Oh reeealy? Can you let me know who it was you met, maybe pm me? I'm hoping to be able to use my last mw but I'm not absolutely 100% sure that's a possibility yet so.still keeping my feelers out ;):
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Oh reeealy? Can you let me know who it was you met, maybe pm me? I'm hoping to be able to use my last mw but I'm not absolutely 100% sure that's a possibility yet so.still keeping my feelers out ;):
Jenn: that would be fun wouldnt it?? Imagine all the HB talk we would be doing :ROFL: i would be unleashed as i have no audience here hahahahaha!
Homestyle: congrats on the pregnancy! I hope that you find the perfect IM match for your family! i found it all a bit overwhelming when i first started as here in melbs there are quite a few to choose from, but thankfully once you meet the 'one' you just know IYKWIM. Hope that it happens quickly for you xx
Well I managed to find two IM's who work with each other when I went to a Face of Birth screening on friday. Only problem is DH is not on board with a homebirth for two reasons - a) he thinks the birth centre is a perfectly viable option and b) we can get ante natal and birth for free through the BC instead of paying $5000 for a homebirth, esp when I will be booking into the BC anyway as a backup so will be receiving ante natal anyway.
So now I have to work on convincing him it will be worth it. Ive booked into the BC anyway as a back up.
I was very shocked to be given the same info Freya. I can't afford what I was quoted so I've also booked into the birth centre as back up.
I'm hoping I won't need the booking but at least it's there if I need it.
One very disappointed Mama here :(
Yeah, I was :( too. But I might be forward and ask if there is any way to work out a more affordable price - say if I have 4 ante natal appointments + birth. I know that they like to have a rapport with the birthing mama but when they understand and encourage you to have backup care in the form of a GP or whatever then maybe something like that is doable. Cant hurt to ask I guess.:
I mostly have just been lurking and following everyone's lives, like the stalker I am! Haha. But I don't know where to turn today, DH is at work, and my mates are against HB. Don't mind me while I offload a bit...
I found out today my midwife's court case didn't go so great. The decisions handed down were really harsh, and I think uncalled for. The gist of it is, to continue as a HB midwife she needs to get a supervising midwife approved. There are two who have submitted applications for the position, but I wont know for about a week if they get the job or not. If they get approved that'd be great - but if the supervising MW is unavailable when I go into labour for whatever reason (attending her own patients, sick, whatever), my MW will be legally unable to attend me and I'll be "strongly advised" to go to the hospital.
If I wanted a hospital birth I wouldn't be forking over the 4 freaking grand to do it at home! My MW has asked around to see if there's another IM available to take me, but apparently they are all booked up (not surprising, I'm due Nov). Feeling pretty stressed today. Prayin that a supervisor gets approved :pray:
Freya: another option is to only begin seeing your IM a bit later in the pregnancy. I know many many people that have successfully done the bulk of pathology and scans etc through their BC or hospital and then after the 26 week bloods transferred the care to the IM. this can help reduce some of the fees (obviously not the big fees of the on call or birth fee).
Mirimum: oh crap :( what a horrid situation to be in :hug: i am hoping :pray: that there is a quick resolution for you, it is just so unjust to be facing such pressures and limitations xx
Thats what I was thinking Cassius, just starting my appointments with her from mid 2nd trimester (so 26w or 30w-34-36-38-40-birth). I think that would be enough time to build a rapport and be comfortable to birth under her care. I just feel really rude suggesting it :redface:
Are you able to pay the fees off after the birth?
We used our baby bonus payments to pay our midwife fees but they are half that much down here
Im not fussed on paying $5000 - hubby is a bit of a miser with money though. I think he would be cool with paying $3000 but not $5000. Being a single income family with what will be 4 children I can understand his worry, just puts me between a rock and a hard place.
ETA - so I bit the bullet and emailed them. One of their 3 fee structures is a min of 4 ante natal appointments at x amount of dollars each plus the birth at a reasonable cost plus x amount of dollars per post natal visit. Bit more doable for us so I asked if thats an option.
I'm trying to work out how we can still afford this HB after recent events :( I don't know how we can. Maybe a loan. I don't know. Already have payment plan but it's not enough, and plus the baby bonus is DH's time off of work :(
oh no PZ :( I know that DH and I were considering a loan for DD2s birth. In the end we were lucky to have a few things to ebay and managed to just scrape payments through. I really hope that there will be a way forward for you guys xx
Thanks babe. We've never been in debt before, always paid for everything in cash etc, so it's all unknown, but worth it for us if that's what it comes to.
As I won't be back in Townsville until December the majority of my antenatal care would be done down here in Brissy so I thought I wouldn't have to pay too much either.:
I got the same speel about rapport etc which I totally understand. I was told a similar thing (ie min of 4 antenatal app with the IM).
My plan was to have antenatal and postnatal care done through the hut and hire a midwife for birth care. I was intending on doing the last few weeks or care with the midwife however it's the birth fee's which are the killer!
