Discouraged about cost

[Gray's Mommy]

I am planning for my third birth, 2nd homebirth. Everything has just gone UP in cost & I am worried we aren't going to be able to pay the way I want to. My midwife offers a big cash discount if we pay by the 1st prenatal visit. Since I am so early in my pregnancy, we should be able to make it. My big worry is that I am NOT paid for 3 months & don't have any clients lined up.

I guess I am just venting--I know it will all work out, but I really want that discount

[littlebb]

I know what you mean. We get a $500 discount if we pay in full before we deliver, and that's hard, too. I was somewhat discouraged about having to pay $3K out of pocket for a HB, but I was seeing a MW at an OB's office (which I really hated that experience!) and they required that you pay for your entire after-insurance cost of the birth (not hospital, etc., just the birth) before your 16th week. Oddly enough, even with insurance, the amount I would be paying out pocket (because of deductible and everything) for the hospital birth was $400 MORE than what I'm paying for my HB. And I'd still have to be paying co-pays and hospital and all that other crap if I'd stuck with them.

Keep your head up and focus positively on this issue. It sounds kind of new-agey, but I truly believe we find what we look for. Keep imagining that you've already paid it and you will find a way to do what you have to do.

[GoldmanBaby09]

I can understand the frustration. We paid $3300 out of pocket to our midwife already. She give a bit of a discount if your insurance company won't pay for it (as ours won't); otherwise she charges $5K to the insurance companies. If I had any interest in having my baby in the hospital (which I certainly DO NOT) it would only be a $200 co-pay and everything else would be covered. It really agitates me that insurance companies are so stupid. It costs them a lot more money for the medically managed birth I would have in the hospital than my midwife's fee! Homebirth saves a lot of people a lot of money in the long and short run. And even though I'm unhappy about having to pay out of pocket, I think the experience is going to be well worth the money. GL!

[littlebb]

I have to agree with everything you said. I still can't believe insurance companies are the way they are about HB and refusing to pay for it. It's so much cheaper. I wonder if it's a liability thing, or the fact that they may have to double-pay if they paid for a HB and then again in case of transfer? Regardless of the cost, it's worth it to me every time I write my MW a check and see the balance of what I owe. You can't put a price tag on a birth.

[Talula Fairie]

Man I feel your pain. Although I will say, if I had enough money to pay the midwife off by the first prenatal visit, I wouldn't even be thinking twice. But it may be different if you're not on a regular paycheck.

We are practically starving to pay for this birth (ok, that's an exaggeration, but you get the drift). I didn't think it was going to be this hard but it has been. All, literally, all of our money that's leftover after paying bills and buying a moderate, budgeted amount of necessities is going to the midwife. This week we had to borrow money, even. $4,000 is a LOT of money to us, it's more than we make in a month. We'll be paying our midwife until 2 months after the birth.