Now let me preface this by saying that I've never exactly YEARNED for a homebirth. As long as I was out of the hospital I was fine. I actually really like the birth center where I planned to birth my ds and have been planing to birth this babe. However, due to some logistical issues (the biggest being the date of the moving of the birth center facility being pushed back to June) the owner of the birth center/midwife has talked to me about having my VBAC at home.
I am not opposed to this...particularly when faced with homebirth, a brand new facility to familiarize myself with before I go into labor, or the hospital. My husband is saying that his main concern is how we'll afford it. Right now our birth center is treated like a hospital by our insurance (Cigna) and we have to pay "only" 10 percent. The birth center owner assures me that it would be the same even at home. My dh gruffly says "GET IT IN WRITING FROM CIGNA!" (Can you tell we were burned by our ds's birth?) The insurance maven at the birth center says there really isn't a way to get the insurance company to put anything concrete regarding payment in writing...and even with something in writing it's not like they wouldn't have the potential to dick us over! She is saying the best she is thinking she'll be able to get is a confirmation code (?) when she talks to somebody at Cigna. I also am afraid by bringing all this up ahead of time that our records will be flagged or something. As opposed to just having the birth center submit their claim and not really making a big deal of the fact that it was at a home and not their facility.
So I don't know. I guess deep down if I had my way, I'd be going to the old birth center where I attended all the LLL meetings and potlucks and just feel at home in. (The idea of having a much nicer tub without having to shell out for rentals, etc. is appealing too.) But with the moving stuff happening that isn't really a great option, I don't think. I'm wary of the state of flux the whole facility-moving thing puts the birth center in. Even if it does go incredibly quickly and smoothly on June 1st, say....I still worry that it wouldn't be enough to time to lose it's "foreign-ness". I want to know the place I'll be birthing and home fits that bill! I also want my dh to be supportive and that requires him not to stress out over us not being able to pay both the mortgage and the midwife bill!
I'm waiting for the birth center folks to get back to me with more insurance info. Hopefully, they will be reassuring!
I am not opposed to this...particularly when faced with homebirth, a brand new facility to familiarize myself with before I go into labor, or the hospital. My husband is saying that his main concern is how we'll afford it. Right now our birth center is treated like a hospital by our insurance (Cigna) and we have to pay "only" 10 percent. The birth center owner assures me that it would be the same even at home. My dh gruffly says "GET IT IN WRITING FROM CIGNA!" (Can you tell we were burned by our ds's birth?) The insurance maven at the birth center says there really isn't a way to get the insurance company to put anything concrete regarding payment in writing...and even with something in writing it's not like they wouldn't have the potential to dick us over! She is saying the best she is thinking she'll be able to get is a confirmation code (?) when she talks to somebody at Cigna. I also am afraid by bringing all this up ahead of time that our records will be flagged or something. As opposed to just having the birth center submit their claim and not really making a big deal of the fact that it was at a home and not their facility.
So I don't know. I guess deep down if I had my way, I'd be going to the old birth center where I attended all the LLL meetings and potlucks and just feel at home in. (The idea of having a much nicer tub without having to shell out for rentals, etc. is appealing too.) But with the moving stuff happening that isn't really a great option, I don't think. I'm wary of the state of flux the whole facility-moving thing puts the birth center in. Even if it does go incredibly quickly and smoothly on June 1st, say....I still worry that it wouldn't be enough to time to lose it's "foreign-ness". I want to know the place I'll be birthing and home fits that bill! I also want my dh to be supportive and that requires him not to stress out over us not being able to pay both the mortgage and the midwife bill!
I'm waiting for the birth center folks to get back to me with more insurance info. Hopefully, they will be reassuring!
