Long Shot- Insurance, pregnancy, OB back-up?

[Soror]

Trying to keep a long story short. I'm using a CPM- certified professional midwife for my birth. I'm also seeing an OB, for back-up. CPMs are legal in my state only recently and the collaboration is not the best and fairly non-existent in my rural area. I'm using the same OB I used with the other 3, the first born in the hospital and the 2nd 2 at home. Dh prefers to have back-up as I'm Rh negative and the mw cannot obtain shots, plus there are few OBs in our area and he doesn't roll the dice in case of emergency and get one of the other very crappy OBs.

 

As most know I'm sure OBs charge a global fee, which encompasses all visits and the birth. After dd1 I was charged about $600, after dd2 I never was charged anything- I guess it messed up the system that I didn't ever give birth at the hospital.

 

I went to the OB yesterday and I had to talk to the billing lady as per protocol and I was trying to figure out what to expect, without actually asking specifically about hb as it is really, really rare in this area and can be met with hostility.

 

Anyway, she just kept on saying well you'll have to meet all of your deductible. I asked what if another OB ended up delivering then how is it divided up and she couldn't give me a straight answer. She said something about the fee would then be split according to how much the insurance would allow and usually was about half each.

 

I know this would be much easier if I could just ask openly but risking hostility from the billing lady is not on my list of things to do. I was thinking the best shot was to call the insurance and ask them as it seems I should get some facts and some impartial info. Then I was thinking of talking to the OB, who is supposed to be hb friendly, I just haven't had the nerve to straight out bring it up (but surely he sees that the last 2 births were not at the hospital). Any other ideas? I expect that if I do have the baby at the hospital that I'll pay the full fee but as the past has shown the billing for when that doesn't happen is really erratic. I hate not knowing though as it is totally, completely stressing me out.

[dbmamaz]

so you are saying you arent asking the right questions because you are afraid that they might get rude if you say you are planning a home birth?

 

First of all, ask your midwife if she has any advice. She might have some experience dealing with these issues already

 

next, call your insurance. The customer service reps HAVE to be reasonably polite and they SHOULD be able to answer at least some of your questions, or direct you in the right direction.

 

Finally, chin up and ask your questions. Bring dh or a friend for moral support if you need to, but its your body, your choice, you arent breaking any laws - so they can take their bad attitudes and shove it. They are being rude, you are not - so you shouldnt be embarrassed or guilty! If you arent feeling confident, fake it - you'll get through it!

[Soror]

Yup, you summed it up! My mw is fairly new to the area, she is from here but was practicing in a hb legal state and moved back home after the law changed. She hasn't had any experience in this regard. Dh says he'll be the jerk if need be, I don't want to tick off the OB though and lose him. Dh doesn't think that will happen but I'm so nervous. I know it is legal but being how rare it is some people can be jerks and I'd just rather avoid that if possible. I had a few bad experiences after my first one and being terrified that someone is going to try and pull some crap or harass you with a new baby was beyond stressful.

 

It is almost to the point of making me want a hospital birth just to avoid it, but then the stress of that I find even more so, so here I am stuck and worrying and rather sick of worrying.

[Scuff]

Well, that was one of the things I liked about my mw over a hospital ob, i could get a straight answer about how much it'd cost. :)