# Birth Center versus Hospital Cost? Experiences?



## tempestjewel (Apr 18, 2005)

I had my first DD in a hospital. Lots of yucky interventions, an OB, an epidural, and episiotomy. The whole 9 yards. Stayed in the hospital for two nights. Total cost for that birth (inluding the anesthesia, hopsital stay and OB fees, baby fees- everything from when I got two lines until all post-partum care was finished), about $7000.

Just had my second DD in december. Birth center birth with a midwife. No complications, just a minor tear. Was at the birth center for 8 hours. Total cost for that birth (all fees for mom and baby-everything from when I got two lines until all post-partum care was finished) $9,040.

I was a little surprised when the birth center bills started coming through that it costs MORE then staying two days at a hospital with a bunch of interventions.

Our insurance does not cover homebirth. We pay 10% out-of-pocket which I realize is pretty decent overall coverage, but I just was NOT expecting to have to pay $900 for such an uncomplicated birth. I'm not saying midwives aren't worth the money, even extra money, I'm just a bit surprised by this all.

Did I just happen to have a super cheap hospital birth? Is this what most people pay for birth center births?


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## AugustLia23 (Mar 18, 2004)

Did you double check the fees? They both sound like a lot, here in Boston, the average birth with epidural is 4,000. I don't know what the BC costs.


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## zak (Mar 6, 2005)

My BC birth was under $4K. I think it was around $2K for prenatal care and around $2K for the "birth". We paid nothing, I had double insurance coverages.

This time we are HB and it's around $2150 (our insurance doesn't cover it).


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## wifeandmom (Jun 28, 2005)

I added up my last c-section costs out of sheer boredom one night and it was just under $5400 for all prenatal care (blood work, Rhogam, 3 u/s, all visits, several NSTs at the end, etc), 36 hour hospital stay, anesthesia, baby care, surgery, 2nd surgeon, etc etc etc. That was the grand total of what our insurance company paid out, plus $240 we paid the pediatrician that wasn't on our plan. Otherwise the entire pg/birth would have cost us nothing out of pocket.

I think $5400 is relatively inexpensive for a c-section, but I will say the charges that were actually BILLED OUT was *much* higher than the total that was actually paid by insurance, so when you see stuff like 'this hospital charges $20K for a c-section'...well, they can charge whatever they want, but insurance isn't going to pay it, kwim?

All that said, I think $9K for a birth center birth is A LOT, but maybe it's not and I'm just not aware of what birth centers are charging.


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## tempestjewel (Apr 18, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *wifeandmom* 
All that said, I think $9K for a birth center birth is A LOT, but maybe it's not and I'm just not aware of what birth centers are charging.

That was my feeling too, but I thought I'd post the question here because I thought maybe I was just WAY out of touch with the actuality of cost!


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

Yeah, I think our birth center here charges about $2000 for a birth and 4-10 hour stay.

My youngest was a hospital birth and I was charged $4500 for a two day stay, not drugs, IV, no doctor's fee (because I didn't have one- the nurses attended my birth she came so fast.)


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## mf_colon (Oct 6, 2006)

Have to agree with PP. That amount seems like way to much for a BC birth. I would double check with them to make sure this is correct, it should cost less than half that.


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## Belleweather (Nov 11, 2004)

My birth center birth, total, was a bit over $4000. We paid something like $1600 of that because our insurance covered their services but not the facility fee. That didn't include either of two ultrasounds, which had to be done elsewhere and were paid seperately at 100% by our insurance because we got a referral to a covered provider.


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## wednesday (Apr 26, 2004)

I think the total charges for my son's BC birth were around $5K. I can't really remember that well. We would have paid less out of pocket for an uncomplicated hospital birth, because of how our insurance worked at the time. OTOH, given how my birth went, every birth professional I've described it to (whether home- or hospital-based) has said that in a hospital setting I would have ended up with a c-section. We have struggled with the issue that our plans to have a HB next time won't be covered by insurance at all -- yet came to the realization that out-of-pocket costs for a homebirth would be comparable to out-of-pocket costs for a c-section. If you do the math that way, the decision to go with HB doesn't look like the less frugal choice anymore.