It's $2000 for the first midwife and $1000 for the second which they prefer that a second midwife be present.
So for me it would work out to be around $3400 for 4 antenatal apps and birth support.
My DP has also refused to pay such high fees given that the midwife I was intending on havin for Reid was only going to cost about $1800 for the same type of care.
I totally get that it's a business and they have supplies to buy etc but I mean really, fee's such as these limit the options for women. I'm feeling really angry that money is now in the way of me being able to birth at home.
So I'm now in the same boat as Freya. I've also booked into the birth centre and it looks pretty good that I have a spot however I'm still going to plan to have the babe at home. I'll continue this until I'm absolutely sure that this is no longer an option.
I get that for some the money can be an issue, but it's not the MW we should get annoyed at for their fees it's the government for not covering it you know. Because when you think about it the time they are on call for your birth is a lot. Not speaking to anyone in particular just talking in general.
I mean we don't have a lot of money but I'd sell a leg to be able to birth at home because thats how important it is/was to me
Oh yes I totally understand that. I think we'd all agree that Homebirth should be a free option just as hospital and birth centre care is. But in the same token, I don't believe it should come at an almost unaffordable cost.
In this particular situation its not the
Midwife I'm annoyed at at all more the circumstances. Is there really a need to have a second midwife attend in all cases?
$1000 for an extra midwife is a lot of money when your already paying $2000 for the first mw as well as antenatal and postnatal appointments.
I guess I'm more annoyed at the fact that I'm in this situation where I've always said that I would birth the rest of my babies at home and now it seems I won't be able to. It's a frustrating situation to be in.
But as I said, I've got 21 weeks left to work something out. I'm not ready to give in that easy. :)
I find it sad that you don't have access to the program I do. I must admit SA home birth programs seem to be some of the best and most available and they are public.
Of course they have requirements which are understandable. 30min from hospital, not high risk etc but I don't have to pay anything for mine.
Sara: woah. that is a really high fee. i reckon the fact that HB does cost so much is one of the many reasons why the HB rate here in Oz is so low.
PZ: yeah for us it would of had to of been a loan if we couldnt of scraped through; my PTSD after DD1s birth ensured that lol. but like you, we had never taken out a loan and it was soo scary to think about.
I was just thinking the same thing Cassius, that if homebirth were more accessible financially it might become a viable option for alot of people.
I know our health insurance covers some homebirth but Im not entirely sure about the legalities of it. So I guess Id better call and sus it out. $3400 would be doable for us and I think hubby wouldn't really balk at that esp if our PHI covered some of it.
Although Im also not sure why there needs to be a second midwife if everything looks to be going ok; the second midwife barely made it to my last birth and she pretty much just took photo's for us.
I think they like to have one for the baby and one for the mum. So if you both need assistance after birth they don't have to choose.
As an aside my first birth cost $800 and my partner was horrified. Second was $1000 and third was $2000 so it's gone up each time.
This time our midwife is waiving her fees as I've hired a private ob to try and ensure a vb with twins and my midwife will be my support.
The ob is costing us way more than hb and we have no phi but I want the continuity to try and make sure I get the birth I'm after
My fees were $5k, an extra $500 on normal so I could have all home visits, not just the third tri ones. PHI covers $3k.
I think the 2nd m/w is important, but it didn't cost extra in our case (1st m/w must put some of our fee to her).
It's a shame it isn't more affordable, but with so few (relatively) m/ws available and no govt support it's hardly surprising. Although, our first birth (c/s in private hospital with private ob six years ago) I think still left us out of pocket more than the HB, despite PHI. Once you add the $500 hospital excess, the $350ish for surgical assistant and then I think about $1k for the ob, whatever was the gap for the anaesthetist (sure I've forgotten something), you're on a par. With a much less desirable outcome!!
Private m/w for home is a similar cost comparison to private ob in hospital. You're paying for that extra level of care (supposedly!). What we need are more home birth services through our public health care system. With less rules IMHO. Women should be able to choose whichever they want and then it's up to the care providers to accept them or not, based on their expertise and comfort in the so-called risks.
None of us VBAC mummas would be able to access a hospital HB program. And VBAC risks are lower than repeat c/s, which is about 85% likely to happen in hospital.
Plus, none of the HB m/ws I know are driving around Mercs, living in waterfront mansions or sending their kids to private schools. ;)
My hb cost $4000. All home visits pre and post natal included. I could have had 2nd midwife too, but I elected not to. I worked the census during my pregnancy and that paid for a chunk of my bill. We paid some off during pregnancy and finished it off after when I sold my car. Completely worth it. My midwife only just made the birth, but her expertise during the pregnancy and after ds was born were invaluable.
I don't know if dh would haveappreciated the benefits of hb and my im during the pregnancy but I reckon he would understand the costs were justified if you asked him now.
I was never in any doubt that it was worth the cost.
I should have added my first birth was 9 years ago.
