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How much did your homebirth cost? - Page 3  

post #41 of 51
11/28/08 at 5:08pm
We're looking into HB for our next babe...

Going rate would be roughly 3000 for the basic birth, added fees for added services (like labs, birth pool, doula, etc). This would not be covered by our insurance. However, I'm told that the local midwives have some experience in getting partial payment from our insurance company so there is a chance that our insurance would reimbuse us for some of the prenatal visits/birth expenses. Though we were warned it's often just a few hundred dollars.

First birth ended in a hospital with a c/s, we paid 3000 which was the 10% copay required by our insurance (so the whole shebang was 30,000! Ack!) Second birth was a planned hospital vbac, our 10% copay was just over 200 dollars. In both cases insurance covered everything else, including lab work and prenatal care. The "copay" portion was only in regards to the birth itself.

Although I was happy with our (second) hospital experience, our local hospital is no longer mama/baby friendly and I can't see myself birthing there again. So if this TWW ends in a BFP we'll be putting away every extra penny we can find so that we can pay the birth costs.
post #42 of 51
11/28/08 at 5:20pm
Congratulations! Are you using Monica? What happened that Cayuga is not Mama Baby friendly (besides the fact that Heidi & Rudy don't do births there anymore)??? You could also birth at Schulyer with Dr. Sacks if cost/insurance is an issue. (I don't know if you remember me, I used to live in Ithaca & ran Sweet Peas).

I am either using Monica (getting a sublet in NY for my due month, if you hear of one LMK! It needs to be in the country, on a well and near Schuyler hospital.) or giving birth with New Dawn Midwifery in Asheville for my next birth. New Dawn's fee is 4000 including labs and Monica's is 3200 plus 500 for the nurse who also attends your birth. So roughly the same.

Of course, I might be able to get a cheaper birth by going with a local lay midwife/CPM (around 2000 total) or by going to the local Health Department for prenatal care, but Monica & I always talk about how your births are few and even women in nursing homes with Alzheimers remember them. It makes sense to pay for swank care, IMO. Not that CPMs are not swank. They are swank! But for me, since my last birth ended in transfer, I need that extra level of medical system integration, in the event of a transfer.

Last night I was on the website of my insurance company and was like: What am I doing? I am going to an insurance company to tell me who I can have my baby with? IMO I am not going to bother with them unless my birth ends in a NICU/Section ordeal, then they can pick up some of the tab. But I have a High Deductible plan so I wind up paying a lot of the costs out of my own pocket (with pre-tax dollars) anyway.

As a CNM Monica can DEFINITELY bill insurance though AND the mamas on here have some GREAT tricks to get your insurance company to cover your birth.

I'll be excited for your 2ww!
post #43 of 51
11/28/08 at 5:20pm
Mine will cost $2600 plus $175 for tub rental (if I want it). I also see a backup dr and I'm not sure how much (if any) that I'll owe him. I still haven't gotten a bill from his office for my last birth which was two years ago! I still see it as "pending insurance" on statements that I receive from his office for small things like the u/s co-pay and urine test strips that my insurance kicks into my deductible. All in all, I've paid his office about $60 so far this pregnancy.
post #44 of 51
11/28/08 at 5:23pm
Oh ETA: First birth I paid entirely through trade. It was 3000, I had Medicaid but Monica doesn't participate with them. I was her nanny during that time, which was really like an extra bonus. How safe is it to hang out in a midwife's house 2-3x a week, kwim? Good times. When I transferred to the hospital, Medicaid paid Heidi & Rudy and for my son's BS SICU stay. (Which was only because MY doctor was late and I had to use a TOTAL Lame-o from Buttermilk Falls. :roll: )
post #45 of 51
11/28/08 at 5:51pm
$1500 each homebirth... a great deal! The going rate can be more like $1500- $2000 these days.
post #46 of 51
11/28/08 at 5:57pm
My hb was $3500, but the fee has gone up since then. I used my tax return to pay $1400 and my mw agreed to bill the insurance for the rest. If my insurance hadn't paid (it did take at least nine months) I would have been obligated to pay the rest.
post #47 of 51
11/28/08 at 9:08pm
Thanks Dinahx! I've got my fingers crossed even though this was essentially unplanned!

