Giving Birth At Home-can you please share your experience, pros and cons

LaHibiscus

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are considering a home birth. The major thing is the cost which is around $5k-$6k and not covered by insurance vs a hospital birth which is fully covered by insurance.

So, before we decide, we would love to hear from anyone out there who would be willing to share their homebirth experience , especially the pros and cons.

 Looking forward to getting some feedback

 

 

vintagejjane

my birth story

https://whirlwindlifetogether.blogspot.com/2012/05/weeks-38-39-40-41.html 

MangomamaFL

Here are links to the my home birth stories with midwives:

Birth of Jack

Kevin's Birth

 

 

wifeofadam

I've had two hospital births and one HB.  One hospital birth included a lot of intervention and the other was a simple natural birth in which I was discharged 24 hours later.  I prefer the HB and am having another one with #4.

Pros of a HB for me are - being comfortable in my own environment, being able to actually sleep (I don't sleep in hospitals), being able to eat my own food, not having to be away from my other children, not having to undergo any intervention I am not comfortable with, and no fear about hospital germs (this is a biggie for me).

Cons were - because I was at home I felt like I needed to just right back into life and didn't really take the break I needed.  I was doing laundry 24 hours after the birth.  That won't happen again this time.  The other con was all of the paperwork and testing that needed to be done afterwards.  I don't live in a HB friendly state and NO ONE has HBs where I live, so we had a really difficult time doing simply things like filing the social security card paperwork and getting the newborn screening/blood tests done.

FWIW, our insurance said it wouldn't cover the HB before we had the baby.  My MW was amazing and must have coded things in a way that the insurance company accepted.  They ended up only covering 1/3 of the birth, but it ended up costing less than my hospital birth with #2.

LaHibiscus

Thank you for sharing! So, even if just say, your insurance didn't cover home birth, you would definitely recommend a home birth?

 

Did you tear less with a home birth? 

LaHibiscus

Wow vintagejane, 48 hours in labour! 

judahsmommy1

One thing to consider is that the financial difference might be less than you're expecting. Usually that $5-6k covers EVERYTHING. With a hospital birth you have to take into consideration co-pays and deductibles. You probably don't have a $5k deductible, but I've spent close to 1k on co-pays/deductible so far and have will completely meet my $1500 deductible by the time my pregnancy is over. You also may need to consider co-insurance for lab work etc... Look very closely at your insurance policy and what is covered first and you'll have a better idea of what the financial commitment will be when all is said and done.

wifeofadam

LaHibiscus:

Thank you for sharing! So, even if just say, your insurance didn't cover home birth, you would definitely recommend a home birth?

 

Did you tear less with a home birth? 

I think the answer to your first question depends on your financial situation.  What will a hospital birth cost with insurance (will you have met your deductable by that point, etc.)?  I personally would have a homebirth regardless, but that's because our insurance sucks and the difference in cost is minimal and totally worth it to me.

As far as tearing, I have never torn with any of mine (and two of them were posterior).  I think it had more to do with the fact that I had very knowledgable midwives who were using pressure and massage to keep me from tearing than the location of the births.  But, my friend has had four babies - all in the hospital - and she tore with the first two.  She didn't tear with the last two and they were waterbirths.  I think I've read that waterbirths do decrease your risk of tearing since the water softens the tissue.  If you do choose to have a hospital birth maybe you could look into using a birthing tub there if tearing is a huge fear of yours.

vintagejjane

LaHibiscus:

Wow vintagejane, 48 hours in labour! 

Yep, and worth every second. I loved giving birth at home. We payed 3500 out of pocket. Our insurance did cover the lab work though. I only had a first degree tear and I didn't think it was that bad. 

flyer23

DD1 was born in a hospital. We planned hospital birth with DS, but ended up switching to homebirth at 36 weeks. DD2 was planned homebirth from the start. I love homebirth, and would never birth in a hospital again unless I had to for medical reasons.

