While children do cost money, you can have a baby without being a millionaire. Having a baby does not have to break your bank. Planning ahead can really help you save money and become more fiscally responsible.

Health Insurance

The first thing that needs a checkup is your health insurance. You will want to know what is currently covered. Many employers offer plans that do not include maternity coverage, and people may choose these because they are not planning a pregnancy. Make sure that your plan does cover maternity care, and that you change your policy accordingly during an open enrollment period.

Once you've established that maternity coverage is intact or make arrangements to be covered, you can begin to find out what the coverage includes. You will want to know if it covers birthing centers or home birth in addition to a hospital birth. Will the coverage include any type of practitioner?

For example, if your pregnancy became high risk would it cover a perinatologist, a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies? Would it cover a certified nurse midwife, a nurse who takes care of low-risk pregnant women, if you wanted to go that route?

It is nice to have a flexible plan that allows you to select the practitioner of your choice. It is also desirable to have the opportunity to choose a facility from a wide range of choices rather than having to select from only one or two hospitals.

Coverage for well-baby care is something else you will absolutely need. This covers the normal care of well children to ensure that they are growing at a developmentally appropriate rate, and are receiving their vaccinations or immunizations in a timely manner. Beginning from your first visit right after birth until the age of one, there are at least six to eight visits made to your child's pediatrician or doctor for well checkups. This does not include visits for when your child is ill or having problems.

You can see how quickly these medical bills could add up if these visits aren't covered by your insurance. Ensuring that your coverage does include well-baby care is very important for your financial health. A quick call to your insurance representative or human resources department should be able to give you the answers you need.

If you find that your insurance coverage is lacking in any way, you might wish to change your coverage. Many employers have certain periods for making these changes called open enrollment. During an open enrollment period you can switch medical policies quickly and easily. When you change your coverage, be sure to note when the coverage changes will take effect — there may be a waiting period for the switch over.

Life Insurance and Wills

While you may not want to think about such dreary topics when planning for such a happy occasion, planning out your estate can be very helpful in the unlikely event that something drastic should happen to you or your spouse. Many people use pregnancy and preparing for pregnancy as a time to get ready for the worst-case scenario.

Ask yourself questions like: Who would take care of your child? How will you handle losing income from work should you become unable to work due to disability? Discussing life and disability insurance with a reputable agent can help you find answers to your questions about insurance needs. This will give you one less thing to worry about.

Your lawyer will also be able to help you draft a will to ensure that your wishes would be carried out about child placement and money issues. Without a will, in the event of your death, the legal issues surrounding your estate and custody of your child could become tied up in court for a long time. A will leaves your baby protected if something happens to you.