Don't forget that lots of your other health costs go towards the safety net too.

For us, as soon as the out-of-pocket costs for my husband and I (make sure your entire family - defactos count too - are registered as one for the safety net), go over about $1050, we are covered by the safety net. The way things work for us is that with

- "normal" GP visits, for various things, for the both of us for most of a year
- less normal but unavoidable visits to specialists etc for both of us (husband in particular has some ongoing health issues, so has had a few of those this year)
- ultrasounds for me with the pregnancy, at 6, 8, 12, 20 weeks so far

We are already at th safety net for the year, before we pay the sum that is claimable to our ob. That means when we pay the $2800 claimable to the ob in a couple of weeks time, we'll get 80% of that back right away.

For you, depending on the time of year you are due, you might not hit the safety net before paying that large OB bill. But all that means is that you get much more back on your costs later on in that year: GP for the baby, ultrasounds, etc.

I think for our entire pregnancy and birth, we're looking at something like:

$200 initial OB fee, think I got $60 back from medicare
$2800 OB fee at 20 weeks, will only have to pay $560 of that due to safety net
$1400 final OB fee, not claimable anywhere
Hospital should be entirely covered by health insurance
Ultrasounds have been about $200-300 so far (for 3 ultrasounds), and will hardly cost anything from now on, because we are at the safety net.

So a total cost of around $2500 in total. It's a lot of money, and to pay it we have to reduce costs on other things, like not owning a car. But I am so far very pleased with the level of care and service I am getting from everyone: obstetrician, midwife, ultrasound technicians, etc. I think it's worth it.

Anyway, if you want to put it into perspective, that baby will cost you sooo much more than this until he/she hits 18 and can be independent.... Relatively speaking, the cost of these first 9 months in utero is small!