ladies in the US - Cost of a homebirth

[mo0nangel]

Just wondering what the cost of a homebirth is? If anyone has a rough estimate. I have a primary and 2ndary insurance and both cover for the midwife but was wondering what other costs are involved??

 

[imthatgirl]

With my homebirths I just had to buy the supplies. Usually around $30. If I wanted a water birth (or even just to labor in the water) I'd be responsible for buying or renting a birth pool. Those can vary greatly in price. A lot of people just buy deep blow up kiddie pools, but you can also get much fancier birth pools for a few hundred.

 

[mo0nangel]

Nice!

 

[Dtswife]

Check it out for birth supplies: https://www.midwiferymercantile.com/default.asp

Your midwives should give you a list of what you need. Definitely should be under $100, and they probably will have a birth pool you can use.

 

[Guppy051708]

That really depends in ur area and what insurance covers as well as if u have be deductibles/coinsurance/coPays. For me I have to meet a $600 deductible but really as far as a HB goes I don't. Really have to meet it bc I met that going to my endocrinologist and getting bloodwork. So anyways my MWs charge $4000 for everything from prenatal care, labor, delivery and postpartum. If I pay in full before 24 weeks they discount it to $3200. In full by 30 weeks its discounted to $3600 and in full by 36 weeks its discounted to $3800. If u break it down the prenatal cost $1500, the birth is $2,000 and the PP is $500. All if these numbers would be if u were paying out of pocket so obviously cheaper if u use insurance and they r in-network. My insurance does not cover the assistant fee, so that's $400 out of pocket for me. And since I always have water births I have to pay a rental fee from the midwives which includes the pool, the liner, and the cover for another $100. I gave birth w them just a year and a half ago and the fee was only $40 for the pool but they had to purchase a new one so the price went up.

Natural births are apart of the New Hampshire culture and so out of hospital births and MWs are in higher demand so typically the prices I quoted u are higher than what i would imagine they would be in PA but really it depends on the practice and that.

I also have a list from the MWs on supplies I need such as towels, wet pads, baby hat, peri bottle, etc and that runs me about $40

 

[motherearth23]

Just wondering what the cost of a homebirth is? If anyone has a rough estimate. I have a primary and 2ndary insurance and both cover for the midwife but was wondering what other costs are involved??

I also have a primary and secondary insurance
My primary insurance that covers homebirth and a midwife... but only a CNM (certified nurse midwife), and not a CPM (certified professional midwife. CNMs usually practice in a hospital or birth center setting, whereas CPMs usually only do homebirth or a birth center. I was really set on having a homebirth until I realized that my insurance was going to count my CPM as an "out-of-network" provider. Which, would have been covered 100% if I had met my out-of-network deductible for the year, which is $6,000. Unfortunately, I had only spent $3,000 on out-of-network care the past year so I was still going to have to pay $3,000+ for my birth center or home birth.
The birthing center I chose was going to charge:

$3200 for prenatal visits from the beginning to the end, tons of post-partum care including a home visit 3 days after birth, a prenatal and birthing class, a weekly support group that had other pregnant women in it, a prenatal massage done by a professional that worked at the center, and basically 24/7 on call support for the last two months or so of pregnancy.

$1600 fee for birthing, whether I chose home or their lovely birthing center. the fee included all supplies, use of the birthing center birthing tub (extra fees if they had to bring their portable one to my home)

So altogether I would have ended up paying $3,000 before insurance started to cover anything.

Definitely call your insurance with the name of the midwife you want to see and ask them if she is covered "in-network" or "out-of-network", and talk to them about your deductibles (if that applies to you). I'm ending up at a hospital for financial reasons, although they do offer water birth which makes it a bit better.
Best of luck to you and your birthing vision!! You can totally talk to me further about insurance stuff if you want. I learned a TON trying to figure out my own homebirth/birthing center scenario.

