 2001
• Five Day Breastfeeding Seminar, 2001
• Local Hospital Educator
• ALACE Labor Assistant (Doula) Training, May 2002/May 2003/February 2006
• Certified CPR Instructor, September 2002
• Neonatal Resuscitation Certification, 2003/2005
• Breastfeeding Seminar Updates, 2003
• ALACE Childbirth Educator Training Workshop, 2004
• Optimal Fetal Positioning Class, 2005
• Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator
• Breastfeeding educator Class with TDH, February 2006
• Breech Birth Conference, Vancouver, Canada, March 2006
• Midwifery workshop, October 2006

Memberships

• Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators
• Doulas of North America, Certified Doula
• Pacific Association of Labor Support, Certified
• Utah Doula Association
• Utah Midwives Association

We provide physical and emotional help to women and their partners in labor. We will help you with your labor through massage, relaxation, breathing, positioning, and other comfort measures.

We want to help you to have the best birth experience possible for you whether you choose to have a natural birth, one that is medicated for pain, or have a cesarean.

The choice of how you birth your baby is yours and we are here to support you in that choice. We want to help you to have a positive memory about this special day.

To choose a doula with Birthing Your Way, we can meet and agree on services that will be provided throughout the pregnancy and delivery and immediately following birth. During prenatal visits we will learn what you will want during your labor and birth. We can then help you communicate these things to the medical personnel at your birth.

We will also help you to stay on track with your birth plan as much as nature and birth permits. Your doula will remain with you throughout your labor starting from when you feel that the doula is needed until up to a few hours after you have given birth.

Services Provided- Salt Lake County services are available beginning in November. If you are interested in anyserives, please call or email us for details.

• An initial free interview.
• Up to 2 prenatal visits.
• 24 hours a day availability, 3 weeks before your due date until the baby is born.
• Available for you to call and email me with questions before and after the births.
• Help in writing your birth plan.
• Your doula will be present throughout your labor and birth.
• Use of my books and videos on pregnancy and childbirth.
• Help with initial breastfeeding immediately following the delivery and for the next few days as needed.
• A postpartum visit within a month of the birth to discuss the birth and help with any new questions you might have.
• Pictures of you, your husband, and your baby after the birth as the situation permits.
• A CD of digital pictures will be given to you at the postpartum visit.

Doulas and Epidurals

Even if you plan on getting an epidural a doula can be a great help to you. There is always the chance that an epidural may not work properly or that you can’t receive one for one reason or another.

If the epidural does work it is nice to have someone there that knows about birth, and can help to relieve any tension or fears that you may have about birth and what is happening to you at that time. A doula can also help you to stay on track with your birth plan as much as possible at this point.

Doulas and Cesareans

A doula can help you to begin breastfeeding after the surgery and can stay with you while dad goes with the baby to the nursery. This way you are never left alone after surgery.

Doulas and Dads

Doulas try very hard to make sure that the father is involved in the birth of his child as much as he wants to be. They work with the father to help him to know what to do to comfort you and to give you both reassurance when things can get long and tiring.

It can be very hard for your husband to see you in pain and discomfort as you are someone that he loves very much, a doula can remain objective and calm and help to remove any fears that the two of you might have.

HypnoDoula

Heather Shelley has training as a doula in hypnosis births. This is for those who have taken one of the hypno methods of birth and are looking for a doula who can help them with that method of childbirth.

Birthing Your Way Doula Packages

Basic Doula Package $350

• One prenatal visit in our office
• One postpartum visit in our office
• Join you once in active labor
• Use of our library of books and videos
• Discount on childbirth classes
• Childbirth Book

Deluxe Doula Package $500

• Two prenatal visits
• Massage in our office
• Two postpartum visits, one in your home and one of which is a massage
• Special gift pack for mom and baby
• Join you once you are in active labor
• Use of our library of books and videos
• Discount on childbirth classes
• Childbirth Book

Immediate Postpartum Doula Care

This is a unique and very valuable service offered from Birthing Your Way. Immediately after the birth, a trained midwife or doula can offer Immediate Postpartum Doula Care to you and your baby.

