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Home birth pt. 1, pt. 2

Megan Card / Scripps Howard Foundation Wire 
What to expect (from insurance) when you're expecting (at home)

 

Home births have increased every year since 2004,and an April report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 0.89 percent of 2012 U.S. births took place at home.

 

Three-fourths of those – 23,979 – were not cases of the baby coming before mom and dad could get to the hospital.

 

More than a third of home births in 2012 were paid out-of-pocket,meaning there was no insurance reimbursement. Just 2 percent of hospital births were paid out-of-pocket,according to the latest report from the CDC.

Planning a home birth requires shopping around for insurance

 

Eight months into her pregnancy,Rebecca Bryant decided to give birth at home. Her next choice: picking an insurance provider willing to cover her home delivery.

 

Bryant, 30, had planned to have her first child, Isaac, at a birthing center,but wanted to avoid rushing to the center 3 miles from her home in Alexandria, Va., while she was in labor. Her choice to stay home was an “easy one” but met with resistance by her medical insurance provider.

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