Pregnant with No Maternity Insurance.

You are able to apply for state aid, it's called All Kids. It covers mom
and baby during and after delivery. Please consider it...it will save you so much money! Contact the county that you live in and they will direct you further. Good luck!

I agree with Kymberly! Apply for state coverage. You may not have to pay anything out of pocket. I found myself pregnant without insurance and easily qualified. I belive you can even apply online! Good luck, mama!

You will be surprised by how this may be more beneficial to you. With my last pregnancy I was weighing my options on if I should add on to our basic insurance the maternity coverage or if we would be better off self paying. I called around to several hospitals and was shocked to find out that you receive an immediate discount when you self pay rather than use insurance. I delivered at Edward Hospital in Naperville and got a 67% discount for self paying.

I came out WAY ahead this way. I would have spent much more money to add on the maternity coverage and then that would still have left me with plenty to cover on my end.

Call the different hopsitals and ask them what their delivery charges are when you self pay. Then you set up a payment plan with the obgyn too. You should call around several obgyns too to get their pricing and payment options.

FYI - after you deliver, you can also request financial assitance from the hospital. You will have to submit a lot of paperwork to prove your bills and income would qualify but it would be worth it.

I don't know if a midwife is going to be cheaper, but if you are looking at more healthful for you and your baby, then a midwife (or at least a CNM- certified nurse midwife) is the way to go. Some midwives deliver babies at home, and some in hospitals. A few hospitals have what is called a birthing center, but it is really a facade of natural birthing atmosphere, because in the end, the hospital rules and regulations still stand. IL has no free-standing birthing centers.

I had my first child with no insurance, a CNM who let me do a payment plan, and then I made payments to the hospital.

If you are looking for safe ways to have a homebirth, I highly recommend reading a lot of books and visiting natural birthing sites online (such as www.mothering.com and visit their forums.) Your birth is going to deeply affect you, probably more than the payments you will be making to whomever assists you in delivery. It is a life-altering event, and you want to make sure that you are getting what you want, aside from money, like a person you really feel comfortable and confident with and that you really trust. This is someone who is going to be there to be your advocate and help you when you are at your most vulnerable. It can be a gut instict thing, so trust your instincts! (You'll rely on those instincts a lot as a Mommy too, so start tuning them in!)

I changed midwives 4 times in my last pregnancy (two years ago) and finally decided on Hillary Brown Kieser. She was with West Suburban Midwives at the time, but now does homebirths and has her own business. You can find her on facebook or at www.gentlebirthcare.com

I hope this helps. I understand the $ part (I was a single mom barely making it for myself with #1) so if you have questions or need to vent, etc, just message me! It's a very emotional time, but remember that at the end you will be stronger for it!

Hope this helps some,
M.

I had theis exact same situation while I was pregnant with my son, no insurance company would give me insurance because I was already pregnant. But I do no that alot of hospitals will make a payment plan with you, it still was too much for us and so we also just ended up applying for the All Kids program and we were automatically qualified. It also depends on your income, but I did apply through the hoospital, at that time i was going to Luthran General out in Park Ridge. But we were very thankful that there is a program out there like All Kids, and even after you have the baby, he/she will still be covered by all kids which was great! Hope I was some help to your question.. Good Luck!