This doula or midwife can stay up to 8 hours after the birth to observe both mother and baby,help mother,  make a meal, and help with breastfeeding.

This service can be helpful for any new mother but we feel in can be particularly helpful to those moms who have had long, hard, or complicated labors or births at home. This allows the family to rest, and have someone to care for them after the adrenaline wears off.

This doula can also provide reassurance by answering questions after the couple has been able to sleep on anything from is this amount of bleeding ok to is the baby suppose to nurse this long.

Please contact us to find out fees for Immediate Postpartum Doula Services.

Postpartum Doula Services

After a baby is born most new mothers and fathers can use the additional support of a Postpartum doula. As a postpartum doula I want to help make this time an easier one for new mothers.

Motherhood is a huge change in your life and the adjustment period feels less overwhelming when you have someone to help with your questions and concerns. it is for this reason that a new mother and her partner want the help that a Postpartum Doula can offer.

Many peoples mothers and extended family members are not always available to help, and even if they are available, some mothers and family members do not have the breastfeeding experience to support a new nursing mother. Most postpartum doulas give breastfeeding support along with newborn care tips, and take care of necessary household tasks. This can help to ease your transition into motherhood.

Doulas are flexible to the needs of each family. They are there to encourage and teach families to care for their own newborn. They help mothers and fathers to trust their instincts in meeting their baby’s needs.

Postpartum Doula Services for the Mother and Baby Include:

• Breastfeeding education and support
• Advice on basic newborn care including feeding, bathing, infant massage, soothing, swaddling, safety issues, dressing, diapering and anything else that you need help with, etc…

Postpartum Doula Services for the Family Include:

• Errand running
• Meal planning & preparation
• Emotional support during your transition into parenthood
• Care & activities for siblings
• Grocery shopping
• Doing the dishes

In order to receive postpartum doula services, the family must have an initial meeting with the doula, and a second planing meeting before the birth.

Availability:

The postpartum doula is available for up to 12 hours a day with a 3 hour minimum during the day.

Fees are $20 to $30 an hour depending on the duties requested and number of children. A $100 deposit is due at the time of the planning meeting. This fee is a nonrefundable retainer applied to your contract.

Doula services must be paid for at the end of each week or upon completion of the contract, whichever comes first.

For those further than a 20 minute distance, a $2 an hour fee is applied for gas and travel time.

Breastfeeding Help

I am available to assist the mother with just breastfeeding and/or pumping and storing her milk. This is $20 an hr with a 2 hour minimum.

Limitations of Doula Practice:

• I do not diagnose medical conditions in the mother or the baby but will refer you to a health care provider when appropriate.
• I am not a lactation consultant but have taken two advanced courses in breastfeeding and have breastfed my own infants. I will refer you to a lactation consultant as appropriate.

Payment Options

Payment plans are available as well as barter or exchange. Things that have been offered are:

• Cooking
• Babysitting
• Filing
• Scrapbooking
• Yard and house repairs

Doula is from the Greek referring to a woman who helps other women.

A doula fulfills that meaning and then some–she is someone who helps women during labor and birth through massage, relaxation, positioning and breathing.

A doula also helps families learn about information to help them to have a better birth experience. Doulas help to create an environment of safety for the mother so that she can allow her body to relax and work without feeling tense and threatened.

A doula is not at the birth to function as a medical adviser. She is working only for you as a wonderful, objective support and advocate.

What are the benefits of having a doula?

• Shorter labor of about 25-50%
• Decrease the chance of c-section by up to 50%
• Decrease the need for pain medication by 30-60%
• Help Fathers to participate with confidence
• Increased success in breastfeeding
• Greater satisfaction about the birth
• Decrease the use of forceps by 40%
• Reduce the use of Pitocin