My MW charges hourly so for DS birth it cost heaps more than DDs as things didn't go quite so smoothly so had MW there longer. Had a second midwife as well. DH likes the second MW just from the cleaning up perspective lol. Still my MW wass cheaper than a lot of other MW charge. Having MW though has been invaluable, wouldn't have it any other way. Unless of course I couldn't get a MW then I'd be stuck at why to do! DH feels the same way he's prepared to help pay because he knows having MW support and homebirth is very important to me although he didn't always think that!
We're paying $3400 for the midwives (2), and then $110 for each ante and postnatal visit. One of my midwives is Medicare eligible so we get a little back from the appointments, but not the birth. Our midwife wants us to have fortnightly appointments from 30 weeks, which I don't remember having with DD in the hospital program.
My m/w was not Medicare eligible for DD2's birth, but is now. So if I have any more, there'll be an additional amount we get back for pre and post natal visits that we didn't get this time.
I've just heard back from the Birth Centre and they won't take me :(
They consider the PPH I had with Colby to be too large. Despite it being a mismanaged 3rd stage where they snapped the cord. Grrrr!!
One less option :(
Would you consider the new All Risk MGP Sara?
I don't know :(
I'm feeling very disheartened now and think I might just forget about it all now as enjoy the pregnancy.
I don't have to make a decision on birth care until I move back up there which is in December. Even then I can still get antenatal care at the hut and make a decision about birth when I'm ready.
I had the same MW as HotI - $4k for everything. We started care from 13wks and had our last one 8wks post-partum. She was with us for 21hrs at the birth, and we had a second MW for the last 6hrs or so. If I went and added up the time she spent with us, I don't reckon the hourly rate would be that high. I was lucky in that we were able to afford it without any major changes to our lifestyle but it really was worth every cent and if her care was several thousand more, I'd pay it. Next time around we'll likely have zero savings and I'll be working part time so it will be harder - I'd beg and borrow to be able to afford another HB.
ETA: Sara, how disappointing :( :(
It is very interesting and quite timely for me that you are all discussing this now... I had my hbs with the cmp but honestly don't want to go back on it this time. Don't get me wrong I think its great women can hb with gov support here but for me personally it has become way to 'legalized' for want of a better word. So ill have to look more closely into what IMs are around here now and what services/prices they have. I'm hoping to be able to have mw from last birth but not certain what she charges now.
that's my reservation too HomeStyleMumma - as much as I'd love to see govt funding of HB I am absolutely not ok with how heavily regulated the existing hospital programs, nor the restrictions on Medicare eligible IMs. My preference will be for a non-eligible independent midwife (even if that means they have handed in their registration) unless the current climate changes significantly.
I regret using the govt HB program. I had a great experience but was left feeling like a lot was lacking in terms of the end of the birth and immediate after care. Very medical and clinical. For people like Beatrix I think it's a much better option (birthed 3 times already, very short labour, likely to not need much assistance), but for a first time birthed I wish we had not given the program the benefit of the doubt.
Personally, I will always choose an independent private midwife, preferably the one I had for my last birth. He who pays the piper and all that. But I still think there should be more publicly accessible HBs in our health system. I think we can enable both at the same time.
Hmmm see I have found that the midwife program I have used in the past, gov based program have not been clinical at all. I used the same program for all 4 pg now and this time am using the home birth option.
My midwifes have never pushed any tests, checks or scans. I never felt pressured to do anything. The only internals that were done were by the ob when high bp was diagnosed and I wasn't given the choice. My midwife stuck by me when they tried to push for more intervention to speed things up telling the dr to bugger off. They have always trusted me and my body.
I guess each program is different.
I was never pushed for any testing, it was great. But DD had mec stained waters. Instead of actually looking at my pad and treating it as it was, it was treated as a full on meconium situation. Was told of have constant monitoring (refused), wasn't allowed to use the bath, almost immediate cord clamping and DD was suctioned. I was also pressured to have a blood transfusion after the birth (refused). So maybe more of an indicator of the hospital rather than the program, as all the midwives I had were great and were happy for me to refuse testing etc.
ETA by suctioned, I mean her lungs, not out of me!
Yeah I should add that MY MWs (especially last primary who was also backup at 1st hb) were great and totally trusted & listened to me and didn't want me to have anything unnecessary done, but for a few things they kind of had hands tied! The reason we used the program wad quite bluntly coz it was free but ill be pushing for an I'M for sure this time... May have a fight on my hands with dh if I can't get a reasonable price though- he would want to just freebirth but I'd rather have another pair of hands etc iykwim, even tho there's no reason to think a mw will be needed (if there was a known need of course we would :))
As this is my first birth, and knowing the rolling cascade of interventions that are likely to arise from that simple fact, I am happy to pay the $5k (inc appointments) that our home birth will cost.
Can we afford it? Probably not. Is it a priority? Absolutely. We will sacrifice whatever we need to to ensure that we are birthing in the absolute best place possible for me and baby.
I adore my midwife and think she's worth every cent :)