The biggest con is just that getting insurance straightened out is a hassle. We had to pay cash upfront for both DS and DD2. It took about six months and countless phone calls to my insurance company to get DS's birth reimbursed. We're just now embarking on that process with DD2... joy. Whereas hospital birth would've been covered in full, no problem.

Still, well worth it -- obviously, since I chose to do it again!

My "Journey to Homebirth" blog (link in siggy) has lots of comparison-type information about my three experiences, because they were very very different.

LaHibiscus

I live outside of USA and where we are, our insurance covers nearly 99% for a hospital birth, including the lab work and the OBGYN fee. That is pretty good to me.

However, the same extended insurance coverage cannot be said for homebirths here because it is still not a standard acceptable practise. Therefore, our insurance provider is willing to cover up to $1,300 only.

All the OBGYN here oppose the homebirths so if I go this route, I will need to hire a midwife to fly in and pay for all her expenses. So everything comes to around $6k which includes her service and her post natal service.  

Because I have never given birth before, I am torn. My girlfriend who is a doctor in the UK told me it is much safer to give birth in the hospital than giving birth at home. It is very hard to argue against a doctor friend who is married to another doctor :P

I am so scared of the possible tearing, epistomy, c-section  and I am trying hard to plan our birth in advance Thanks for the tip on the water birth. I like that idea very much.

 

julyjennifer

I had a homebirth for our 2nd (med-free hospital birth for the first).

The total out of pocket costs (prenatals plus birth plus post partum) for either choice for #2 (home/hospital) were comparable, about $4,000-5,000.  We didn't try submitting the HB through insurance because of the low likelihood with our carrier and I didn't want to spend the time I've heard it would take to fight for coverage.

We will totally do a HB again if there is another time, it was great.  SOO nice not to have to travel while in labor.  So nice to just get tucked in our own beds afterwards.  I felt like my recovery process was much easier with #2 because I got more rest and sleep in the days afterwards being at home.  No nurses waking us up at all hours for whatnot.  Postpartum visits at 24h, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks (so better PP care than hospital birth).  I did tear less with #2 (which was a water birth).

anonsouthernbell

Just had a homebirth in June and like you we had to pay 100% out-of-pocket, whereas if i went back to the birth center it would have been 100% covered.   Check w/the midwife and see if you can get a cash discount.  I would def. do a HB again as it was a wonderful experience!

judahsmommy1

This is a direct quote from my hospital's web page:

"Home delivery is another option for low-risk pregnancies. Some women believe home is the most comfortable and natural place to give birth. However, at-home births are not recommended by most doctors because birth can be unpredictable. While this is true, studies of over 500,000 low-risk women who gave birth at home or at the hospital found that there were no differences in infant illness or death. This suggests that there is no advantage to delivering in a hospital for pregnancies at low risk for complications."

There are benefits and risks to delivering at both a hospital and your home. For example, your risk of contracting an infection goes way up as soon as you step into a hospital. You are much less likely to get an infection if you stay at home. Just something to think about. 

(I thought I would add that I am choosing a hospital birth, but definitely believe that home birth can be a safe process for both mom and baby!) 

naturalarmygirl

I had two at home, and going to do it again. I'll caveat that I don't have a con. I LOVED my homebirths. I was comfortable, able to be surrounded by anyone I wanted, could sleep, eat, and move as it worked for me. No interventions I didn't want. My perineum was intact because midwives are TRAINED to help ease the process and do all kinds of things to keep you whole in every regard (but that one is pretty awesome). It's treated as a natural process rather than a potential lawsuit waiting to happen. It was worth the out of pocket expense. We had a payment plan.

Indeed these days hospitals are full of antibiotic-resistant strains of all sorts of things. In your home you're exposed to your own natural flora.

I had family and friends who helped with cleanup. Rewarding and great. Nothing between me and babies when they arrived. Just love.