Question for USA ladies

[cowboys angel]

Cost difference for homebirth versus hospital birth?

What did the midwife/over all birth cost you?

Does insurance generally cover homebirth costs?

 

[Samantha675]

My midwife is costing $3200, this includes all pre-natal care, birth and 6 weeks of post-natal care.

With my son's birth I also had a midwife, and had to transfer to hospital, her care cost us $4000, but my insurance reimbursed me 80% after a $500 deductible.

You really just have to speak to your insurance company to see what they will cover and won't cover.
I think my hospital birth for the OB alone was over $12,000, but that was a c-section birth. I have no idea the cost of everything else to be honest. Plus our insurance covered 100% of my hospital bills.

 

[fides]

I have called insurance, hospital, OB, etc to budget for this baby. Hospital birth with no anesthesia and no c-section will cost us around $2100 out of pocket, including my OB's fees, ultrasounds, etc. If i end up with an epidural, c-section, nicu, etc, it will cost more.

The midwives in town charge $3000 and up (and I don't trust the one who charges $3K b/c a friend of mine used her). In addition to their fee, there's still a chance of needing to transfer to a hospital, which would then have a % covered by my insurance, after my deductible. My husband's insurance does not cover HB, but if we were to switch to the premium plan offered by his company, it would cover part of their cost as out-of-network (but we'd also be paying an additional $3600/year in paycheck deductions).

 

[cowboys angel]

Thank you for the information ladies.

 

[silver_penny]

My first I think I paid my midwife $3000, plus additional for bloods taken and tests run. Ended up in the hospital due to undiagnosed breech, and the hospital bills were well over $15,000 for his birth, even though it was vaginal and I was only there for 15 hours.

My second birth was unassisted, so I only paid for the supplies I needed, I think I spent somewhere around $300 total for his birth.

 

[cowboys angel]

How did you handle an unassisted birth? Out of curiousity.

 

[silver_penny]

I did all my own prenatal care that I would have allowed a mw or ob to do. This included urine tests (bought them online), fundal height measurements, blood pressure, and weight gain checks. We didn't clamp the cord, as its unnecessary. I did a ton of research and bought the book "Holistic Midwifery: Vol II", a midwifery text on labour, delivery, and right after birth. Its over 1500 pages of info, and covered a lot of the "what if's"

Don't know if I answered your question exactly, but you are more than welcome to ask me specifics! I even have a thread open if you want to look through it: Ask an unassisted homebirther

 

[cowboys angel]

Thanks! I will have to look up the requirements in my state for birth certificates, and talk to my OH. I think I would really love to do an unassisted home birth, now that I've proved I can do it med-free. Don't know if I could do the pregnancy without pre-natal care in an office though, not after 3 really bad experiences with pregnancy.

 

[NaturalMomma]

Cost difference for homebirth versus hospital birth? My hospital birth was around $15,000. That was just the birth, not prenatal care (insurance covered everything). My homebirth + prenatal care was $2,700.

What did the midwife/over all birth cost you? I paid the whole fee of $2,700 out of pocket.

Does insurance generally cover homebirth costs? My previous insurance did, no matter what type of Midwife I used. But the insurance I had when I was pregnant, didn't. So I paid out of pocket. Well worth it.

 

[cowboys angel]

Thank you

 

[SoyLatte]

I'm in MI as well, and our MW fees are estimated at $2500. We make payments at all of our appointments and she is fantastic.

 

[MermaidMom]

we have tricare (military healthcare) so everything is free.... although they wont recognize homebirth midwives. freestanding birth centers are generally still covered though.

 

[SoyLatte]

we have tricare (military healthcare) so everything is free.... although they wont recognize homebirth midwives. freestanding birth centers are generally still covered though.

I'll have TriCare in two more years Can't wait!

 

[Ouverture]

I'm using a midwife run birth center that is NOT part of a hospital.

They gave us a sheet with cost info on it. . .it surprises me that insurance companies don't push for more birth centers and home births!

The Birth Center out of pocket cost for all prenatal care, delivery, and 6 weeks PP care is roughly $4200. Our insurance covered all but about $300, plus we had to pay about $350 for classes. So, less than $800 for us, and if we didn't have insurance, $4200 is a STEAL.

The hospital out of pocket cost for a medication and complication free delivery topped at over $10,000. Add on interventions, meds, etc. and you are looking at much much more. Our insurance would have covered 90% of a hospital birth, so we'd be looking at $1000 out of pocket *if* everything went well.

 

[tbaby]

My midwife is $3,015. It is actually 2 naturopathic doctors. One is my doc. They are also midwifes. It includes prenatal care, pregnancy massage, also includes 6 visits after the birth 2 are at home. This also includes anything they can help with such as herbs, etc.

My sons hospital birth was $8,000.00 He was under oxygen for 1 hr. 8 yrs ago insurance was great. I paid $450.00.

This time its all out of pocket and I just pay at visits.