What to Do When Pregnant and Can't Afford a Doctor?

It saddens me that there is bashing just because a person is pregnant and has no money.

Just for the record and I will be proud when I write this: I am a mom of 2 daughters. I am also on medi-cal and food stamps. We went into both pregnancies with very little money. Hubby and I both work and are very involved in our girls' lives. We are self-employed and since this country has no universal health care, medi-cal is the best option for the girls.

I also know that i am an American Citizen and these resources are for all of us to use when necessary.

I just want to share this in case there are women who feel ashamed to have no money. I say shame on the bashers for judging. Money has VERY little to do with being a good parent.

5 moms found this helpful

Can you switch to a regular OB for a few visits just my make sure everything is ok and then go to the Mid Wife in March?

5 moms found this helpful

Since you have health insurance, why don't you contact your insurance company for their list of covered providers in your area. Then make an appointment with one of them.

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Just because this mid-wife has a low C-section rate does mean other doctors have a high C-section rate. :)

Time to let go of the "dream" and pick reality. :) Find a doc that takes your insurance. Go see that doc and enjoy your pregnancy.

Sounds like you guys will get back on your feet soon. Your unlucky streak cannot go forever. Plus, tell your DH that the money sucking IRS can take a smaller payment each month. Geez don't go broke trying to pay them. Pretty sure they could handle 400 per month or even less. Not 1100 per month - yikes. Tell them to suck an egg and send less money.

3 moms found this helpful

It sounds like you still have insurance but your current doctor won't accept you back til you pay the bill? Call the insurance company and pick a new doctor. You can likely get in to see someone else before your old bill for the other doctor is paid.

3 moms found this helpful

You need to find a doctor that takes your insurance. I am sorry you are going through this but You do not have to have a midwife and If I were you it is expensive to have a baby and having your insurance cover it helps a lot! There are many midwifes out there if you do not want to go to a regular OB.

You have insurance you can get a list from them of who accepts their insurance.

Good luck and Congrats!

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Hi Michelle,

First, I would speak to your insurance company about this and get their response. You pay for benefits -- you need to receive them. If your health insurer is not paying appropriately, file a claim against them with the state department of insurance. Fortunately, now even if your company holds a sef-funded policy, you can do this (previously, you had to sue under ERISA, which is not worth it for small amounts). Let the company know why you are doing this, and also write a letter to your congressman about their practices and the hardship it is causing you. You will see some action!

Best wishes for a healthy and wonderful pregnancy, and happy belated birthday!

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I'm sure, because I go against the grain, I'm gonna get it from some judgmental women on this board, but I don't judge them for the choices they make. That being said, I had 4 unassisted pregnancies AND births (largest being 11 pounds about 8 months ago). NOT that I am advocating that for you, but here's an option: Do your own prenatal care and then when you go into labor, go to the county hospital.

(I have a friend who was on MediCal and her OB wanted to c-section her - because they get paid more for a c-section (45 minutes) vs. hanging around for a vaginal birth to last 12+ hours - but all tests are fine and baby was in a good position. She stopped going at 6 months and stayed at home during labor and then decided at the last hour not to go to the hospital. She birthed her 12 pound baby at home, no tearing, no nothing.

Birth was largely at home until the late 1920's in this country...so until them, all babies were born at home. The infant mortality rate for a planned home birth is the same as a hospital birth.

There's really not much to prenatal care, except that they have women hoodwinked into thinking it's worth a ton and it's not. Most of the tests are for high risk women and when insurance came on the scene, it became something the docs could make more money ordering.

Think about things logically, not hormonally. If the baby is growing, there is a heartbeat. You can get ultrasounds each week and that STILL does not ensure a heartbeat the next week. One week it can be there, the next it might not be. "Prenatal care" really does nothing for that. I get a massage each week during my pregnancy, as I feel like that is more CARE than being stuck with needles and taking tests that are largely incorrect.

So, here's what I do. I don't eat sugar, so I know I'm not going into gestational diabetes AND I also pee on urinalysis strips each week to keep my in-laws happy, so that checks the urine for white blood cells (infection), bilirubin, and 8 other things. A whole container of them run about $25. This is part of what the OBs and midwives check....you can do it yourself. Check the blood pressure every 2-3 week right now, and you can do that for FREE at CVS/Walgreens/RiteAid in the pharmacy.

