The notification that my medical insurance was billed came in. My husband and I opened the message after making a few guesses on what the final (before insurance) bill was going to be.
“I am thinking it will be high, maybe $30,000?” I said as we clicked the link to the invoice.
How could a hospital or medical institution still charge full price (which let’s be honest, there is nothing full price in the medical field) for someone that has just experienced a stillbirth?
$43,000.
After my (amazing) health insurance: I owe $0.
These numbers are insane and it made me realize how lucky we are in the face of so many unlucky situations.
Can you imagine if I was a young teenager that lost all their family and friends because I was pregnant and then had a stillbirth? Who would support me mentally? Would I even have any health insurance to help offset a potential $40,000+ bill? Not only would someone in this situation be almost outcast by everyone, but also (I am sure) never be able to physically, mentally, emotionally and even socially recover from an experience like this.
I told my employer about this and how lucky I was to have a great workplace to support me through offering such great health insurance, but also giving me almost 2 weeks of bereavement leave plus being flexible with my return back.
There are people going through similar situations that may have been fired or been forced to quit after being out of work for so long. These people may no longer have a source of income (themselves or through a partner) to offset just general expenses of postpartum life, but also the potential insane hospital bills.
Every pregnancy is different, it is hard to not compare yourself to other people and their pregnancy journey. Putting it into perspective of the potential continued hardship I could be experiencing right now (which yes, there is still hardship, don't get me wrong), there is someone out there that is continuing to experience heartache, heartbreaking, and downright, not fair lives, even after experiencing the most traumatic experience(s) through stillbirth.