Looking Forward to Laboring

My wife and I are taking a tour of the Madison Birthing Center tonight. We’re about 30 weeks along with number two.

(If you've never had a baby before, you usually have the chance to tour your birthing facility beforehand.)

Our first child, Mary, was born in Dodgeville at Upland Hills Health. Why there? Well, it’s out of where our primary care physician worked, and our health insurance at the time offered us two local hospitals. We weren’t displeased, though MBC would have been our first choice; it wasn’t one of the options.

New job, new health coverage, and now MBC is in our plan. What’s the difference?
Well, “Birth Center care is based on the simple and powerful belief that pregnancy and childbirth are normal processes in the lives of women and families….Each Madison Birth Center client is assisted during and after the birth of her baby by a Certified Nurse-Midwife who is well known to her. The midwife will stay with her throughout labor, providing both physical and emotional labor support… Women are encouraged to move around in labor, eat and drink freely, and assume whatever position they choose during birth, including water birth.”

Hospitals tend to view pregnancy and labor as a medical condition. Birthing centers view it as a natural process. Hospitals will very often leave a mother alone during labor, at least until pushing starts; to have a nurse-midwife with you for hours on end really is awesome. Some doctors aren’t to big on mom doing anything but laying down during labor; a birthing center will let you walk around and take a bath, if you like.

What irks me, though, is just how often most major insurance plans don’t cover a birthing center birth. It seems to me that it would make good financial sense. If I were a health insurer, would I rather pay a $4,000 claim at Upland Hills for a standard hospital birth, or a $2,000 claim at MBC for a birthing center birth? The child can only be born once; it’s not like the insurance company would have to pay the claim multiple times.

(By the way, our care at Upland Hills was excellent.)

Eventually, parents and insurers will see the light, and move toward more natural methods of delivery. Until then, we’ll just be ahead of the curve and enjoy labor.