Babymoon Inn is proud to announce . . .
WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!!! We received our approval letter today. I’m too excited to say much more – will have lots of updates in the next few weeks. A HUGE thanks to everyone who has been cheering for us. This community is amazing. We hope to be a blessing to you.
Inspection Scheduled
We are SO excited! The Department of Health Services has scheduled our facility license inspection for next week. If the inspector determines that we have met all of the requirements of licensure, we could receive our license very soon. We have been working hard to make sure we meet all of the requirements of licensure and are hopeful that the process will keep moving along as smoothly as it has to this point. So, please keep all the prayers, good thoughts and love coming. We hope to have an exciting announcement soon – so please check back! (You may not have to check your computer, you might be able to hear Shell, Leigh and me shouting for joy.) Dear Sweet First Baby to be born at Babymoon . . . we are getting closer. Can’t wait to meet you and your mama!
another quick update . . .
Big day today – we filed our facility application with the Arizona Department of Health Services. Now, we wait for an on-site inspection and then our LICENSE!
If you have questions about insurance coverage – and not just for the Babymoon Inn, but for any midwifery care as well – we have been working with a great insurance biller who specializes in midwifery care. She gets it perfectly because her mom is a midwife 
. For a $20 fee, she will contact your insurance company and verify your benefits, obtain any necessary referrals etc. within 4 days. Click here for her website.
I will keep you all in the loop as soon as our inspection is scheduled.
a quick update
After a busy week, we passed the last of our City inspections this morning. Next up, filing our application with the Department of Health Services.
So, what HAVE you been doing?
Here is our progress report so far. We signed our lease in April and immediately began working with the City to determine what we would need to do to use the property as a birth center. I have to take a moment here for a HUGE GRATEFUL shout to our amazing architect Jason Steele. Jason has been working with us from the beginning, and has been designer, property selector, project manager, consultant, hand-holder – there just aren’t enough hats for his head and he wears them all with grace and patience.
After working with the City, Jason determined that we needed to add a water closet to the property (get that – a birth center for pregnant mamas and their children – needs to add another restroom . . . sometimes the City regulations just make sense!). So after working through the process of having our plans approved and obtaining our permits (no dilly-dallying, just working steadily through the process), we began construction last week.
We anticipate finishing the water closet early next week. We have been working very hard and the crew has been moving along quickly . . .
. . . as long as there is plenty of dirt, water, and the promise of a popsicle or two. 
After the water closet is finished and we receive approval from the City, we will be able to turn in our complete license application to the Department of Health Services.
So that’s where we are and what we’ve been up to. More to come soon. If you would like a tour (understanding it is a work in progress), more information, or just a GREAT summer popsicle, let me know.
We want YOU!
Suzanne Arms gave us a wonderful piece of advice early on in our process. She said that a birth center will function at its best when EVERY person involved is passionate and excited about the cause.
We are beginning to remodel the property (hooray!) and need a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a landscape/outdoor space designer. We also are working on our marketing material and need a website and graphic designer. We want to keep it in the family! If any of these are your gifts and talents, we want YOU. Like everyone these days, our budget is tight – planning to add to your family and would like a birth center birth? We would be open to bartering. If you are not in a position to barter or volunteer, we still would love to talk to you because we will have to bid out the work regardless and we would rather have YOU.
Thanks for all the love and encouragement.
We FOUND it!
Still here . . .
We are still here! And still working. We negotiated for over 2 months on the Scottsdale property but were unable to reach a deal. We have identified several other properties and will be posting more details soon.
Why is it so hard to find a suitable property? Here is the dilemma. In order to obtain our required licensing and city permits, we need to find a property with more commercial attributes. However, a typical commercial office-type building just doesn’t have the look and feel we want. Or it shares walls with another space. Or there is no outdoor space . . . or there isn’t enough parking . . . . There just aren’t that many perfectly situated, beautifully appointed home-feeling commercial spaces. We WILL find it, it just is taking us longer than anticipated.
In the meantime, Shell’s homebirth practice is thriving. If you are interested in exploring your birthing options, contact Shell for a consultation. The Phoenix area is blessed with incredible homebirth midwives and an amazing birth community. If you need information or birth resources, please feel free to send me an email (babymooninn@gmail.com) or call me at 480.270.9819. If you know of a property that you think would be a possibility – I’d love to hear about it, too!
Julia
Doing Due Diligence
So up for discussion and opinions? Two more to consider. The first property is a building on 7th Avenue, right across from St. Joe’s. This building has been recently renovated (down to the bare bones) and the exterior has been finished but the interior is a complete blank canvas for us to design. The location and the ability to design our own space are very attractive; the downside would be that it is not a house and there is little/no outdoor area. There would be plenty of room for classrooms and meeting space and three lovely birth suites.
