Costs of a homebirth

When reading about reasons for a homebirth, money is always listed. Homebirth is much cheaper than a hospital birth. But it’s not for us… and regardless, it wouldn’t be one of our reasons anyway. I think you all know (if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile) what our reasons are.

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If you don’t have health insurance, yes, a homebirth would be WAY cheaper for you. But we do and a hospital birth would be covered (less our deductible).

But a homebirth? With an out-of-network midwife? We’re pretty much paying for it all. Let’s check it out:

Homebirth midwife: $2000
Doula: $900
Misc. supplies + water tub: $150
Placental encapsulation: $300
Childbirth classes with Pam England (via skype): $360

TOTAL:  $3710.

(Should I be totally cheesy and say… Cost of having a homebirth VBAC: priceless ?? ;))

I plan on adding chiropractic visits to the list, but am not sure yet what our insurance will cover… I know there will be a $20-$25 copay for each visit, at least. Plus the $45 already spent at the one OB visit I had…. plus the 1 ultrasound I’ve already had (no bill yet) and the ultrasound I’ll have to determine the sex…

The misc. supplies for the homebirth include things like sheets and pads. Our midwife will give us a list, but she said it’s not much… maybe $50 of things. We aren’t going to rent or buy any fancy water tub (those can run like $300-500) because we aren’t totally sure we’ll use it. I might if I need to relieve pain, but am not set on giving birth in the tub–so we’ll see. We’d like it there as an option, a just-in-case kind of thing, so we’re just getting basically a blow-up kiddie pool. We’ll need a hose, too. Add some other items I’ll probably want to get (aromatherapy, oils, robe, etc.) and I estimated $150 total.

The childbirth class with Pam England is not necessary, but it’s a desire. I met her at the ICAN conference this April and loved her. She even interviewed me on video for her next book and she was GOOD. I answered one of her questions and she paused and was like, “No. Think about it again and tell me what you REALLY mean.” And I started sobbing. Like I said, she was good. The last thing I want is to go into this birth with any fear and I really think Pam England is the person to help me through any unresolved issues.

On top of buying a new house before this baby comes? And having just lost my teaching job? (I’m an adjunct and they had to give my class to a full-time instructor to fulfill her contract). Just a little bit stressful, lol.

But we’re doing it and we’ll make it. And we couldn’t be more excited. 25 weeks to go!