I know an ultrasound tech that works in OBs offices and the OBs charge the patients $250, but the tech is only charging $75....so if you contact the tech, you can get an US for $75, but they are not necessary. (My friend was told her babies would not survive and they should start getting rid of her nursery things in preparation for their deaths based on ultrasounds. The limbs were short and there were problems. I told her they were wrong....based on intuition...and the fact that ultrasounds are often wrong. They convinced her of a c-section at 35 weeks (2 days ago) and guess what??? They are perfect, but small. No kidding???? You surgically removed him 5 weeks early!!! Ultrasounds are not perfect and neither are people, even docs! Now the babies are in ICU and not with mom because the are so small. The docs CREATED a problem that did not exist!) I don't consider an abortion for medical reasons valid for me, so I don't do any of the genetic testing or ultrasounds. That's me. I have a feeling, they are not as safe as touted....like fetal x-ray used to be. Time will tell, a the expense of our children and grandchildren.

Take a good prenatal, Nordic Naturals fish oil and PB8. Spend your money on good vitamins, otherwise don't take them. Most vitamins are synthetic. No fast food. Lots of veggies. Exercise.

So, urinalysis strips, blood pressure, weight, and exercise daily. Maybe try to get Hypnobabies CDs to listen to for a positive mental status. ;)

Have fun and enjoy this pregnancy!

PS My husband was nervous at first, when I decided to do an unassisted pregnancy (meaning doing my OWN prenatal care) but then he realized that the doctor simply monitors your "condition" because pregnancy is viewed as an illness that needs to be fixed. He realized that they do nothing for growth or health. They usually give out crappy prenatals and oils that are not bioavailable and then charge you to stress you out through a million tests. My births cost me $0.99 for the shoe laces to tie off the cord. LOL I saved over $22,000 for my births doing things MY way.

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From what you are saying:

You have insurance but you don't want to use a physician on their plan.

I would say you need to think this through. Any OB/GYN on your insurance plan can catch the baby...lol.

A midwife would be nice but prenatal care would be nicer.

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I would absolutely still try to apply for pregnancy medicaid. Due to insurance issues with covering maternity care and such, the pregnancy medicaid has different guidelines and eligibility requirements than regular government aid. Also, because of Midwives having safer and more vaginal births (which equals CHEAPER), Medicaid covers even home births with Midwifes.

Just ensure you are eating well, not straining your energy reserves, taking pre-natals, etc... the first trimester is where the majority of development is and even if you had a top notch Dr, if something went wrong, it would go wrong - so don't beat yourself up about not having prenatal visits right away.

Good luck!! I should also strongly state... don't get rid of your dream or plan to use a Midwife... a very low cesarean rate can be the life or death situation for someone. Unnecessary cesareans are causing hundreds of Mom's deaths a year, rarely do you hear of a Mother dying from normal childbirth. Cesareans are meant for emergencies (not interventions gone wrong or tee off time) only and there is nothing wrong with you seeking care from a medical professional who has a better rate of normal births!

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Find a different doctor's office that will accept your insurance.

Call your insurance company and let them know what happened and ask them to help you find a place.

Also, most states have programs for expecting mothers. Get on your state's department of health and social services website and see what is available to you.

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First, congratulations of the new addition!!!

This is not a difficult situation. You are making it so. Find a doctor that takes your insurance or midwife. Go onto the insurance's website and go to the tab that says "find a doctor". Go there and find a doctor! Easy.

Next, let your inlaws know that you are going to need the money paid back sooner than antcipated. I think it is wonderful that ya'll were able to help but now its their turn to help. If they can't pay the full amount, set up a payment plan.

I'm really am confused as to why you are freaking out and going to Plan Parenthood. You have insurance, you can find a different doctor. This is not that big of a deal. This may not be the ideal situation you were hoping for but nothing in life ever is!!!

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Good morning - because it is. :) You are pregnant with the baby you have wanted. Congrats and Happy Birthday!!!!

Now, have you called your insurance company about what the Dr. office said to you? Explain that you are being denied service unless you pay in cash.

Have you called other Dr. offices? Other than PP?

Can you take out a credit card to pay for the services to get your through?

If you pay for the services through your regular dr. will they still submit your insurance? Or can you do it? So you are not out all the cost of this pregnancy while PAYING for insurance?

Can you ask your DH stepdad to start making payments to help pay the cost of the pregnancy?

If you were only 6-9 weeks pregnant and you had to wait, I would say you'd probably be fine. But you are running into the zone to test for iron levels, blood sugar (gest. diabetes), and to have your first ultrasound. Those are all very important and expensive.

Keep looking into your options and if you have to, call your regular doctor up and try to renegotiate another option. I'm soooo sorry you are dealing with all of this at one time. I wish you the best and send you a big hug! (And isn't it sad that we have to ask not to be bashed when we ask a question on here?)