The second property is in downtown Scottsdale, a minute away from Scottsdale Osborn hospital. It is hard to see from the picture, but it used to be the Waterfalls Spa. It is the largest of all of the properties we have looked at. Although it would need some reconfiguring to suit our needs, there are many nice features that are already in place (such as a two-room beautiful yoga studio!). There is PLENTY of parking and a wonderful drive-up area with 2 natural fountains and a koi pond.
Initially, we were limiting our search to central Phoenix; however, we have looked at EVERYTHING there and when we found the spa property we had to take a look. What are your thoughts about a Scottsdale location?
Decisions, Decisions . . . Opinions, Please!
We had a great afternoon of looking at our short list of properties yesterday. We have narrowed it down to 2 strong possibilities, each with their own set of pros and cons.
The first is a complex of 2 houses, set up as one property with a common lot and shared driveway. It is located on Missouri and within 5 miles (and about 8-10 min.) of St. Joe’s, Banner Good Sam, and Children’s. The larger home has a nice floor plan with a reception area, 3 office/exam rooms and 1 bathroom in the front of the house. There is a good-sized living area and updated kitchen with eating area. The back of the house has 2 master bedrooms with large bathrooms that would work well for either two large birthing suites, or one back-up birthing suite and one classroom (which has access directly off the parking lot). The smaller of the 2 houses could be the primary birthing suite if we chose to use the bigger house for mostly exams and community activities. It could also work as additional offices, etc. Unfortunately, it might be too small to use as a classroom space. We still don’t have a floorplan with dimensions, and we only had about 1 minute to visualize moving walls (it is currently occupied). Other than moving the wall in the smaller house (to make 2 small rooms into 1 larger room), we probably wouldn’t need to move around walls or rearrange plumbing/electrical in either house. The interior of the houses will need paint and freshening up, but not much else. There are 2 patio areas and a small but usable yard, with beautiful landscaping, and room for a play area and/or possibly a pool. The cons are the parking situation and limited space for classrooms/community activities. The property has space for 12 cars and there is limited street parking. It would get a little tight, though, with everyone coming and going at the same time for classes. There is the potential that we could solve the classroom space problem by leasing an additional property which is 5 houses down the street (less than 1 block and no streets to cross). That property looks like a house, but is set up as open office space (would be okay for classes) and has 8 parking spaces. However, it wouldn’t have the community-all-in-one-space feeling and would add quite a bit to our overhead costs.
The second is a unique stand-alone building at Osborne and 12th Place, and closer to St. Joe’s, Banner Good Sam, and Children’s (within 2 miles and about 5 minutes). Not a house, no yard. But — the space is incredible! There is plenty of room for classes. Plenty is an understatement actually! It has been recently updated and has beautiful finishes (new carpet, fresh paint, all hardwood-style floors upstairs). Vaulted ceilings, interesting stone, etc. The first floor has over 3,00o square feet of space for offices and several large open areas perfect for classrooms and meetings. The second story itself is an additional 3,000 square feet and would comfortably house the birthing suites, with space for a large family area, beautiful birth rooms, bathrooms, the Michel Odent cave room that Shell and I have been hoping for, ALL of the great ideas for props that you have suggested. *Side note: we would of course put those in the first property, too. It’s just that the second has a lot more space to play around with.* The cons are that there is no yard, and we would have to do quite a bit of remodeling to the birthing suites to add the bathrooms and reconfigure the space to make it feel like a home upstairs. It is expensive (but not more expensive than leasing all 3 properties for the first option). We will have to take a serious look at exactly what we can do as far as remodeling goes – to see what is even possible.
So that’s where we are. Even though this is a good real estate market for a buyer, our specific requirements make the list of potential properties shorter than most. We’ve looked at a LOT of properties that just won’t work. Over the next week, we will be looking at the financial aspects of the two properties and will be trying to figure out which is the most prudent and serves the community the best. Which sounds more appealing to you? Any strong opinions one way or the other? I posted this question on facebook yesterday, before looking at the properties (with not as many details) and really appreciate all of your responses. Do the additional details change or strengthen your previous opinion? If you are a childbirth educator (doula, birth advocacy group, infant massage instructor, prenatal yoga teacher, etc.) it would especially be helpful to hear from you regarding what size are your classes or groups on average? How many parking spaces do you need per class?
Also, if you have questions or comments you would like to make to me off-line, please feel free. You can email me at babymooninn@gmail.com or give me a call at 480.270.9819. I have been getting a lot of calls from expectant moms looking for out-of-hospital childbirth classes — if you are a childbirth instructor (or any type of birth-related or women’s group), I would love to hear from you so I can pass along your information. I can’t WAIT until we have the space ready to open the doors and start hosting all of the wonderful resources available here in Phoenix.
Julia
