In 2015, Tyler and Annie Langdale sought a health plan to fit their unique needs as consumers and aspiring parents. Years later, a life-changing event helped confirm why they became Sutter Health Plus members.
The yoga studio owners found harmony in coverage that checked all required boxes: affordability, access to Sutter Davis Hospital’s Family Birth Center and its water birth capabilities, in addition to broad coverage for maternity care. They became first-time parents in February of this year, when Annie gave birth to a son at Sutter Davis Hospital.
“Those were catalysts to why we chose Sutter Health Plus,” Tyler said. “We liked that it would give us access to the location and the birthing method we wanted.”
A certified Baby-Friendly® Hospital by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, Sutter Davis is the Sacramento region’s only acute care hospital that hosts water births. The facility offers a doula program, along with access to nurse-midwives and group prenatal care. “The staff was incredible,” Annie said. “The midwives are in my hero-category.”
In the 1970’s, French physician Michel Odent, M.D., became the first obstetrician to write about water births in medical literature. He introduced the concept of birthing tubs and home-like birth centers. In 2017, approximately 25 percent of births at Sutter Davis featured labor and delivery in a birthing tub.
“As health care consumers, women are now looking for choice in their birth options,” Sutter Davis Birthing Center Nurse Manager Carolyn Campos said. “The trend is growing in hospitals, where there are strict policies.”
On Feb. 22, 2018, at 1:39 p.m. inside Sutter Davis Hospital, Gabriel Fox Langdale arrived weighing six pounds, 14 ounces. Annie delivered after spending nine hours in labor. The couple learned the benefits of Sutter Health Plus through Rob Ford, their benefits broker with Ames Grenz Insurance Services in Sacramento. The ease of getting care and coverage for Gabriel––who’s now up to 15 pounds––only increased their peace of mind.
“This was a health plan to have a baby. And when it came time to put it to use,” Annie explained, “the experience couldn’t have been any better.”
Maternity and Newborn Services
Sutter Health Plus covers inpatient services at hospitals in the health plan’s 15-county network, and some maternity and newborn services are covered at no additional out-of-pocket cost*. Examples include:
- Preconception visits, scheduled prenatal care exams and first postpartum follow-up consultation and exam
- Breastfeeding supplies, support and counseling
- Prenatal diagnosis of genetic disorders of the fetus
- Routine immunizations
*For details, refer to your health plan documents found on the Member Portal.