2 moms found this helpful

See a different doctor. I guess I don't understand the problem. There are more doctors & midwives out there than just the one...

1 mom found this helpful

Here are some good resources in our area.

Washoe Pregnancy Center
975 Ryland St, Ste 105
Reno, NV 89502
###-###-####

(I had no insurance and went here with my first and got very good care.)

http://www.co.washoe.nv.us/repository/files/4/Community-R...

(look under the medical and resource section.)

CareNet Pregnancy Care Center
75 North Ada
Fallon, NV 89406
###-###-####

Crisis Pregnancy Center
50 S. West Street
Fernley, NV 89408
###-###-####

1 mom found this helpful

Medicaid,,,, it's there for a reason. I assume you pay taxes? Well , don't feel bad. Plenty of people who don't need it take advantage, this is not the case. I had my second baby on it in 2009 when the economy was bad and we were struggling. I'm not ashamed.

Updated

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Find a new doctor who WILL accept your insurance. Call your insurance company and ask for a list of doctors and their phone numbers in your surrounding area so that you can call for some brief phone interviews. Ask about their policies, ask about the issues that matter most to you regarding prenatal care, and ask if they would be willing to meet you before scheduling an appointment. This interview will help you determine not only if it's a doctor you want, but if the staff can field questions and be polite about it.

1 mom found this helpful

Can't you find a new Doctor who accepts your insurance?

1 mom found this helpful

When I first got pregnant, my husband had been laid off only a week before, so I was freaking out about insurance (Cobra was too expensive for 9 months). I found a clinic for people without much money, and set up a plan for $2000 for all of my appointments, and for the doctor to deliver my baby, it didn't include the hospital costs, blood tests, and ultrasound (the last two cost me about $600). After that, I decided to do a home birth, not for money reasons, and found my midwife for $1800 (covering everything). My husband actually did get another job a few months later, and then got laid off again (bad time for companies related to housing), but the insurance we had for a couple of months wouldn't cover the midwide anyway.

Anyway, there are other options. You could go somewhere cheaper at the beginning, the first few months they don't do much anyway. After I cancelled with the clinic (after 3 visits there), I ended up only paying about $100 total for using them. So that is really all you need for now, just some place to check your urine (although you can buy sticks and do this yourself - I tested my own urine at my midwife's house every week), get a pap smear if you didn't before, and then at 10 weeks or so they can check the heart beat (worth going in, and you can do that somewhere like a cheaper clinic). They had several OBs at the place I went, but all were male, I really wanted a female and went to the female Physician Assistant those few visits. She did everything I needed those first few months, so it isn't like you really need to see an OB or midwife at first.

One other thing, I also went to Planned Parethood before the doctor (I was impatient and wanted to know if I was definitely pregnant before my first appointment). The woman said that unless you get a blood test (which I never did), an at home urine test is pretty much the same as what the doctor tests with. If it says you are pregnant, then you are, so no need to get that done there.

Hello,

First of all, Congrats on your beautiful blessing! I have two beautiful and healthy boys. With my first child I knew right away when I was pregnant. But, with my second I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was about 12 weeks (I didn't realize I was even that far along). I was used to having irregular periods. As well as my husband and myself covering our grounds, I didn't expect to get pregnant. So by the time I scheduled my first appointment and we finally went in and had our first ultra sound I found out I was closer to 16 weeks along. We were shocked. We had a normal pregnancy. However, I can remember freaking out and asking my doctor if the baby would be ok because I hadn't known I was pregnant so I wasn't taking prenatal vitamins for the past few months. I started when I found out of course. But the first few months I hadn't known I didn't. She reassured me how in the old days, how many babies were born with mothers who were not taking any vitamins the entire pregnancy. I was still a bit worried. But, everything turned out just fine. If you think about it, how many babies have been born with mothers who have not received any prenatal care. It's not as if you are not planning on getting any check up's for your entire pregnancy. You sound like you are doing everything you possibly can. So try to keep that in mind. There is only so much you can do. I am sure everything will be just fine. Honestly. There are lots of women who don't find out they are pregnant until they are a few months along. By the time you get your first appointment ( depending on your provider, some are longer than others) and by the time they get you in for your first ultra sound that can take a couple months. Those women will be around there 16 or 18th week too. So try to remember, you are doing the best you can. Good luck with everything!! And I wish you and your family the best.

Find a doc who will take your insurance, make sure you and baby are OK, then switch to a midwife when your insurance is straightened out. In the meantime, eat healthfully, sleep, drink lots of water, take a prenatal vitamin, and exercise.

