Paying for Pregnancy?

[MrsB]

Hi guys! As you all probably know by now, we just found out we're expecting our first child. Yay!!!!

Anyway, my question is, how in the world can we afford the dr's bills???? The Women's centers around here want $100 cash at the appointment if you don't have insurance (we don't). And we do not have $100 cash right now! Nor will we have it next month (dh's income barely covers the bills comfortably).

I read that hospitals offer low-cost health care or that you can get Medicaid to cover the pregnancy (not really the way we want to go but we could if we had to). Does anyone have any experience with this? Or know how much is the most you can make to qualify for either?

Any other advice? Thanks guys! And I'll try to make every post from now on about the upcoming baby! lol

[Mom23boys]

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!

With our first child, we did not have insurance. We went through the county health department. I had all my visits there and delivered at the hospital. It was the only way we could afford to pay for it.

I don't know if the women's center is the same there as a county health clinic. If not, you may call your health department and ask about prenatal care. If you had to go the medicaid route, do it to ensure that your baby and you are given the prenatal care that you need.

With the last 2 children, we had insurance to cover the pregnancy.

[LastDragonfly]

I know in NM any woman (no matter the income level) is qualified to received Medicaid during her pregnancy. Check with your local income support division. Your WIC office can help get you set too.

And of course......CONGRATULATIONS!

[Daisygirl]

I live in Canada, so I don't know if this would apply, but consider a midwife, that could be a more cost-effective alternative. Here they will provide either hospital births or home births.

I had a doctor and hospital birth with my first child, and a midwife and home birth with the second. The level of care with the midwife was wonderful, and just as detailed as the care with the doctor, with the added benefit of a personal touch. If I am ever fortunate enough to have anothe child I would absolutely go the route of the midwife/home birth.

Congratulations on your new baby!

[MrsB]

Thanks yall!!! I'll check into all the things yall talked about.

Daisygirl, does a midwife have an office or is it like a home visit for the appts?

[Daisygirl]

My midwife had an office but towards the end made a couple of home visits. They work in conjunction with a medical doctor in regards to necessary tests or complications as well.

[kabin63]

With my one and only pregnancy we qualified for medicaid, and then my daughter stayed on it the first year too. Thank goodness for it too. We could have never paid for it otherwise, and wic helped out alot too. Check with the local welfare office for info on medicaid and givce them a call. It may take a few months to get on, but the nice thing is they back date to when you actually applied.

[bevjean]

The medicaid for pregnancy is great. We used it completely for my first son and it supplemented our regular insurance with the last one, so we paid nothing. Which was great since I ran into some serious problems with the last one.

[Nantahala]

Medicaid is a great program for those who need it, and if you've paid taxes you've paid for it.

Medicaid covers pregnant women up to 185% of the poverty line ($24,420.00 in 2006) and baby for the first year. With all the possible problems that may come up with baby (vaccines, well-baby visits, etc.) it's really important to have insurance. In my city, each hospital has a prenatal clinic that takes Medicaid as well as the city health department.

[Buckeye5]

I was going to mention the WIC program, but saw it was on another thread. It stands for Women, Infants, and CHildren. Also, there are programs for families on a certain income that will do medical care for free, it is some type of law, but sorry I can't remember the name of it. I will try to find out.

[many houseapes]

Congratulations!!!! after 7 hospital births, I got wise and decided to try a homebirth...it was sooo much better in every way..I had wished that I had had a homebirth for each & every one of my babies(there are 10).
depending on how much your midwife charges, it is still considerably lower than having a hospital birth, plus I think that I recieved better care. Our midwife chrages us $900 for a homebirth....we would be paying that out of pocket(&more) if we were to have used insurance & had a hospital birth.
medicaid would be a good back up if for some reason you had complications & had to be transported. Do some research about the pros & cons of childbirth choices...you will be sooo surprised to find that there are actually less complications with homebirth compared to hospitals. hope that helps

[Michelle68]

When I was pregnant with my DD, I was only 18 and unmarried and didn't have the support of her biological father. At first I started seeing an obstetrician and paid for each office visit as I went. Unfortunately, since I didn't have insurance, I wasn't able to do that for very long. I ended up contacting the city health department and obtained all my prenatal care through the city clinics for free. It wasn't fancy and there were some somewhat long waits to see a nurse practitioner, but all-in-all I received good, competent care. I wasn't able to obtain Medicaid while I was pregnant because I was working. (Not making much, but I guess enough so that I didn't qualify.That was 18 years ago.) Once I delivered, though, Medicaid kicked in and my hospital expenses and delivery were covered. As others have mentioned, definitely try your city or county health department and see what services are offered. Good luck and, again, congratulations!


--Michelle

[Goodwin17]

Congrats on your pregnancy! Medicaid is usually great for pregnancy. They pay for everything. My SIL used Medicaid with both her babies, and it covered everything. WIC is also a wonderful program for excellent nutrition.

[SHOPGIRL]

Any chance your dh could get a new job with health coverage? Most places do offer health coverage. I think even Starbucks offers health coverage to their part-time workers.

Also, any possibility you could find employment?

The government does have all kinds of programs available so I'm sure you won't have any problem getting help.

Also, the Dr. should have prenatal vits he/she can give you. You can also save on opting out of certain tests. That can save you a little.

[MrsB]

Thanks everyone for all the advice!! I'll keep you all updated on what we do. I'm supposed to go Monday to see if we qualify for Medicaid.