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Attachment Parenting
anna7602
member
How much did you pay out-of-pocket for your birth?
anna7602
member
Please specify any circumstances that may have increased the cost (private room at hospital, home birth that wasn't covered by insurance, etc.)
DH and I have been having the long & serious when to TTC #2 conversation. For a long time, his biggest objection to TTC soon has been that he wants to switch jobs first. However, he has fantastic insurance and we didn't pay a single cent throughout my pregnancy with DD for OB/Gyn visits or for her birth. Our only cost was the doula, and even 60% of that that was covered by our insurance after we paid the deductible.
There are other factors at play, but I am just trying to make a good pros/cons list.
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Re: How much did you pay out-of-pocket for your birth?
We paid 2 $100 co-pays, one for me and one for Coop. This covered all my office OB vistits, ultrasounds, circ, hospital stay, delivery, etc...
We did not have a doula...but would have had to pay out of pocket for one and they cost about $600, Dh didn't want a doula, but next time we will definetly have one!
doula- $550
TV and phone- $24
that's it.
ETA- both were optional.
Wow, I didn't realize how atrocious our insurance was compared to other people... I paid about $1,000 directly to the OB, and then around $12,000 to the hospital.
I had a crazy fast labor leading into an emergency cesarean. We both spent 5 days in the hospital and DD had a short NICU stay.
$100 for OB visit to okay a birthing center birth
$150 for mandatory birth classes at birth center
That's it
The normal costs: $10 one-time copay for the whole PG.
Outside of that: $2k for IF stuff, $350 for Bradley class, $900 for a doula, and we'll probably $2k this year for chiro, PT, and specialist appointments for a rare complication that I had.
If we had done a home birth, it would've been $4k OOP.
More Green For Less Green
wow your insurance covered most of your DOULA??? that sure is good insurance!!
we paid one $10 co-pay for my first OB visit and nothing else. my DD had an extended stay for jaundice (no NICU thankfully) and it was all covered, they even let me stay in the hospital since it was not a busy time. also my LC during my stay recommended a manual breast pump and that was covered too.
we want to actually adopt for future children but it's frustrating to me that birth is basically free for us while adoption would be much more expensive. ugh.
Holy cow you guys had some expensive babies!!
DH is active duty military, so $0.00...... but it was a super quick, all natural, no meds/interventions/etc. The before insurance bill was $5800 though.
Without looking at the bills filed away in the office, our out of pocket was between $2000-$3000. His birth ended in a c-section, and he also had a 3 night NICU stay, so that affected the cost.
I'm jealous of those of you with amazing insurance.
I just want to give you a world as beautiful as you are to me.
About a thousand ($200 in copays and $750 to the hospital). I had to meet my deductible which increased when LO was added to my plan from her birth.
I have United Healthcare through my previous employer. We are doing a no-interest payment plan for the hospital bill and we pay $100 a month. That helps out since I'm not working right now.
ETA: I had a normal 5 day stay after a scheduled c-section (breech). I didn't have any other extras. My OB takes all patients copays beforehand, that's where the $200 came from. About $200 of the hospital bill was a visit when I went into PTL at 35 weeks.
Francesca Pearl is here! Josephine Hope is almost 3!
We paid about $1000 to the OB, $700 for labwork (DH needed to get the Ashkenazi screening done), about $1000 to my MFM, and $3000 to the hospital. We paid 450 a night to go to a 10th floor suite- so an additional 900 there. I think we ended up paying around $1500-$1750 for DD's fees at the hospital. We were charged for a "nursery stay" even though she roomed in with us. I hope she enjoyed her $800 bath and diaper change! Her charge also included fees for exams, hearing test, jaundice test, newborn screening, etc. I am not including fees for diabetic testing supplies or prenatals because my dad gives them to me (owns a pharmacy). Those can run up the bill pretty quickly.
