Cost of a Homebirth Vs Other Life Events
It feels like the cost of a wedding or down payment on a home should not be considered more important than the cost of giving birth - but here we are! We are willing to pay large sums for things like a wedding or down payment on a home but are willing to give birth with a care provider we don’t know or want. We are willing to give birth at a location we don’t prefer because it’s “covered by insurance.”
When we compare the average cost of a wedding or a down payment of a home in LA County to that of giving birth, it’s clear that our cultural values favor the wedding or home cost. Weddings in Los Angeles average between 41K to 66K for 100-150 guests (weddings with more guests can top 100k). A down payment for a new home in LA based on the average home value of $900K is 27k to 180k. This can vary depending on the type of loan, interest rates and percent put down (usually between 3.5-20%). Now consider how most families plan for those expenses. They are planning ahead, taking out loans or getting help from family. They understand there will be a cost and to them, it’s worth it because these are once in a lifetime experiences. Even if a person gets married more than once or buys a home and later moves, they still place value in those core life experiences. My question is, why do we then not place a similar value on our birth experiences? We may not know the outcome but culturally the expectation is to go with the flow. To be a good patient rather than rock the boat. When we give birth in a environment or doctor that is out of alignment with our wishes, it may lead to high rates of birth trauma, unwanted interventions and even increased postpartum depression. Those hidden costs should also be taken into consideration.
When it comes to homebirth, the financial cost is usually partially reimbursed by private insurance such as PPO plans. Additionally, many midwives offer payment plans or accommodations to help make it more affordable. Those seeking reimbursement for a homebirth may expect to get anywhere from a few hundred dollars to their entire investment returned to them after giving birth. It helps to have a dedicated medical biller who specializes in out-of-hospital birth to submit a claim on your behalf. Then, if your claim is denied, the biller can appeal and understands how to work with insurance companies to navigate that process.
The out-of-pocket cost of giving birth in any location varies largely based on the type of insurance each birther has, deductible and out-of-pocket max, as well as the fine print of that individuals insurance plan.
For a hospital birth, there are often hidden fees: for example the physician’s fee and hospital fees are separate. You could end up paying well over 30k or even more when interventions are added to the total costs (or sometimes pay in the neighborhood of 2k or even rarely nothing). The costs listed above do not include things like getting an epidural, induction, newborn care or nicu stay. Any of those would be additional costs. Many birthers do not realize that anesthesiologist for example are often out-of-network with their insurance, even when the hospital they chose to give birth at was in-network for them.
At the end of the day I really question how a homebirth can seem unaffordable while a wedding costing 41k with no hope of reimbursement is seen as more worthy.