Input on birth center vs hospital. Checking out my options.

[babybloo]

Hi Ladies! It's been a while since ive been on here. I was wondering if anyone has any input on hospital vs. Birth center experiences? Also, a main concern for me is cost. Which cost you more? Our insurance has recently changed and the deductible is 3500. But half appointments are next year, so 7,000 all together. And that's the stuff the insurance is covering. Totally sucks at 15 weeks I have 1,000 in bills already and only had one ultrasound declined 12 week scan, pelvic, and other tests I didn't feel were necessary for me personally.

I'm very interested in having a more natural pregnancy and birth. Not sure if I'll be a good candidate because I had pre eclampsia last time around. But just wondering differences in price, procedures, and which you prefered. I realize this will probably vary by location but any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Symphony7]

I know the birth centers in our area are out of network for all companies, they say so on their pages. So, for me it is definitely not worth it to pay out of pocket when most would be covered by insurance at the hospital. Sorry your insurance sucks, I'm glad I just got to switch insurance and it is really the best I've had. I probably won't end up paying much more than a few thousand.

 

[babybloo]

So lucky Symphony! With our daughter we ended up paying nothing out of pocket so I about died when the bills started rolling in. I knew it would be expensive but our insurance is very tricky now with tier levels for doctors and labs, even when they are in network. If I'm not careful, a tier 3 dr can cost us 20,000 in deductible. Yikes!

I called a birth center near by and the highest out of pocket cost is 6,500 based on income but I may be able to get the insurance to cover a very small portion as out of network. Thanks for your answer!

 

[arturia]

I can't speak on insurance as it's not relevant in Canada. The one birth center I was looking at charged $500 which is somewhat more expensive than requesting a private room at the hospital - this is a thing you can do around here, and it usually costs a nominal fee similar to a night in a hotel, rather than a fortune. Sadly you have to have a midwife, which is nearly impossible here too.

The following assumes you don't develop any complications that make you high risk, at which point you'd need to be in a hospital anyways. But according to my reading on it, giving birth in a birth center will probably increase your odds of having a natural birth process. Since access to painkillers and advanced intervention techniques will be limited, you'll likely only be transferred to the hospital in the event of an emergency, at which point you really will need that intervention. It'll reduce the chances of an unnecessary c-section.

That's assuming that the birth centers there are anything like they are here.

 

[Jmxswack]

I am giving birth at a hospital that has a midwife unit (which is not super common in the US but is becoming an option). It is billed through our insurance exactly the same as if I had been seeing an ob since the practice has both. I am just under midwife care.

Depending on where you live, this may be an option for you.