DH's insurance had an HMO and a PPO. We used the PPO, which has 70/30 coverage after the deductible is met. Had we used the HMO, it would have been $15 copays at visits and maybe a couple hundered bucks for the hospital. The downside is that I would have had to see different doctors through the teaching hospital where my husband worked. We also knew lots of the doctors socially and that would have been a little uncomfortable. Also- the residents and fellows have a tendency to go and visit their friends in L&D and recovery rooms. There was no guarantee that I would have a private room. We made the decision to choose our own provider and have a more private experience. We don't regret it.
We did a home birth that cost $4500. We paid $25 for the two OB visits we did, plus another $100 or so for the ultrasounds at an off site lab.
Our insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) claimed they don't pay for midwives, but I mailed in the receipts anyway and they covered approximately 1/2 of the cost with no questions asked.
www.hangingwithdad.com
H was AD military at the time, so all the visits/hospital stay/etc were covered a hundred percent. We paid $600 for a doula and $350 for hypnobirth classes.
This time around, I'm going to a birthing center. It doesn't accept our insurance just yet (in process), but I'm just paying the $30/per visit co pay each time. Not sure what that will add up to.
If our insurance doesn't go through, it will cost around 6K. Homebirth in the area was about $3500 OOP. I'm probably going to get a doula this time as well ($600), and buy a used Hypnobabies course from eBay ($100). AND I really want a birth photographer. If we can afford it.
For my son (born 11/11/10) One $50 co-pay for our room/board. I only paid that because I choose to have a more flexible version of Tricare (military insurance). Otherwise, it would have been $0. This was for a high risk pregnancy with oodles of ultrasounds and monitoring and medication.
For my daughter (born 7/3/09) I paid $0. At that time I had my own medical insurance (Carefirst Blue Cross Blue Shield in MD) through my employer and Tricare as my secondary. BCBS paid for my entire IVF/ICSI cycle too.
I have learned since coming to TB that I am extremely lucky.
Married 6/28/03
Kate ~ 7/3/09 *** Connor ~ 11/11/10
4 miscarriages: 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014
*~*~*~*~*
No more TTC for us. We are done, and at peace, as a family of 4.
"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” — Charles Dickens
That's awesome that you also got your doula paid for! I'm in Canada as well (ON) and yes, nothing out of pocket for anything (except our doula, which is not covered...ours will be $450).
- Kate
$0 for all OB visits, ultrasounds, labwork, delivery and hospital stay.
$0 for LO's five day hospital stay. We have great insurance.
The only thing we paid for was our birthing class and if DH wanted meals at the hospital.
$260 for prenatal care and OB's presence at delivery
$864 for hospital bill (vaginal delivery)
Total- $1,124
Costs also incurred-
ER (dehydrated thanks to HG)- $100
Hospitalization #1- $150
Hospitalization #2- $150
Zofran- $200
Gallbladder surgery- $915
Total costs- $2,639
$100 for prenatal care through OB
$100 for a one night stay in the hospital
$600 for the doula
We did not have to pay any co-pays for Drs visits, tests, etc. I had GD so there were a lot of visits and a lot of scans and tests. I did have co-pays for insulin, etc which probably totalled $100-200. I was in the hospital for three days during my third trimester due to elevated BP and I don't believe it cost us anything. We paid around $150 for birthing classes that were recommended by our hospital. We also paid $1000 for the hospital stay when I gave birth (c-section). The insurance we had at the time charged $1000 for any inpatient hospital stay. I'm still not sure why they did not charge me for the 3-day stay given that rule.
So I would say all together maybe $1500. I think the insurance paid out like $25,000 for everything. I saw the hospital and doctors bill though and it looks like we would have paid out like $75,000 if we had not insurance and had to pay full price.
We got charged for this many years ago when we were covered by different insurance (DH was still in law school and my work insurance was so-so). DH sent the insurance company a letter getting all legal about anti-Semitic discrimination and they ended up waving the full charge. We only paid the typical lab co-pay in the end. I don't know if it's because they really thought we would bring a discrimination law suit against them or because it was too much effort to respond when we questioned being charged for the screening, but hey, it worked and I now tell my friends to dispute this charge, too.