Recommendations for midwife through Aetna PPO
We we wondering if anybody can share their recent experience with a midwife that was in-network with Aetna? We are having a difficult time selecting one and would appreciate suggestions
Apr 26, 2020
We we wondering if anybody can share their recent experience with a midwife that was in-network with Aetna? We are having a difficult time selecting one and would appreciate suggestions
Parent Replies
You may have already done on the math on this, but we found that a birth center birth with the midwives at Pacifica Maternity Center was a similar cost to a hospital birth at Alta Bates. Our PPO (Cigna) required us to pay 40% of out of network or 20% in network. A hospital birth was going to be about $14,000 and Pacifica midwives are $7,000. So it came out about the same even though Pacifica is not in anyone's network.
I loved my care there through every stage. I had a few scares that turned out to be nothing each time but they helped me through each one. They work well with doctors at Alta Bates for ultrasounds and other procedures if needed. I found a real sense of community, care and listening there.
The previous poster is right that the math can work in your favor going out of network due to the lower cost of the birth center - we made the same choice with my first and went to Pacifica, where the cost to us would have been roughly the same. BUT then I had to transfer to Alta Bates while I was in labor (this is common and was not a big deal medically) and ended up paying both, 40% of the out-of-network cost at Pacifica and 20% of the in-network cost at Alta Bates. I loved Pacifica - the community was wonderful and some of my closest parent friends are those I met through the birth center five years ago, and the care was great. But financially it was tough because of the transfer. So I'd be sure to understand your in-network and out-of-network benefits as you make your choice.