Last August I posted about costs of a homebirth, but it was still pretty early on in our pregnancy so I used estimates. Now that we’re ready to go any day now (baby, where are you?!), I thought I’d update the prices for those of you curious about paying for a homebirth with a midwife.
photo from cafepress.comPlease keep in mind that costs will vary greatly. It can depend on your location–some midwives charge much more, some charge much less. It can depend on what “extras” you need or want, such as having a doula or placental encapsulation. AND it depends on your insurance plan. Anyway, this is how it’s working out for US:
MIDWIFE:
~prenatal care + labor/delivery: $2000
~GBS lab test: $20
~oral vitamin K drops: $20
DOULA:
~prenatal visits + L/D: $650
PLACENTAL ENCAPSULATION:
~$275
SUPPLIES:
~birth kit (pads, plastic sheet, etc.): $35
OTHER: (estimates)
~my extras (oils, sitz bath, salts, etc): $50
~thank yous: $50
~clothes: $60
TOTAL: $3160 (but lots of our costs were optional–see details below)
If you have good insurance, your homebirth with a certified midwife will likely be covered. For us, it is not. I opted for the GBS test and the oral vitamin K, so those costs were optional. Our doula is on the cheaper end for where we live, but I’ve heard that compared to other areas, she is “expensive” and so is the placental encapsulation… ah, a perk of living near Chicago. So both of those costs may be much lower wherever you live. Plus, you can find doulas-in-training or newly certified doulas for cheaper (check doulamatch.net and craisglist).
The supply kit… our midwife gave us a list of basic things we needed to have on hand. They could all easily be found at your local store, but my midwife is also set up with an online retailer and all I had to do was go to the site, find my midwife’s name, and add her specific kit to my cart. It was $35…. EASY! I would have spent at least that buying everything individually at the store. Off the top of my head, the kit has: lots of pads, disposable underwear, olive oil, plastic sheet, a couple large garbage bags, gloves, hydrogen peroxide, peri bottle, couple straws, gauze, bulb syringe….
sample homebirth kit
Our midwife also gave us another list of extra things it’d be nice to have on hand, but most are found around your house and you don’t have to buy: a bucket, extra sheets/towels, a flashlight… and also some electrolyte drinks (vitamin water, emergen-c)…
So what are MY extras? Mainly postpartum comfort things.. this is a totally optional cost and I estimated the $50. I wanted some essential oils for massage and aromatherapy (during labor), some New Mama Bottom Spray (Earth Mama Angel Baby), a sitz bath (bought on Amazon) with herbs (EMAB and Motherlove make some), and witch hazel and epsom salts (bought at Walmart). I also bought a vinyl mattress cover (on Amazon). Our mattress is brand new so we wanted to protect it–even if I don’t end up giving birth on the bed, friends reminded me of all the leaking/breastmilk postpartum ($20 to save our $2000 mattress? done.)
a sitz bath–looks fun, right? Ahh, the things they never told you about childbirth 😉
Thank-yous: another optional cost. I just got some little things to thank our doula and midwife when it’s all done and over. A handwritten note and photo of the baby would probably be thank-you enough, I’m sure, and free.
Clothes: another optional cost. I got a labor/delivery gown, a “born at home” t-shirt for the baby (newborn photos!), a “real men catch babies” t-shirt for Steve, and a VBAC shirt for me 🙂
~$3000 may seem like a lot out of pocket for a birth, but we ended up paying ~$6000(???) out of pocket for the c-section last time and, besides, I’m pretty sure we’d pay anything to have this natural birth–totally worth it 🙂 Think of how much you’d spend on a wedding or car… your birth day is something you’ll remember and carry with you forever, you’re bringing a life into this world, it’s worth investing in.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask me! Did you have a homebirth? How did your costs compare or do you have anything to add to my list??
We are planning a homebirth in late June and I was curious about what things we would need to buy so this post is much appreciated. Our midwife’s fee is $2,800 (we live in Virginia) and I plan to hire a Doula but haven’t looked into costs for that yet. Fortunately our insurance covers the midwife’s fee. I noticed you aren’t planning a water birth. Did you look into the cost of a tub/pool by any chance?
[Reply]
babydickey Reply:
February 19th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
We have a jacuzzi so if I decide I want to be in the water, I’m just going to use that. But I had thought about getting a tub – renting or buying one can range in price a lot ($150-400?), but I was told by many people that those tubs are unnecessary and to just get a kiddie pool for $30… you just have to make sure it’s deep enough. Great question! and congrats on your upcoming birth! 🙂
[Reply]
Lisa Reply:
October 15th, 2014 at 12:12 pm
Hello!
I am in the Chicago area and hoping to have a home birth this spring. Would you recommend your midwife and doula?
Thanks!
Lisa
[Reply]
lovina Reply:
December 12th, 2016 at 8:56 am
hi please did you later find a cheap midwife in chicago, if yes, please the location and if possible can you give the midwife contact to me thanks
[Reply]
Ours has been less than $1500. Midwife cost is $1250; it’s true that they are cheaper in certain places. My birth kit was $65 and it’s like yours, my midwife has a kit through an online retailer, I just have to find her name and order it. Most of the extras we did have around the house. Some stuff for the baby I bought new; diapers, and blankets. We use a cheap (less than $3 at Wal-Mart) shower curtain to protect the mattress. The rest would be figuring in gas for prenatal visits.
