What are the financial costs of homebirth?

It’s a shame, because homebirth is a great option for low risk pregnancies, and it’s likely that many women choose hospital settings for financial reasons.

There are a limited number of hospitals in Australia that have their own homebirth programs (publicly funded homebirth programs). The structure of these programs can vary, but generally, midwives employed by the hospital, attend pre-natal appointments, birth, and post-natal appointments all at the woman’s home. Sometimes there are strict criteria or very limited spots for hospital supported homebirth programs. It’s worth enquiring at your nearby hospitals if such a program is available.

In the case of hospital supported homebirth programs, costs are covered by Medicare.

In all other cases, costs fall on the woman and her family. Some women choose to have a “free birth” or “unassisted birth” without the presence of a midwife. There still may be costs involved such as birth pools, other equipment, or other support people such as doulas.

The majority of women who give birth at home employ a private practicing midwife. Generally, this costs upwards of $4000. There are some costs associated with prenatal and postnatal appointments which may be reimbursed by Medicare, if you are doing shared care with a GP, but homebirth remains costly. There are limited private healthcare companies that will cover a small part of homebirth costs. If you have private healthcare, it’s worth enquiring, though keep in mind you’ll usually need to have had cover for a certain period of time before being able to access such benefits.

Private practicing midwives also have different criteria about which women they can support. Some are more willing to take on “higher risk” pregnancies, so it’s worth checking with any private midwife you’re considering at what point they would be required to direct you to a hospital setting for birth.

There are some groups and organisations in Australia that are advocating to make homebirth more affordable and accessible, for example, Homebirth New South Wales.

Homebirth New South Wales has lots of information on their website about how to arrange care through a private midwife and what preparations you can consider for birthing at home. There are many countries in the world where homebirth is the norm, and we believe that more women in Australia should have accurate information and better access to homebirth. There are also lots of local groups around homebirth, so often you might find that your local area has a supportive homebirth community. The resources and support for homebirth should be more widely available, but until then, they are there if you look and ask!