looking for updated info on boston-area birthing options - Page 2

[tigermouse]

Just chiming in on what I've encountered so far. 

I too had my first baby at NWH with the midwives of WHA. With #2 I knew I wanted a home birth (I'm 31 weeks now) - my hospital birth was fantastic too but I have zero desire to make a trip there and stay!

I saw Valaree at WHA through 19 weeks while I researched home birth midwives. She knew from the beginning I was planning a home birth and was incredibly supportive. I elected to use them for prenatal until that point to make it a little easier on myself -- that office is very convenient for me in terms of work and that bought me some time to navigate the home birth midwife world without worrying about insurance (although I understand it's usually fairly easy to get insurance to cover a CPM / DEM for prenatal). WHA definitely does not backup homebirths.

My homebirth midwife uses a billing service that has been really helpful to me in terms of navigating billing insurance. I've also put some money into a flexible spending account to cover some expenses like the tub rental fee. My midwife charges approx. $3200 and all signs seem to indicate my insurance company will cover this as out of network, leaving me to pay a $450 deductible. I have Cigna PPO which is apparently one of the better plans to have in MA in terms of getting a home birth covered - there are a lot of women who have succeeded with them. That said, it's still pretty sketchy - they claim to only cover homebirth with a CNM with OB backup (impossible in our state). At this point I'm just hoping for the best that it will be covered and have accepted that it may not be. 

I interviewed five midwives - all charged around 3-3500 and all were in the greater boston area.

I was kind of surprised and disappointed by the process of finding a midwife to attend my homebirth - it's nothing like choosing a CNM from my experience where my focus was more on the birthing facilities, size of practice and just a personal impression. I got a fair amount of unsolicited personal anecdotes thrown at me while interviewing homebirth midwives and advice that in the end felt more about politics. It can be very confusing! Having a few people I knew I could trust to bounce information off of was really reassuring for me. 

[MammaG]

Just wanted to hop in and highly recommend The Birth Cottage. I've birthed twice with them and had a fantastic experience all around.

I'll bet you could have the prenatal covered by going to the center in Milford, NH, and then make a payment plan to work out the birthing fee for a home birth.

The whole office up there has been approachable, fair, flexible and unbelievably supportive.

[gingerandpickles]

I've had two at home with Deborah Allen and can't recommend her enough. Most HB midwives will work with you on price/payment schedule.

[YummyYumYumMama]

to update from my original post! we ended up moving to westford, so in hindsight, had i gone to a nashua-area NH CNM in network who would travel to MA for homebirth, i might have gotten it covered. but, no regrets!

i chose brookline-based CPM nechama wildanah (in-home prenatals at no extra cost = awesome), who i can't recommend enough. her backup was kim bradley (sp?) and they were both just amazing during the birth. nechama was exactly what i was looking for in terms of prenatal care, and she was willing to work with us in terms of a lowered fee based on income and a payment plan that ended up being a great compromise. anyway, major thumbs up to nechama; she seriously was *everything* i could have hoped for in a midwife, and my prenatal/birth/postpartum care were phenomenal.

i did use sorta/kinda co-care in the first trimester, but i told them (WHA midwives) i was considering homebirth. they asked me to let them know by a certain time. when i told them that i was transferring out of their care for a homebirth, valaree left me the sweetest voicemail wishing me the best. they would have been a bit far for backup care anyway.

i had one consult appt with AFA ob/gyn at emerson, and i think emerson's birth center is moving in the right direction. the midwife, sherri, is awesome & now my well-woman care provider. if i had been planning a natural hospital birth rather than a homebirth, i would have considered using sherri as my care provider. i know emerson's gotten some bad reviews in the past, but it looks like things are moving in the right direction.