I don’t know where my next child will be born, assuming I have another child, that is. I had a wonderful experience at the birth center where I gave birth to Connor, but it was so damn far away!
As you can tell from the beautiful floral wallpaper, I was not in a hospital, and that is definitely not my house. I felt like my experience, minus, the hour car ride and the home, was very similar to a home birth. I arrived late at night, my doula met me there. I was the only mother laboring there that night. They have 4 rooms, so I got to choose my favorite. I had a nurse and a midwife and my husband all to myself, no one had any other distractions. I had a nice jacuzzi tub that I was able to use and a queen bed.
I switched to the birth center when I was around 34 weeks pregnant, so I had to start driving to my appointments, an hour away. I didn’t mind this for a few weeks, but I don’t think I would have wanted to do that for the entire 40 week pregnancy.
I chose the birth center after much debate between a local hospital with some birthing tubs and the hour drive. I’m glad I made the choice to go to a birth center, and I now know, that unless it is medically necessary, I don’t ever want to be in a hospital.
So, what do I do for the next baby? I decided to fore go the home birth option with Connor because my insurance didn’t cover the expense. I know that a home birth can be as little as $2000, but if I could have it covered by my insurance that would be much more doable.
For our next child, I decided that I should have my husband switch our insurance ahead of time so that we wouldn’t have to worry about it. I don’t know if we will definitely have a home birth, but I don’t want the option to be completely ruled out because of expense. My husband went to his benefits fair at work during the open enrollment period and began asking insurance companies about coverage of home births. Our current provider is Aetna, and they do not cover it, but he asked them anyway. He went to the lady at the Aetna booth and said, “Does your insurance cover home births?” The lady looked at him puzzled and said, “Why would anyone want to do THAT?” He came home and told me what the lady said to him and I said, “oh my god, if only I was there, I might have blown up at her, if she only knew!”
Don’t these insurance providers realize that the home birth will save them money?? A hospital birth can run up to $15,000, we are talking thousands less here! Well, luckily, we did discover that blue cross blue shield will cover the home birth expense, but my husband missed the date to switch. I supposed we could always switch to my insurance if I am pregnant again.
My next best option is a local birth center that is in the beginning phases of opening near by. I was told that it might be open by last summer, and still no word, I think the economy hasn’t helped their situation. Ideally, the home birth option sounds so appealing to me. I would love the midwife to come to me and to have everyone else around to love and support me with no worry of racing out of the house. I only wonder where in the world I would set up a big tub in my house….
What is your ideal birth location? Have you had experiences at multiple locations? Have you had a home birth?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Home birth would definitely be my first option. Because of my 7 high risk pregnancies and several difficult deliveries where our babies were in trouble my hubby is not comfortable with that option. I had several midwife deliveries early on but midwives are no longer allowed to practice here. I found an OB with a midwife mentality that we fell in love with. I have a good and obviously long standing relationship with her and we compromised to come up with a plan that all three of us were comfortable with. We had a hospital delivery with a quiet setting in which my doctor allowed us to make the decisions and then discharged us after making sure my glucose and babies (I am diabetic) was stable, so that we were back home in 12 hours.
Kat
It is wonderful that you found an OB that is supportive of you! I can understand that some people are not comfortable with that option, but for me its the opposite, of not being comfortable with the hospital.
We gave birth at a birthing center but it’s only 15mins away. I have been thinking about a home birth because my son came so quickly and they always say the second comes faster than the first. Plus I would really like to sleep after the next birth because I didn’t sleep a bit after the first. I never thought about finding out if the insurance would cover it but now I will! They covered most of my first at the birthing center.
Insurance companies would rather you give birth in a hospital setting because of liablity. People will sue over anything and everything and hospitals have their own insurance for that.
Mine came quickly too, I was 10 cm when I got to the birth center and went through transition in the car ride there…so that’s also a concern of mine! If I have to go back there again I’ll definitely leave earlier!
I had my first three children at a cold hospital – yuck! I delivered with my surrogacy at a birth center – ok! I delivered my last three children ay home – EMPOWERING, BEAUTIFUL! I know that homebirths are not the norm these days but if I could go back that would indeed be my choice!
I had my first baby at a very natural birth-friendly hospital, which wasn’t quite as posh as the one closest to my house, but I think it was worth giving up in-room pedicures and more food choices for birth tubs and supportive L&D nurses. As far as hospital experiences go, I think I had a pretty good one, and I was able to have a natural delivery without any pressure for intervention from doctors or nurses. For that birth, we had originally planned on delivering at a nearby birth center, but it closed unexpectedly 8 weeks before my due date. Had it been earlier in my pregnancy, I think I might have considered home birth, but my husband and I didn’t feel comfortable making that decision and seeking out a midwife that late in the pregnancy. Knowing what I know now, I would have planned a home birth from the start!
My second was born at home, and although I felt confident and empowered after my son’s natural hospital birth, nothing could have prepared me for how wonderful I felt after my home birth. My daughter was born in our bath tub, and I was the one who picked her up out of the water, announced that it was a girl, and I held her without interruption for about 30 minutes. The midwife was able to check her breathing and heart and attend to me while I cuddled my baby in the tub. When I said that I was ready and the placenta had been delivered, my husband held the baby while the midwife helped me rinse off in the shower, put a bathrobe on, and get into our bed. I was served food from my own kitchen, we received visitors at our leisure, and I slept like a dream that night. My recovery from that birth was so much faster than my first, and I believe it was because I was comfortable and able to rest.
We are currently expecting our third baby and planning another home birth–I can’t wait!