C-section - Altoona, IA

Hopefully you will avoid this possiblity!
Have you thougth about birthcenters or homebirths?
You might also qualify for Medicaid under the womens healthcare program, the requirements are less stringent than regular medicaid.
The average c-section is $15,000 and with no insurance coverage you likely will need to deliver in a public facility unless you can pay upfront for your prenatal care.

If you are confortable pursing a homebirth you are looking at around $3000 out of pocket and about $4000 for a birth center birth AND thsi includes ALL your prenatal and post partum care, not to mention the level of personal care midwives give. Can you tell Im partial :o) I am currentltly pregnant w #5 and it will be my 3rd home birth!

I would really look at what you want out of your birth experience and look into all your options. Taking a private early pregnancy class may help open some of those options to you.

I am a birth doula and childbirth educator and would be thrilled to help you with any questions you may have!

my website www.mtmbirthing.com

K.

This is a response I sent a mom the other day. If you scroll all the way to the bottom, you will see a link to an insurance pdf that gives the national averages for both c/s and vaginal. Page 9, I think, is a summary...
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There are two things to consider. The actual OB and then the hospital.
Hospital in cash will run in 6-9K range (This is for an uncomplicated vaginal birth, no epidural, estimated). An uncomplicated C-section birth can run up to 12-14K.
The OB will vary greatly depending on how many visits you have. Call your OB, some of them do a standard flat rate for pregnancy for families without insurance. Others will charge per visit. Make sure you talk to a billing person. I know that the price my doc's office quotes is cut in half for cash patients. For example, a typical office visit is $300. If you pay cash, you'll pay $150, If you have insurance, they bill the full $300, insurance MAY pay $175 and then you have your office co pay of say, $15.

Bear in mind that any complication at all increases the prices of all of the above exponentially. ultrasounds, High risk OB, more frequent visits or tests, increased monitoring in the hospital, need for a c-section.

An epidural alone can cost $1200-2000 depending on the anesthesiologist, med and equipment they use.

Here is a link with info on free-low cost prenatal care. It has the number to call to get the local health department which to help you get in contact with who you need.

http://www.4woman.gov/Pregnancy/three.cfm

Have fun TTC.

******** Just found this link. It's what insurance was billed for births nationally in 2004. Check out page 9. This is an average of national charges. With all of the breakdown for each of the main components. Has gone up some I'm sure, but not too much.

http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/upload/whp061207othc.pdf

You should also check out MaternityCard. They help pay for most all pregnancy-related stuff. I think it would be beneficial for someone without insurance. Also, talk to your docotor about not doing any testing or bloodwork that is not necessary. The key, though, is to get good treatment. It's a priceless time of life when having great care is an essential! God bless.

When I had my c-section, the cost for me was $18,000. For the baby's hospitalization, it was around $4,000. I am sure without insurance there will be huge discounts.

Are you considering a c-section electively? It's better to deliver vaginally for a LOT more reasons than the expense. If you plan a vaginal delivery a mid-wife at home can help with the budget and would transport to a hospital if you have a need.

I just sent you a message, but it really wasn't a whole lot more than a vaginal birth. (Aside from the drugs.) The key is paying upfront and asking for their "cash" prices.

I know this is late coming, but I just saw your question. I had a C-section this past November without insurance and we figured it was about $10,000. We prepaid the hospital and the OBGYN, but the surprise C-section made us have to pay more afterward. That $10,000 was EVERYTHING: anesthesiologist, hospital, labs, doctor, baby's circ. and that is before negotiations. When you are calling them, ask them what their cash price is... they'll usually knock off up to 30%. I hope this helps.

I really don't advise you to get pregnant without having insurance. Even with insurance, we still ended up paying $3K because I had to have a c-section. My friend just had her baby at a midwife birthing center, and because they didn't take her to the hospital when she stalled during labor, they almost lost the baby! It was a horrible and traumatic experience but at least he's fine now. MaternityCard is out there to help and it's possible to set up a payment plan in advance with the hospital and doctors. You never know what will go wrong during childbirth though, so things may not be covered.