Schuyler doesn't do VBACs, so it's off the table so to speak. Cayuga changed malpractice insurance providers and started putting restrictions on VBAC mamas... Ithaca lost 6 birth providers in the last year (including Heidi/Rudy who attended my vbac with dd2) and there is currently only one (or two, I'm not positive) care providers at Cayuga who will even attend a VBAC... and if you have the state side Cornell insurance there is only one OB and they don't have a good rep in terms of being natural birth friendly or even sorta VBAC tolerant.

It's amazing how quickly the birth climate can change... we actually planned dd2's vbac pregnancy to take advantage of the awesome birth options and here we are with a 17mo dd2 looking at very slim pickings.

Monica's nurse and I are ICAN co-leaders so depending on what I find out in a week or so I'll be pestering her with more intent. I'll keep an eye out for sublets though! I'd offer our house but it's literally 2 rooms/850 sq ft and while we have a well it's a bit of a haul to Schuyler.

Congrats on the coming babe!
post #48 of 51
11/28/08 at 11:50pm

Please some advice?? Tax Q regarding my MW.

We are paying 4000 dollars, that includes the standard birth kit, labs, and the prenatal care of course We are without health insurance, and were denied for state help:
Anyways we pay 600 each visit, well that was for monthly, now we pay 300 each visit!! I would never birth in a hossy unless medical issues arise and force me too..lol. We had a birth center birth with DD1 and it was 5000! We love our HB Midwife, she is amazing and paying the money..is well worth it. Although we are now very far in debt. Our current CC balance is over 8,500..it only goes to 9000. DP says he does not know if we can pay the MW off, we do have another CC and IDK what the limit on that one is. I feel like an irresponsible parent, you know having no health insurance and all. It's so expensive and we are barely making ends meet as it is will just my DP working, I plan on going back to work hopefully in March or April of next year. I know the MW fee is a tax write off, we are in FL and I wondered if anyone has used a MW, then had it as a tax write off? How much do we gain to get back? We badly need to be reimbursed SOMEHOW! We may end up having to as my inlaws for a loan..and I am so stressed out, it's the holidays people! We've already cut back sooo much and are cutting so many corners already. We really are doing everything we can. DP is even cashing out some PTO for DDs Christmas..oi...
post #49 of 51
11/28/08 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abismommy View Post
We are paying 4000 dollars, that includes the standard birth kit, labs, and the prenatal care of course We are without health insurance, and were denied for state help:
Anyways we pay 600 each visit, well that was for monthly, now we pay 300 each visit!! I would never birth in a hossy unless medical issues arise and force me too..lol. We had a birth center birth with DD1 and it was 5000! We love our HB Midwife, she is amazing and paying the money..is well worth it. Although we are now very far in debt. Our current CC balance is over 8,500..it only goes to 9000. DP says he does not know if we can pay the MW off, we do have another CC and IDK what the limit on that one is. I feel like an irresponsible parent, you know having no health insurance and all. It's so expensive and we are barely making ends meet as it is will just my DP working, I plan on going back to work hopefully in March or April of next year. I know the MW fee is a tax write off, we are in FL and I wondered if anyone has used a MW, then had it as a tax write off? How much do we gain to get back? We badly need to be reimbursed SOMEHOW! We may end up having to as my inlaws for a loan..and I am so stressed out, it's the holidays people! We've already cut back sooo much and are cutting so many corners already. We really are doing everything we can. DP is even cashing out some PTO for DDs Christmas..oi...
How do I move this to it's own thread..I completely messed up!
post #50 of 51
11/29/08 at 12:09pm
wow I feel so blessed! Our midwifes work as a charity....they don't have a set fee and will do a birth for free if a family cannot afford it!! After much prying I got them to tell me that if they recieve $700 it covers most of their cost, so my husband and I decided to pay them $1000. Besides their cost we probably have another $200 or $300 in supplies and this includes buying our own pool and things we can use for births after this one.
post #51 of 51
11/30/08 at 11:39pm
$1800 for the birth, $300 for the prenatals, $100 for the birth kit and pool, and $200 or more for gas to and from prenatals since there are no midwives locally. So in total it cost us about $2400 and it was all for nothing because we ended up transferring anyway. Hospital birth was totally paid for by ins.
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