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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
health insurance- RANT and ?
So we're thinking about starting to try for babies, and I'm trying to be proactive about figuring out our health insurance etc. so when the time comes I'm not panicking trying to navigate insurance coverage.
I've always wanted to do a more "natural" birth...one of my dear friends is a doula, and I really like the idea of women being able to have other choices other than a hospital, like a birth center, or using a midwife.
My insurance doesn't cover ANYTHING except standard OBGYN care and a hospital birth. Not even partial coverage.
Anyone have any suggestions for me?
Re: health insurance- RANT and ?
I'm with preferred one...I can have whoever I want there as a labor coach (my friend the doula would do it for free), but my insurance only covers an OB, as opposed to a midwife, attending the birth. I was really surprised that the insc. didn't cover at least partial cost of midwives, since there have been a ton of studies that show that having a midwife present can reduce complications and need for major medical interventions. I'm fine with having the baby in a hospital, just wanted to have a little bit more control over the situation!
Photo taken at 16 months old
You might also try contacting the birth centers directly to ask them about payment options. It's not atypical for insurance companies to deny coverage (although I think there was some recent legislation that was supposed to address that), but for some people, it is cheaper/comparably priced to pay out-of-pocket with a birth center or home birth midwife (if you're interested in that route) than it is to have a hospital birth covered by insurance.
Two of my friends (one of whom happens to be a midwife) had their babies at the birth center on Grand Ave. (St. Paul) and had AMAZING experiences there. I attended one of the births as the photographer, and it was fantastic. It's my top pick for where I'd like to deliver a baby when the time comes. http://www.health-foundations.com/
I also have preferred one and my midwives were fully covered. The midwife clinic I used is affiliated with two hospitals as well as physician collaboration with two clinics, so if you didn't look into specific midwifery practices that may help?
awesome!! what clinic did you go through? The woman I talked to was a complete idiot, so I sort of assumed that she was misinformed or didn't really get what I was asking about.
thank you
Ugh I feel your pain! Having insurance tell you how to run your life is maddening at best, horrifying at worst.
I'll just add my two cents that my United Hospital birth with a male OB/Gyn I'd never met and the L&D nurse was 100x better experience than my midwife, birth center Woodwinds experience. The male Ob/gyn was super awesome as I was very clear I wanted a natural birth... he waited as LONG as he could to even hook up an IV (due to high blood pressure concerns) and my husband was actively involved.
The midwives weren't warm, did not really make my husband feel included, and I didn't get much verbally afterwards. My Ob/Gyn at United said "this was the most perfect, old-fashioned delivery" and I could tell he loved it. We did not know the gender and I was able to do it all on my own. Woodwinds also make an extremely dangerous medical error that would never have happened at United.
I wanted a doula but it turns out when I'm in horrible pain I want to go IN and not be touched or supported. I envisioned riding waves with my second, gripped the side of the bed, and got through it going "inside." A doula woulda annoyed the fool out of me.
The most I let my husband do was spray a water bottle on my face (I learned after the 1st that I got insanely hot and sweaty.)
Good luck! I know it'll turn out magical no matter what.
I have a friend was was a RN on the L&D unit at HCMC and she said they have free doulas- which she said is one reason why she gave birth there.
Unfortunately, I think if you want to go the more "natural" route and either give birth at home or at a birth center you are going to end up eating most of the cost. However, you are just going to have to do your research and find people who offer what you want and see if there are able to work with your insurance company to get at least part of the cost covered.
I would suggest a midwife or DO vs. MD...and then laboring at home as long as possible, and being very specific when you write out your birth plan if you want to try to avoid a lot of the invasive monitoring that can occur in a hospital.