Preparing for a Home Birth

Preparing for our home birth was the most laid back and relaxing 9 months ever.  I was able to sit back, relax, and wait for our baby to arrive.

Prenatal visits

For my prenatal exams, I never had to get dressed, leave the house, pay to park, sit in a waiting room, sit in the exam room or line up a sitter.  Why Because the midwives drove to me!!  Pretty awesome right?!  Another great thing about our visits is that they were not filled with unnecessary tests or guilt of declining them.  Some doctors want to test every pregnant mom for everything under the sun to make them feel better about your pregnancy and delivery.  Not with midwives. 

Testing

At every visit, the midwives will check your vitals, ‘note’ your weight, listen and feel for the baby, and test your urine for a few important things.  They may also do a simple blood draw to test for a few things.  Another important test preformed is checking your Strep B level.  For those unfamiliar, Group Strep B is a type of bacterial infection normally found in a womans vagina or rectum.  A mother can pass it on to her baby during delivery so this is an important test.  Your midwife will also swab you for this and take it to the lab for you.  If you do test positive, do not stress because your midwife will have plenty of natural remedies for you.

Cost:  Hospital vs. Home

Our midwives only charged $2500 and we got TWO for that price!  If I would have given birth in the hospital, we would still be paying the bill.  Currently we have a $100 co-pay AFTER our $4000 deductible.  So basically its high deductibles like $4000+ vs. $2500.   That was a no brainer for us.

Usually each midwife has a list of supplies or a birthing kit for you to purchase.  Some may include this in the initial quote but if not, this should not run you more than $200.