[inky leeuhhh]

i just got my + pg test yesterday. i have group health right now through basic health, and i think with this pg will have to go group health through healthy options. not quite sure if ill have to do the healthy options, or if i just get coverage through the pg with basic health. sorry i know this sounds jumbled, i have a 4 yo climbing on me right now, lol. anyway, i'd like to have a homebirth, and i thought i remembered hearing that gh was supportive of them. i hate trying to navigate the gh site

im going to keep looking, but thought you people may have some experience with it

and how is gh in general with pregnancy/ birth? thanks!

 

[inky leeuhhh]

ok i figured the site out finally. i have to wait for some code to come so i can see whether ill have to go with basic health or healthy options for the pregnancy. im really hoping i can get this all together in time to find a mw who isn't booked so i can have this baby at home, or at the very least in a birthing center. bah!

 

[TiredX2]

DS will be 7 this month (

) so I'm not sure my experience w/Group Health would be that relevant.

If it is, though...
We were planning on going w/a birth center. Group Health considered themselves to have a "birth center" (really hate the trend of hospitals calling themselves "birth centers") so would not cover a different one.

BUT, they had no homebirth midwives. So we decided to look around and ended up having going w/ PSBC. Excellent experience and Group Health paid 100% (we paid for birthing supplies and that was it).

 

[kbond]

I'm in the middle of fighting with Group Health to get them to cover my homebirth midwife so my information is fairly current.

It will really depend upon your plan. Check out your certificate of coverage to see if it covers the homebirth. It should be in Section IV, B somewhere if it does. Your homebirth will need to be pre-authorized. The pre-authorization process apparently just consists of your midwife sending in a form or letter to Group Health.

Then, you can go to the Provider Directory and search for midwives. It will not be obvious from the list that is generated if the midwives are only for the hospital or if they do homebirths--you will have to call individually and ask, but some of them actually are homebirth providers, apparently. This is where I've been having difficulties because it is not very intuitive or clear that Group Health has in-network homebirth providers, but they will, generally, will only cover their in-network providers. In fact, if you ask most of the people who work at Group Health, including the midwives who work at the Capital Hill campus, they will tell you that Group Health does not have any homebirth midwives.

Alternatively, if your plan covers homebirths, you can get your PCP or OB/GYN to refer you to an outside homebirth provider. This should get your homebirth covered. I'm in the process of trying this route, but I haven't managed to get it definitively worked out yet so I'm not a hundred percent positive that this is going to work.

(Given that I'm due Sept. 8th, I am desperately trying to get this worked out without having to change providers at this late a date.)

So basically, you first really need to check out your certificate of coverage, and then, good luck finding a provider that is in-network.

 

[inky leeuhhh]

thanks kbond!! good to hear from someone who is in the middle of it. now i can mentally prepare myself, lol.

 

[inky leeuhhh]

forgot to say- good luck with everything! ill be interested to hear how it works out.

 

[inky leeuhhh]

ok, just to add another post on here- lol.... it would probably make sense for me then to ask how gh hospitals are to give birth in. incase home/ center births are not covered for me. anyone know??

 

[hmkrueger]

I've had 2 babies at GH Eastside (now defunct

) and had wonderful experiences both times with the CNMs there, and then I delivered with the GHC CNMs with my other 2 children. The LDR suites are really nice compared to Overlake, they were even way back when I delivered my older 2. The CNMs on the Eastside were fantastic and advocated for me with the more traditional/conservative nursing staff b/c of what I wrote in my birth plan.

We're TTC#5 now and hoping for a homebirth this time around, but I'm not yet sure whether we'll stick w/ GHC and file an exemption or whatever it's called, or whether we'll switch insurance altogether during open enrollment in December.

 

[inky leeuhhh]

ok, i didnt even think about switching insurance during open enrollment! do you have basic health too then? is something specific you would suggest switching to? thanks

 

[mamainmotion]

At had GH during the end of my last pregnancy (9 months ago)
I live in Bellingham area.
The midwifes I had were "out of network' so GH only covered 75% and GH did not support the free standing birth center (that is why midwifes wouldn't contract with them)
but all in all GH was fine and they support HBirth - I had one

A