C-section rates & COBRA
Hello, all. I haven't done a proper introduction post yet, but I have a two questions for you all.
First issue/question: I have scheduled our appointment to tour the place we may deliver at, and I'd appreciate your help in crafting a question I have of them before I go in. I looked up their c-section rates yesterday, and it's an astounding 45+%. ACK! It's the UCLA Santa Monica BirthPlace, which utilizes UCLA's nurse-midwives program and has a relatively good reputation around town from what I've heard, but that number is just shocking to me. We are committed to finding an OB who will give us the opportunity to birth without any unnecessary interventions, and we are also using a doula, but my concern is that this statistic speaks to a disturbing general trend and a very un-empowering philosophy toward women. The last thing I want to feel in the anticipation of or actual process of giving birth is the need to fight anyone to avoid surgeries and drugs my body and the baby don't really need.
I'd like to address it in the Q&A part of the tour without coming off as an ass in any way, but being rather new to this, I'm struggling with the best way to do that. I was considering something along the lines of "I saw that your c-section rate is 45%, which compared to other local hospitals X & Y, is pretty high. Can you speak to why that might be?" I have some personal guesses about what the reasons might be, which are 1) a population of "older" moms who may be treated as high-risk/needing intervention 2) high-income area with highly insured women and 3) a culture that is used to telling their body what to do rather than listening to what their body needs to do and therefore just "scheduling" a convenient section. I'm sure there are more...
If any of you can offer advice on how to structure that question in a way that asks for specifics without coming off as completely combative, I'm all ears.
Second issue/question: We, meaning my husband and I, are insured under a group PPO plan through his employer. We have an exciting new opportunity that would require him leaving this job and forming an LLC in order to consult for the next 12 months until he would be officially integrated into new employer's group coverage. Never having looked into individual health coverage until this morning, I was sort of shocked when the agent for BCBS said, "if you're pregnant we'll never offer you coverage until the baby is born." I simultaneously felt a little ignorant and a little indignant... and like telling her/them to F off.
The good news is I'm almost certain his departure from his current employer would qualify as an event that deemed us eligible for COBRA, but the ultra-cautious side of me is curious if any of you had the experience for electing COBRA coverage in the midst of a pregnancy, and whether or not it was relatively seamless or a bumpy ride? I'd love to hear your experience.
Thanks!
First issue/question: I have scheduled our appointment to tour the place we may deliver at, and I'd appreciate your help in crafting a question I have of them before I go in. I looked up their c-section rates yesterday, and it's an astounding 45+%. ACK! It's the UCLA Santa Monica BirthPlace, which utilizes UCLA's nurse-midwives program and has a relatively good reputation around town from what I've heard, but that number is just shocking to me. We are committed to finding an OB who will give us the opportunity to birth without any unnecessary interventions, and we are also using a doula, but my concern is that this statistic speaks to a disturbing general trend and a very un-empowering philosophy toward women. The last thing I want to feel in the anticipation of or actual process of giving birth is the need to fight anyone to avoid surgeries and drugs my body and the baby don't really need.
I'd like to address it in the Q&A part of the tour without coming off as an ass in any way, but being rather new to this, I'm struggling with the best way to do that. I was considering something along the lines of "I saw that your c-section rate is 45%, which compared to other local hospitals X & Y, is pretty high. Can you speak to why that might be?" I have some personal guesses about what the reasons might be, which are 1) a population of "older" moms who may be treated as high-risk/needing intervention 2) high-income area with highly insured women and 3) a culture that is used to telling their body what to do rather than listening to what their body needs to do and therefore just "scheduling" a convenient section. I'm sure there are more...
If any of you can offer advice on how to structure that question in a way that asks for specifics without coming off as completely combative, I'm all ears.
Second issue/question: We, meaning my husband and I, are insured under a group PPO plan through his employer. We have an exciting new opportunity that would require him leaving this job and forming an LLC in order to consult for the next 12 months until he would be officially integrated into new employer's group coverage. Never having looked into individual health coverage until this morning, I was sort of shocked when the agent for BCBS said, "if you're pregnant we'll never offer you coverage until the baby is born." I simultaneously felt a little ignorant and a little indignant... and like telling her/them to F off.
The good news is I'm almost certain his departure from his current employer would qualify as an event that deemed us eligible for COBRA, but the ultra-cautious side of me is curious if any of you had the experience for electing COBRA coverage in the midst of a pregnancy, and whether or not it was relatively seamless or a bumpy ride? I'd love to hear your experience.
Thanks!