Tips for Finding Low Cost or Free Family Planning Care

Welcoming a new baby into the family is an exciting and perhaps overwhelming time. But if you've recently lost your health insurance benefits due to a job lay off, the stress level may be rising. There are some low cost and even free clinics that can help with pregnancy.

Some hospitals have a package deal plan where the family pays a certain amount for both prenatal care and the baby's delivery. Now keep in mind not all hospitals have a plan like this, always call to verify that this option exists at your local hospital.

Check with your local county health department. Several local offices offer low cost or even free prenatal care help. Many can help with filling out Medicaid forms if you qualify and also WIC. Finding a local county is simple. Enter the county and then: health department in your favorite search engine. Or you can look in your phone book or locally on yahoo.

Unite for Sight offers a free clinic listing on their website. These listings do not have an affiliation or relationship with Unite for Sight. You simply pick your state and then scroll down to the towns to find a clinic closest to you. Now this website offers listings for basic health but many are involved in family planning resources as well. http://www.uniteforsight.org/freeclinics.php

Planned Parenthood may be well known for low cost or free birth control and pap smears but some offices offer prenatal care. You can check online http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ or call their toll free number 1-800-230-PLAN to find if the closest office offers prenatal care. If they don't, they may be able to offer guidance to a local office that does provide low cost or free family care planning.

PlanningFamily offers a database of clinics for family planning, birth control and general medical clinics. It goes by category and then by state. It includes information such as phone, URL if one is available as well as a map provided by Google for the location. http://planningfamily.net/family-planning/

With all clinics it's a good idea to call ahead and verify if the clinic is free or sliding scale fee for cost. You may want to verify the phone number and address for the clinics such as whitepages.com If the clinic no longer offers the same payment policy as before, ask if they know of a referral for a clinic that can assist you. You'd be surprised at how many clinics may know of a resource that could help you.