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Question for a friend- Is it too late to opt for hb?  

post #1 of 10
1/31/08 at 11:43am
Thread Starter 
I'm asking this for a friend....

She is 35 weeks today and has *just* gotten word that medicaid will cover a homebirth midwife. She's been seeing a CNM and was planning on a hospital birth because she didn't know that she could have a hb on medicaid.

Has anyone had experience with switching caregivers this late in the game? Is it too late for her or does she have a chance? She wants to get in contact with this midwife, but she is not in her office until tomorrow.

Thanks!!
post #2 of 10
1/31/08 at 11:49am
It's not too late. I know here in FL, it's up to the individual midwife to decide how late/under what conditions she'll accept a new client. The midwife I worked with would accept newcomers (with prenatal records) up through 37-38 weeks, at times.
post #3 of 10
1/31/08 at 12:58pm
It can't hurt to try! I'd encourage her to get moving on it ASAP! Besides, we have to remember, we are consumers of our medical care...not slaves to it. We all have the right to choose our care providers and hire/fire them since we (or our insurance providers) are paying them to perform a service, not the other way around!

I can understand that the HB MW might be reluctant to establish a new relationship this late in the game, but your friend deserves the birth she wants, and has the means to pay for the service.

(Sort of off topic)
I switched providers at 26 weeks and felt enormous guilt (good Girl Syndrome!) but my previous CNM could only provide hospital birth...now my money is paying for a service she can't perform (HB), so if she wants to keep her practice competitive, she needs to find a way to offer HB services or the equivilant since i am busy handing out info about how my HB MW accepts the same insurance as the hospital based CNM. This is how our economic system works, but HMO's have convinced us that they are granting us some huge favor in offering choices. Ha! Brainwashing!

Hurray for Medicaid picking up the bill...be sure to spread the word in your community so that non-HB competitors will feel the sting in their wallets and be forced to make their hospital practice more like HB practice to stay in business. THIS is how we start making change...the logic and stats behind HB haven't made a dent in hospital policy, let's see if taking our money elsewhere makes a difference?

Good luck to your friend and let us know if she gets to HB or not!
post #4 of 10
1/31/08 at 1:10pm
It's the hb midwife's decision if they will take her as a patient, but one of my closest friends switched at 38 weeks, so it is certainly possible!
post #5 of 10
1/31/08 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies! My friend is in FL so it's promising to hear that there are mw who will take on patients as far along as 37-38 wks.
post #6 of 10
1/31/08 at 2:10pm
It's definitely not too late! Best of luck to your friend, I'm sure she is thrilled to know that she can go for a HB now!
post #7 of 10
1/31/08 at 2:11pm
Depending on where in FL shi is, there may be plenty of MWs from which she can choose. (there are lots in the Miami area, for example). If one MW doesn't accept her, definitely encourage her to call others.
post #8 of 10
1/31/08 at 3:40pm
Not too late! My first midwives dropped me for having a breech baby at 38 weeks (well, not really dropped, they transferred my care to a c-section OB, but I didn't want him... ), and I first met my new midwives only three days before my DS was born. I recommend getting things done earlier than that, of course, in case the baby comes a little early.
post #9 of 10
1/31/08 at 6:00pm
It's only too late after the baby is born!

My friend was planning a hospital birth with an OB. While she was laboring at home, she called the midwife of a mutual friend and birthed her baby at home with the midwife.
post #10 of 10
2/4/08 at 1:32am
I am so glad to hear MediCaid picking up the tab and your friend actually considering taking advantage of it. I had an OB for the first 3 months of my 2nd pregnancy. I couldn't take it anymore and decided to have my baby at home alone with no knowledge of birth other than I knew we were being taken advantage of with OBs and hospitals.

Happily, I found a homebirth MW at 35 weeks. At least, I think it was 35. I had him right after I met her, just about.
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Mothering › Forums › Pregnancy and Birth › Birth and Beyond › Homebirth › Question for a friend- Is it too late to opt for hb?