How Much Does a Midwife Cost?
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Midwife?
Hiring a midwife has so many potential benefits, including cost. If you’re considering a midwife-assisted birth in Oregon or Washington, knowing the associated costs is essential for making informed decisions.
In this post, we'll explore the typical expenses related to midwifery services, prenatal care, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. We hope that it helps you gain a better understanding of the financial aspects of choosing a midwife for your pregnancy journey.
Midwifery & Home Births
Before exploring the costs of hiring a midwife, it’s helpful to have a solid understanding of midwifery and home births.
What Is a Midwife’s Role?
Midwives are trained healthcare professionals who provide personalized and holistic care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, supporting positive birth experiences and empowering women. A Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is the expert on homebirth and natural birth care.
Midwives focus on low-risk pregnancies and may attend home births, birthing centers, or hospitals. OB/GYNs, on the other hand, are medical doctors providing a broader range of women's health services, including both low and high-risk pregnancies, surgical procedures, and complex medical conditions, primarily in hospital or clinic settings.
What's Covered When Hiring a Midwife?
Midwifery service provides most procedures that are needed during the childbearing year. That said, our home birth packages feature:
Prenatal care, including routine screenings
24/7 on-call availability
Ultrasounds and lab work, plus any needed follow-up care
Preparation of a comfortable and safe labor and delivery environment in your home
Birth attendance
Labor support
Newborn procedures, such as head-to-toe exam
Postpartum care, including suturing if needed
Breastfeeding support
24/7 on-call availability for the first six weeks postpartum
Complementary wellness recommendations like massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, lactation support, or obstetric specializations
Referrals as needed
All of this is included in the midwife cost in order to provide excellent care and a strong start to the families who choose midwifery care. Also, it’s our passion to provide highly compassionate care to everyone we serve.
Delivery of Care
Comprehensive prenatal care is done in hour-long appointments (as opposed to the average of 12 minutes that people get in OB care).
On your big day, we’re with you at your home. We carry all the equipment needed to monitor and attend to your care needs. Our midwives never leave the house until both mom and baby are stable and tucked into bed.
The postpartum period is just as important as the pregnancy. And, new moms need emotional and breastfeeding support. As such, we return to your home at least three times during the first two weeks. We want everyone to feel well when they are starting or growing their family.
Is Home Birth Safe?
Home birth, the practice of delivering your baby in your own house, has been commonplace for thousands of years. For low-risk pregnancies and deliveries, planned home birth attended by a qualified midwife can be considered a safe option, sometimes safer than a hospital birth.
Related: 9 Common Myths about Home Birth
How to Better Prepare for Home Birth?
Home births can be even safer and more rewarding if you’re prepared for the occasion.
It’s recommended that you:
Find an experienced and qualified midwife (someone you’re comfortable with) to give you care before, during, and after your delivery.
Determine whether or not a home birth makes sense for you and your baby.
Create a home birthing plan, including what to do if you end up needing to go to a hospital.
Additionally, many parents-to-be like to study up on all things home birth. Taking an online childbirth course (like ours!), watching videos, and so on are great options.
Related: Benefits of Taking an Online Childbirth Course
The Cost of a Home Birth
Having a baby can be one of the richest human experiences. But it can also be quite expensive.
Interestingly, though, what you might pay for a home birth versus a hospital birth might surprise you. Also, being in Oregon or Washington has an impact on the price tag.
Home Birth vs Hospital Birth Breakdown
You’re probably most interested in how big that birthing bill’s going to be. But it’s worthwhile to take a moment to ponder other tradeoffs and their costs, too.
Among the several key differences between hospital births and home births are the following. Each dimension has value, which you’ll need to determine
Appointment Times. Hospital appointments can be harder to book, which can impact your schedule.
Personalized Attention. A midwife will likely be able to spend more time with you and be better able to build rapport.
Support System. With a home birth, you have more freedom to include loved ones in the experience.
Environment. Familiar surroundings often mean a more comfortable labor and delivery, which can minimize pain, stress, and the use of medications.
Control. Many women enjoy greater empowerment and having more say over their bodies and the process that comes with home births.
Costs and cost structures are also going to be different between home and hospital births. Generally speaking, a midwife-attended home birth will often be less expensive or on par with a conventional hospital delivery.
Related: Home Birth Pros and Cons
Oregon & Washington Costs vs National Averages
The hospital costs in Washington are even higher than Oregon (shown in the table above), with the average pre-insurance total being $18,077 (as of June 2020).
By many accounts, having a baby in Oregon and Washington is more expensive than in other states. According to Forbes, the average out-of-pocket cost is 19% and 13%, respectively, higher than the national average.
Billing & Payments Matter, Too
At Hearth & Home, we have an all-inclusive fee for the midwife cost that’s paid prior to starting the care program. No one receives another bill ever. The most a family will pay is that upfront midwife cost during the pregnancy.
Later, when insurance is billed after care ends, reimbursements are issued from insurance companies. (More on insurance in the next section.) Essentially, most families wrap up care with their midwives and receive a check, not a bill! This makes the midwife cost even more reasonable.
Many people who have their babies in a hospital continue to get bills for months or years afterward. Moreover, the amounts are often much higher than they expected.
Knowing all the costs and when payments are due beforehand can make planning for pregnancy and childbirth more straightforward.
Can You Use Insurance for Home Births?
Some insurance policies do cover midwifery services and home births. You’ll probably still have to pay some portion of the bill yourself — so it’s a good idea to check with your provider for your coverage benefits. You can also contact us and we may be able to give you more information.
Ultimately, though, the midwife cost is less than most people’s deductibles (plus hefty copays and other surprise fees?).
Private Insurance
For people with private insurance, a midwife’s cost versus the cost of a hospital birth is often significantly lower. It’s also common for the midwife/home birth experience to yield greater patient satisfaction, which can make it feel like you’re getting more for your money.
Let’s illustrate this with a quick example. Suppose a person’s deductible is $7,500 (which is an average deductible for a private insurance plan). The midwife cost is lower than that amount — so the individual’s out-of-pocket expense for midwifery is lower than what they would pay in the hospital.
No or Minimal Insurance?
We believe that everyone has the right to midwifery care so we try to make it achievable for all families.
If you don’t have insurance, or your plan doesn’t cover much, it’s especially worth the time and effort to weigh the financials of a home birth versus a hospital birth. In these circumstances, a home birth may be significantly less expensive. (That leaves you more money to spend on diapers or stash away for later!)
Our Process
Hearth and Home Midwifery isn’t an in-network provider with any insurance companies. Being an outside provider enables us to offer a more comprehensive scope of practice and increases the informed consent for families.
This means that we bill your insurance for the cost of our midwife services as an out-of-network provider. However, we can sometimes bill in-network through something called a “gap exception.”
Midwives, Well Worth It
While money shouldn’t be the only factor in choosing pregnancy care and birthing experience, it’s certainly a huge consideration.
It’s important that both the parents and the baby receive high-quality, appropriate healthcare at all stages. As such, it’s critical to understand the investments you’re making in your family’s well-being.
In many cases, particularly in Oregon and Washington, hiring a midwife and having a home birth is less costly than a hospital birth and doesn’t come with any unexpected bills down the road. Plus, many discover that — when you calculate safety, emotions, etc. — the value of a home birth experience is greater than its dollar cost.
If you have questions about your personal situation, reach out today. We’re here to provide answers and help you find ways to make hiring a midwife affordable.