 

[NaturalMomma]

I paid $3,000 for my MW, $300 for my Doula and for supplies probably less than $50 since most of it I already had.

 

[Anthrogirl]

I paid just a little over $2000 for midwife, birth supplies, and PP care stuff. Midwifery here in KY is a little less expensive than other places due to it's odd a-legal status and independent midwives.

 

[mo0nangel]

Anthro and Naturalmomma--> Was that with insurance coverage??

 

[mo0nangel]

Just wondering what the cost of a homebirth is? If anyone has a rough estimate. I have a primary and 2ndary insurance and both cover for the midwife but was wondering what other costs are involved??

I also have a primary and secondary insurance
My primary insurance that covers homebirth and a midwife... but only a CNM (certified nurse midwife), and not a CPM (certified professional midwife. CNMs usually practice in a hospital or birth center setting, whereas CPMs usually only do homebirth or a birth center. I was really set on having a homebirth until I realized that my insurance was going to count my CPM as an "out-of-network" provider. Which, would have been covered 100% if I had met my out-of-network deductible for the year, which is $6,000. Unfortunately, I had only spent $3,000 on out-of-network care the past year so I was still going to have to pay $3,000+ for my birth center or home birth.
The birthing center I chose was going

Thank you!! My deductible for the primary insurance is 1,000 dollars and 800 for the secondary and they do cover thr birthing center i will be going to for my appts. I don't we have CPM's here they're all nurses. And they can either come to my house or i can deliver at the birthing center. But I'll have to find out with them i guess how much it would cost. I know the hospital would definitely cost a whole lot more.
I have my first appt on the 20th of June so I'll have to ask them then!

Thank you so much!!

 

[Anthrogirl]

Anthro and Naturalmomma--> Was that with insurance coverage??

Nope, Moonangel, that was cash out of pocket. Although my MW, primarily based out of Ohio, accepts insurance and medicaid, KY is funny as far as the promotion and legality of midwifery.

My insurance (Aetna through the University of KY) only covers prenatals and births through their system (UK clinics and hospitals) or 50-80% of prenatals, labor, and delivery 'out of network' with approval. So there are a couple of hospital based birthing 'centers' here that are basically OB run rooms attached to the major hospitals that employ CNMs under OB supervision and co-care. Not my cup of tea. I was happy to pay cash on a payment schedule with the option to barter and/trade off some of the costs.

 

[Reidfidleir]

For everything? About $3300 out of pocket. Insurance doesn't cover. Well only a couple cover it partially and we didnt have them.
$3000 was for the prenatal care birth and postnatal care. 200 was for the tub rental. And 70 for the birth kit I had to buy.

I've wondered how much a hospital birth would be for comparison out of curiosity and to maybe prove to husband that we should do another home water birth.

 

[Anthrogirl]

I've wondered how much a hospital birth would be for comparison out of curiosity and to maybe prove to husband that we should do another home water birth.

For my 2nd, born in University of Kentucky taching hospital was an only moderately complicated vaginal birth and the room and board bill alone (checked in 10 pm Friday night to L&D, left mom and baby on Tuesday) was over $7000.

 

[Guppy051708]

I've wondered how much a hospital birth would be for comparison out of curiosity and to maybe prove to husband that we should do another home water birth.

I believe the national average is around $10,000 for an uncomplicated, epidural free hospital birth. (Before any insurance). It could be more or less depending on the area. When u get into epidurals it bumps up to around $15,000 (depending in the area). C-sections one could anticipate 15,000-20,000. (Again depends on the location). Depending on ur insurance coverage, it may or may not be a better deal, financially speaking. It really depends on ur coverage and coPays/deductibles/coinsurance/in-network rates/out-of-network rates.

 

[9jawife]

Out-of-pocket with the local practice in Columbus, Ohio is $2700 which includes prenatal care, delivery, and post-labor visits. I think water tubs are a separate rental. The organization-CHOICE-also provides a free library of DVDs and books to anyone, clients or not, so it's a great resource.