Ava was born in our apartment. When we first got pregnant with her the plan was to have her in Atlanta, GA where we thought we’d be. I had appointments with our OB scheduled, visits scheduled, pricing for the birth determined so we could budget. At this time we were still on one income and we knew we needed to be prepared financially for the costs of the birth. With Carys the hospital bill was ~13k and we ended up paying around $3400 from our HSA. In Atlanta the cost would have been around $7500 total. We loved our doctor, the women’s office and the staff. During this time both Carys and Kerry were able to go with me to the appointments that I wanted them to see. Carys was there the day I found out that Ava was a girl while Kerry chose not to find out and wanted to wait until delivery day.
When we realized we were moving to Dallas the first thing I did was go to the insurance website to see what hospitals would be near where we were moving and get an estimate on how much labor & delivery would cost. That was one of the things I liked about the site is that it provided a breakdown of cost for delivery, what insurance would cover and not and what the price differences were at each hospital. If you are planning to have a baby I recommend finding out those things:
- Total cost for Labor & Delivery (OB visits should be included in this)
- What does insurance cover/not cover and total cost
- Look at different places – hospitals, birthing centers, at home to see cost differences
After looking everything over we decided on the hospital we would use and the doctor we would work with because it was all very close to where we would live – a 9 min drive. The main concern we had was who would watch Carys when we had to go to the hospital because we only have 1 family member here who doesn’t live nearby and works at a hospital. So that left 1 option to look into – at home birth. I’d thought about this briefly but didn’t commit because I didn’t know what it would entail. So what do you do when you don’t know? You ask. I called the Women’s Center that I had scheduled an appointment with to ask if they did home births. They said no but they had a staff member who was a midwife and did facilitate home births. They gave me her number and I called.
That was the beginning of our move from a hospital birth to a home birth. Our midwife Christina was a blessing. Not only was she calm and caring but she had everything a person would need to give birth, to have home visits, and her own site to collect data and payments. So Christina came over for our visits – at this point I was 30 weeks along when we had our first visit and Carys got to participate. She got to hold the doppler and hear Ava’s heartbeat, help check my blood pressure and be completely involved. I loved that about this experience, it was truly a full family experience. Kerry could get up from work – in our bedroom – and come into the living room for the visits, ask any questions he had and be fully involved too. The whole process was smooth and relaxing. The cost $5400. That would have been the cost if we had met her from 12 weeks on and for us, it was a great price. For the water birth it was another $250 for the tub and the materials that go along with it. So the total cost for the midwife and doula who came on the day of delivery, $5650 which allowed our family to be completely involved in the lead up to the birth of the baby.
Would I have a home birth again – ABSOLUTELY. Will I have a home birth again – God willing and both Carys and Ava can be a part of the experience. For those thinking about birthing options I highly recommend looking into home births not just because the cost is usually cheaper than a hospital, but if you’re not high risk, having a home birth is such a beautiful experience to then get up and go right to your bed with your new baby and your family.
Anyone already have children? What was the cost? Have you thought about home births or birthing centers? What was your experience?