My aunt was told by three different doctors that she wasn't pregnant, even though she was getting bigger and hadn't had a period in months. 33 years ago, OTC pregnancy tests had just become available. She bought one, took it home, peed in a cup, put the dip-stick in the cup, and waited two hours to see if it would turn pink. It turned scarlet. A co-worker's wife was an ob-gyn who could see her that afternoon. So my aunt walked in, 34 weeks pregnant and terrified that she and the baby were in terrible trouble because she'd had no prenatal care. The doc took one look at her and said, "You look great. Your skin is healthy and has good color, your hair is healthy, you've been taking great care of your body for the last seven months. Your body has been taking care of your baby." And the doc was right - baby was absolutely fine.

Glad you got it figured out! Take a deep breath-- between the hormones and the pregnancy brain it can be hard to figure things out. Remember to breath and CONGRATS!

Check with the insurance company get a complete list of all doctors within 40 miles of you. Call each office starting with your closest ones. Talk to them, let them know your insurance and find out their policies of payment. I am sure you will find a few out there that will accept you for what is going on and get you seen.

Its going to be ok! You need to find a doctor or midwife who takes your insurance. Sometimes our birth plans do not go as expected. What matters is the beautiful healthy baby that you have after and getting good prenatal care is important. You will have to come up with a lot more cash that the $800 they are asking for up front and then chase down the insurance company. I am sure that this would not be worth it to me. Good luck!! Congrats!

There is a wonderful birth center by me that doesn't accept a lot of insurances or are out of network. What they often recommend is that you find an OB that is covered by your insurance for the first part of your pregnancy. The part where you're just there to listen to heartbeat, get measured and checking well being. Then you transfer over around the end.
I would suggest finding an OB that is covered to get the basics taken care of and when you have the money transfer over to the midwife you want.

go to one of your insurance company's providers until things get straightened out (and maybe you'll love them and want to keep them!)
go to planned parenthood.
call around and find a midwife who will work with you until march (maybe let them hold something as collateral in the meantime.)
but most of all, calm down and get happy!
you're pregnant!
YAYS!!!!
:) khairete
S.

Go to your insurer's website and find another healthcare provider either midwife or OBGYN. I'm certain there must be another midwife practicioner that accepts your insurance in your area. Since you don't have an established relationship with this one, I would just brush the dust off and keep it moving by finding someone within network.

Happy Birthday and don't worry. Women have been having babies for years without doctors and nurses. All will be fine.

Is there a pro-life pregnancy center near you? Try there. Ours helps people no matter their financial situation.

If your heart is set on this one midwife that will not accept your insurance, and you don't want to find another office that will, there is only one thing to do.

This won't be popular with the Dave Ramsey crowd, but sometimes you do what you have to do! Cash in hand doesn't have to mean crisp dollar bills. Do you have a credit card you can put your balance on until the bonus kicks in in March? You know you'll pay it off, right?

Go to a "crisis pregnancy center" or some other prolife pregnancy center; usually, they are all volunteer, run on donations, and charge nothing for services. No, it won't be dangerous to you or the baby not to be seen; as long as you are doing things like taking prenatal vitamins, eating healthfully, and have no medical issues, there's not much that they can see or do to change the course of pregnancy anyway.

Check with Nevada state to see if they have a program to cover people who have no insurance. California has Woman and Children program that helps pregnant woman who have no insurance.

Good luck!

Take a deep breath. It'll be okay. Happy belated birthday. Congratulations on your pregnancy!!! :-) :-) Hugs and best wishes to you, everything will be okay!!

Find a doctor who takes your insurance. You can always switch to a midwife later.

I'd just like to add .... CONGRATULATIONS!! Your hubby and u are doing amazingly well, everything considered. The odds that everything is just fine are greatly in your favour as you have already had healthy pregnancies. There is no "law" that says you need to see a doctor or midwife when pregnant. Remember, pregnancy is not a "disease" and women had trouble-free pregnancies and deliveries for centuries before modern medicine! Don't get me wrong, I'm not against regular check-ups, but you were already on a good diet and prenatal vitamins so waiting a month won't affect the outcome in any way. God Bless

Happy Belated.

Ask to talk to the office manager. Tell them you don't have $800 and see if they can work out a payment plan.

Or find another doctor.

Or find a pregnancy assistance center. They mostly deal with women considering abortion and most are affiliated w/some type of religion, but if you don't mind their questions, you will receive care from qualified doctors and nurses. The one near me offers prenatal care and even sonograms.