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## MsElle07 (Jul 14, 2006)

Looks like that $9000 fee is for prenatal care AND the birth. Your $7000 hospital birth likely didn't include the prenatal care, only the birth. I bet your care provider received another $3-$5K for prenatal.

My birth center birth (NOT including prenatal care) was $3000.


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## Snowdrift (Oct 15, 2005)

What kind of birth center is this? If it's associated with a hospital, or associated with a doctor who is associated with a hospital, the costs could be similar to or higher than a hospital birth, and will be billed like a traditional hospital birth.

A free-standing/non-medical birth center typically costs more than a homebirth but less than a hospital birth. However they may often not be covered by insurance and fees are almost almost always discussed and usually paid in advance.

Fact is, that the term "birth center" covers a range of types of care, ranging from standard hospital to homebirth-style care but on premises owned by the midwife, and fees and billing styles vary accordingly.


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

a free standing birth center birth here costs around $4-5000 . $9000 seems REALLY high to me.


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## muttix2 (Apr 24, 2005)

The free standing birth center I used charged around $2500 for the entire thing, prenatal and birth. I believe hb would have been cheaper but the parents were responsible for the supplies. That sounds like a mistake.


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## wifeandmom (Jun 28, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MsElle07* 
Looks like that $9000 fee is for prenatal care AND the birth. Your $7000 hospital birth likely didn't include the prenatal care, only the birth. I bet your care provider received another $3-$5K for prenatal.


Nope. She stated pretty clearly in her OP the following:

Quote:

Total cost for that birth (inluding the anesthesia, hopsital stay and OB fees, baby fees- everything from when I got two lines until all post-partum care was finished), about $7000.
Sounds like whatever birth center she used just charges A LOT.


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## dannic (Jun 14, 2005)

Our bc charged 3500, as opposed to 6-8000 for hosp. This time, I'm having a hb, and that is less than both, which was nice. Around here, midwives have a list of supplies to have on hand (such as hydrogen peroxide, ect) and have you order a birth kit--usually from a supplier that packs one specifically to the midwife's specs. I want the supplies here, as there is always the chance that a hb may be unassisted...ya never know, right?


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## mgeis01 (Sep 19, 2005)

I have no idea what our hospital births cost. Insurance covered it and I never looked at the bills. I'm sure it was several thousand. I know my ER visits to rehydrate (hyperemysis) usually run around $1600.

This birth we are going to a free standing BC and the total cost is $2600 not including prenatal. Our insurance is covering 70% and they said they typically write off whatever insurance doesn't cover.







: I couldn't believe that! Woohoo! So all we have to pay out of pocket is for our duola - $400.


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## AKmoose (Jul 25, 2003)

9K is a LOT for a b/c birth...I don't remember exactly, but I think all total for my dd's pg/birth at a fsbc (prenatals, birth, and 6-wk pp check) was in the 4-5K range! I have never heard of a non-hospital birth costing so much...our b/c made it quite clear from the first appt what the costs would be. Did yours not spell it out for you? I think our dd2's home birth/pg would have been in the 3-4K range (but we got medicaid to pay for it







)


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## tempestjewel (Apr 18, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AKmoose* 
...our b/c made it quite clear from the first appt what the costs would be. Did yours not spell it out for you?

No, the only thing made clear was the cost to use the birth center which is supposed to be $2500 for mom and $1000 for baby. The rest of the fees or how things would be billed was not spelled out. Clearly, I should have asked a LOT more questions. I am not at all unhappy with the care I received, I'm just sufferring from sticker shock







: I am emailing the insurance biller for my midwives once again to ask questions, because there is almost $2000 I don't understand the charges for







:


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## LittleLlama (Feb 27, 2006)

My med-free hospital birth was $9k for a two night stay. I'm wondering now if that was including the OB visits because I had a *lot* of them.


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