Babymoon Inn Birth Center is closing abruptly

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — In June, Babymoon Inn abruptly closed birth centers in Phoenix and Tucson, leaving families without midwives after significant financial investments and employees without jobs.

Babymoon Inn has been around for more than a decade and offers birthing classes and doula services that provide emotional and physical support for expectant families and an alternative to hospital birth.

For Jessica Locke, who was a patient at Tucson’s Babymoon Inn in 2022 when she was pregnant with her first child, the decision to seek treatment at the center again was a natural one.

“I had a good experience the first time and I liked all the staff,” Locke said. “So in January I called them and told them I was pregnant again and how far along I thought I was.”

After five in-person appointments with the center, she got a call in June from her midwife that the birthing center would be closing in the coming weeks.

When Locke arrived for her appointment a week later, her midwife told her she was fired and wasn’t sure if she was allowed in the building.

“We’ll have to sit outside at first,” Locke said. “I told myself it’s 110 degrees today and I’m eight and a half months pregnant.”

With her baby less than a month away, Locke was left struggling both emotionally and financially.

“It was just super, super hectic and kind of stressful. Luckily, the midwife gave me some contacts with places to call and we lined up,” said Locke, who found care at the El Rio Health midwifery center.

Locke, who had already paid more than $3,000 at the Babymoon Inn, struggled to get in touch with the property. That’s when her mother, Sandra Ruppel, intervened.

“I started hitting her every day with emails because she wasn’t responding, and I went after her every day,” Ruppel said. “You know, we need an answer. We need a refund.”

In an email provided to KGUN 9 by Ruppel, the center instead demanded additional payments, telling him, in part, “There is no refund due; this account has a balance,” directing her to “review the documents signed by Jessica.”

“When somebody goes, mistreats your child and your grandchild, it’s just frustrating, upsetting,” Ruppel said.

While the closure came as a surprise to families, staff like clinic midwife Jillian Freeland, whose role included opening mail, saw signs early on.

“I started seeing a lot of late notices, everything from housekeeping to utility bills to rent, which was very alarming,” Freeland said. “Then, starting in February, the paychecks were consistently late until my last day.”

When Freeland notified the owners of the late notices, she said, she was told to scan them and send them in because they would take care of it.

Freeland told his colleagues about their rights to bargain collectively. But, she said, the executive team deleted her posts. The owner then contacted Freeland via Slack to take a 37 percent pay cut, according to a screenshot Freeland sent to KGUN9.

“They forced me out, taking a pay cut, and I was the only employee whose pay was cut,” Freeland said. “In fact, I’m still owed payments from all of May and I have an unpaid wage claim in the state going. by process”.

Freeland then resigned in April.

“Every day I thought maybe this would be the day they let us know we were going to close and every day the joy I got from working with these families and my fellow midwives, doulas and educators, just made me come back,” Freeland said.

Two months later, the center closed.

“It was my dream job and you know, we were all there because we care,” Freeland said. “Of course we have to get paid, but that, but it’s more than that.”

Contract doula Racquelle Adkission said she has yet to be paid for her services at the Phoenix clinic since April.

In June, she learned Babymoon was closing its doors, so she reached out to the owner seeking guidance on whether she should continue to schedule or teach classes.

“We’re going to stay open until we can’t anymore, was kind of the response we got,” Adkisson said.

Since then, she has not heard back from the owner.

“We’ve all supported these families and we have families that keep coming back and it’s a huge community,” Adkisson said. “So there was a lot of hurt and pain in the beginning.”

Now, Adkisson said, pain and hurt have turned to anger after experiencing radio silence from the property.

“I’ve been blocked on social media, so I can’t reach her there,” Adkisson said.

Adkisson said she didn’t have a phone number to reach her either.

“We never had that closure. It was like a bad breakup,” Adkisson said. “You were just the ghost of your ex.”

Now, she’s holding out hope that she’ll still get paid for her work.

In May, Babymoon’s owner filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to documents obtained by KGUN9.

KGUN 9 reached out to the owner of the Babymoon Inn and did not hear back.

If a company files for bankruptcy but still owes money, it’s important to file a proof of claim with the bankruptcy court.