[Reply]
babydickey Reply:
February 19th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
The shower curtain is a great idea!
[Reply]
Ezeogidi lovina Reply:
December 10th, 2016 at 10:44 am
Please may i know the location where your midwife charge is 1250. If possible can i have her contact please. Here is my email princesschomy1@yahoo.com. thanks for your help
[Reply]
Ezeogidi lovina Reply:
December 10th, 2016 at 10:45 am
Please may i know the location where your midwife charge is 1250. If possible can i have her contact please. Here is my email princesschomy1@yahoo.com. thanks for your help
[Reply]
Our midwife was $1800 + $40 per prenatal + $35 birth kit. Our out of pocket for a hospital birth is $2000 vaginal. It cost A LOT more for the c/s. and yes, it was worth it!
[Reply]
Totally forgot thank yous. For the first one, I made hand stamped notecards which cost about $10. For the second, I had custom lotion bars made by a local mom! Boy did they smell good!
[Reply]
babydickey Reply:
February 19th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Ohh cute ideas!!
[Reply]
Seriously? I think $3000 is a STEAL!!!!
We are wishing we could have another baby, but since we are on private insurance it wouldn’t be covered. We called around to a few hospitals, and they said that birth starts at around $6000 – and that assumes you come in, deliver naturally without any meds, and leave with zero complications. An out of pocket c/s was about $20k+. So yeah…. TTC is def. on hold until we get different insurance.
I think it’s awesome that you are able to get the birth of your dreams for just $3000. Congrats mama. On everything. Anyone who tells you you’re spending too much is crazy!
[Reply]
babydickey Reply:
February 19th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Thanks mama 🙂 It’s the ones that have insurance that would cover 100% of a hospital birth that think paying out of pocket for a homebirth is crazy… I understand that (pay $0 or pay $3000?), but we all know how much I love hospitals and I’d pay nearly anything for a homebirth 🙂
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with insurance issues, I know how frustrating that can be! 🙁
[Reply]
That’s about how much ours was too. Thankfully our insurance covered it.
[Reply]
Thanks for adding the photo of the sitz bath. You a educating this new mama to be!
[Reply]
babydickey Reply:
February 19th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Yes! Haha, I had to because everyone kept telling me I had to have one and I had no idea what it was… I honestly thought “sitz bath” just referred to a mix of herbs you put in your own bathtub to soak in. Now I know that sure, you can get sitz bath herbs, but the bath is an actual bath… for your bottom…. lol.
[Reply]
Mine was pretty pricey. Homebirth Midwives in Des Moines run around 5k. I came in to mine late, so it was 3900 for the midwives, 600 for the doula, 150 for the placenta encaps, 365 for the birthtub and birthkit 60. Most which we didn’t even need(the kit). Add in hypnobabies and we were over 5k out of pocket. A vag birth in the hospital probably would have been more like 2500 out of pocket. Thankfully we did randomly get 1k back from the insurance company. Making it more like 4k. =)
[Reply]
Our midwife’s fee is $3000, and we aren’t having a doula, but other than that the costs are about the same. My son’s hospital birth cost $10,000, all of which was paid for by insurance (except ultrasound and Rhogam, for some reason), but if we hadn’t had any insurance that would have killed us!
[Reply]
Our midwife was probably about 1800 including gas for prenatals ( we went to her) We didn’t have a doula. A sweet friend acted as one sorta. I don’t think I really needed one. I also had to buy a birth kit, a $60 kiddie pool, we didn’t end up using, so we brought it back. We also bought a few more random items like washcloths, pads, hydrogen peroxide, and maybe a few more things. Our medical assurance through the Bible College where we work paid for the midwife fees,so that was great!
-Hannah
[Reply]
Ezeogidi lovina Reply:
December 10th, 2016 at 10:48 am
Please may i know the location where your midwife charge is 1800. If possible can i have her contact please. Here is my email princesschomy1@yahoo.com. thanks for your help
[Reply]
I really like the T-shirts at the end of your post. They are very cute and very unique.
[Reply]
This is a great post! Thanks for taking the time to detail this out for other mamas to read. Would you mind telling me who your midwife was? I’m on the hunt for one at the moment 🙂 – thanks!
[Reply]
Thank you so much. So good to put things in perspective. amazingly affordable compared to the almost 5000 we paid for me to catch my own baby in the parking garage of the hospital!
[Reply]
Any recommendations for a midwife? I just moved to the Chicagoland area and would love recommendations
[Reply]
Emily Reply:
December 5th, 2016 at 12:13 pm
Welcome! Are you on Facebook? Try asking in the IL Friends of Midwives group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ILFOM/
[Reply]
Please may i know the location where your midwife charge is 2000dollar. If possible can i have her contact please. Here is my email princesschomy1@yahoo.com. thanks for your help
[Reply]
[…] visits. (If you’re curious about the specifics, you can find a cost breakdown of one woman’s home birth experience here.) For those who don’t have health insurance or maternity coverage, a home birth is actually a […]