1. Health Insurance-- If at all possible, this should be done before the baby is conceived so that you can optimize your coverage. Make sure your prenatal, delivery, postnatal and new and well baby care are adequately covered. Know the details of your plan. Find out the deductible or co payment (with immunizations and other check ups you'll be visiting your medical facility a lot in the next two years), make sure you have your OB or CNM listed as your primary caregiver, and interview pediatricians so that you'll know who to list as your babies. This is especially important if you have an HMO or PPO, you don't want to spend a lot of your time getting referrals and paying higher co-pays for a "specialist". If you have recently changed jobs, try and get your previous plan to cover the entire pregnancy and delivery before making the switch. If this means a much higher bill, see if your new job has a medical "flex" plan, that you can use to pay the higher premium. If it is not possible to carry over your old insurance, investigate your new insurance options and make sure they cover pre-existing conditions. Whether or not you have insurance, you will definitely want to find out how much you will need to pay out for prenatal care and the delivery. You will want to make payment arrangements with your doctor or midwife, as the federal government reports that unreimbursed medical bills for an OB and hospital can alone totla over $1200.00. If you plan on delivering in hospital, look into how room rates are charged. If you plan on delivering at home, you will save the price of the hospital, but some midwives will have you rent an oxygen tank and extra equipment for emergency situations. Remember too in a home birth, unless your CNM has arranged it with insurance companies before, your insurance probably will not cover the delivery. Once your baby is born, don't forget to add her to the policy. If you don't have insurance, go to your state health department, they generally have an HMO style plan for children, and the income requirements are likely higher than if you applied for medicaid. This plan will help you pay for all of the baby's delivery and post-natal expenses as well as the immunizations and check ups required in the first year. If you are not yet pregnant, look into disability insurance. If your employer doesn't provide it you will want to get a policy that covers pregnancy complications. Investigate the waiting period and all of the other "fine print". This type of insurance can be a real benefit if you are required to stay in bed or at home for an extended period of time.
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