I am considering doing a home birth for my next baby. No, I'm not pregnant.
A home birth is, to me, one of the pinnacles of crunchiness (aka natural living or being a hippie). I'm not actually opposed to giving birth in the hospital again, but I would like to avoid driving in the car trying to handle contractions. If I were to go the hospital route again, I would want to use a midwife, but I don't know of any in the area that practice in a hospital. Which, once again, leans me towards doing a home birth. Finally, with my new health care, I am trying to find the least expensive health care options available. A home birth is a great deal cheaper than giving birth in a hospital. I think I was charged around $8,000 just for delivery when I had Declan, and I was only in the hospital for three hours before he was born. If I do decide on a home birth, I will definitely miss the hospital food, which sounds weird, I know, but the food was really good AND I didn't have to cook or clean any of it! Best part!
The only other hesitation I have for doing a home birth is that our house is pretty small, and if I wanted a labor pool (or whatever you call them) for a water birth option, I'm not sure where it would go. So, if I can find a midwife that I click with and feel comfortable using, I will probably be having a home birth for my next baby. Whenever that may be.
4 comments:
I have a small home, smaller than yours I think, and it worked perfectly fine!! Also, I was concerned about the food thing as well. So, I prepared waffles and egg sandwiches ahead of time and froze them for after the birth. Our Doula, Megan, just simply reheated them and viola! I was fed and happy :)
The total cost for my homebirth was around $2,700 out of pocket. Extra birth supplies were maybe around $50...
I have interviewed one midwife so far and I am meeting with another one in a couple of weeks. I think they both charge around $3000 as well. I would definitely have to make food ahead! Although hopefully my mom will be out like she was when Declan was born - then she can help with the cooking and cleaning, because I will be busy with the breastfeeding and sleeping, plus taking care of Declan! If I do go with a home birth, I'm sure I'll be picking your brain a lot!!!
I totally get the hospital food thing, even though all they would let me eat is tomato soup, cream of rice and fruit gels.
How interesting! The hospital I used was relatively new, and they had a whole menu I could order from! And the food was pretty tasty, although I had just expended a LOT of energy, so my judgment may have been skewed ever so slightly :)
Post a Comment