This Is How Much It Costs To Give Birth In The United States
Not Cheap
The cost of healthcare in America has always been a touchy issue. Giving birth requires significant and costly medical care so it might be worthwhile knowing how much this can cost. Studies show that many young couples are actually delaying having kids due to the costs involved.
So exactly how much are we looking at in terms of cost per birth? Out-of-pocket costs can be up to $4000.00. This number can of course fluctuate depending on variables such as type of insurance. When Reddit users were asked to share their childbirth cost stories, here’s what they had to say.
Company Insurance
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Having comprehensive medical insurance provided by the mom or dad’s company is often the safest route. Depending on the level of cover this can result in significant out-of-pocket savings.
One mom illustrates this point perfectly with her story. Her son was born at nearly 27 weeks and therefore qualified for emergency care on her husband’s insurance. The extra hospital stays, NICU costs, and specialists eventually cost more than half a million dollars. Yikes! Here’s what more moms who shared their childbirth cost stories had to say.
Story Credit: Reddit/kaycee28
Debt Trap
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One mom relays how she gave birth to her daughter at 30 weeks. She was still in high school at the time and had no insurance. The baby’s NICU was 7 weeks and cost a whopping $430 000.00. According to this mom, she is now in her thirties and “nowhere close to paying it off.”
Story Credit: Reddit/Lexybabie21
Being Prepared
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According to one research-savvy mom, she saved close to $7000.00 on her child’s birth by doing her homework beforehand. According to her, she switched plans a couple of months before and narrowly avoided the excess payment.
Her eventual birth costs were in the region of $68 000.00 and her old insurance would have required her to pay for 10% of this out-of-pocket. Her experience shows that doing your research on different insurance options and plans can definitely pay off.
Story Credit: Reddit/goldworkswell
It’s Complicated
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Every parent hopes for a straightforward birth with healthy children at the end of it. Unfortunately, complications before, during, and after childbirth are all too common and can be costly.
It seems that the “during” part costs the most as one mom points out that she had to pay $16 000.00 for a two-night hospital stay when her child was born but only a $500.00 excess for a week-long stay for post-partum complications.
Story Credit: Reddit/maeffox
Out Of Network Costs
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Most health insurance plans come with not so fine print that dictates what they will and won’t pay for. When one mom chose to use a birth center that wasn’t in her network, her out-of-pocket costs were $6200.00.
This wasn’t even counting her post-partum costs, medication bills, and labwork charges. Another prime example of just how costly any decision can be when it comes to childbirth.
Story Credit: Reddit/IsThatAll
Being Sure
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Our next story is actually a pretty heart-wrenching one. One mom explains that cost was one of the main reasons why she wasn’t sure she even wanted to go ahead with her birth. In the end, she did and as it was all off-plan, she got stuck with a massive $120 000.00 bill.
While she asserts that she’s now a happy mother and glad that she went ahead with the birth, the debt will always remain over her head and is nowhere close to being paid off.
Story Credit: Reddit/sumhoodgrl
An Unwell Child
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Tragically, not all babies are born perfectly healthy. Some may be born with congenital birth defects or hereditary conditions. Unfortunately, treating these issues can be extremely costly and it’s not like any parent is ever going to opt-out of it.
When one mom went through this, her child’s condition required a long stay in the NICU. Her child was born with a condition that required many weeks in NICU. Her bill came in at close to a million dollars. Fortunately, she worked for the hospital and her insurance covered it all. Now just imagine being a mom whose insurance doesn’t cover a bill like that.
Story Credit: Reddit/Kaepora25
Not Covered
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Again, knowing the exact exclusions on your insurance plan can make a huge difference to the bill. When one mom had pre-eclampsia giving birth to twins, an emergency C-section at 36 weeks was required. A five-day stay in hospital followed for the mom even though the kids were okay.
She was still stuck with a $130 000.00 bill despite the added stay being for herself and not her kids. While the situation was truly sad, knowing the fine print of her policy beforehand may have saved her a ton.
Story Credit: Reddit/gabbyf45c966ee0
To Insure Or Not To Insure
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Despite the added costs that medical insurance can come with, one mom highlights how sorely it is still needed. When comparing her two births, the first without insurance and the second with, this is what she discovered.
Without insurance, pre-natal checks, birth, and post-partum costs were $65 000.00 whereas with insurance, this only cost her roughly $2000.00 out of pocket. With such a massive difference, as much as some people may deeply resent the system and its major players, it’s difficult to imagine managing without it.
Story Credit: Reddit/TheQueenOfDub
Leaving Early
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It cost me $15,000 for induction with no complications. We even left earlier than we should have to avoid the extra charge from the hospital.
We knew it would cost us much more if we stayed there. This is the reality of the American medical system. It’s so expensive you can go bankrupt from one visit to the hospital.
Story Credit: Reddit/Kaepora25
Unbelievable
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I was induced at 37 weeks due to pre-eclampsia. I had to take medicine, then Pitocin, and three epidurals because the first two didn’t work. Had a natural birth, and the baby went to the special care nursery for a few hours and no NICU.
My total stay was five days. The bill was $42K, and I paid around $4K out of pocket with all the appointments. I couldn’t believe that’s how much it was!!
Story Credit: Reddit/reiners78
Only Two Days
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It cost me about $7K after insurance in 2019 for an emergency C-section birth plus a NICU stay. We were only in for two days. I have pretty great insurance for my area.
I barely managed to save the money over the years and just recently paid the birth bills off. I can’t believe it cost me that much to give birth.
Story Credit: Reddit/ReneG8
No More Children
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My husband was on active military duty when our son was born. I used the military hospital, but it cost us $0. He left the Army when our son was 3.
Knowing what it would cost to have another child with our new insurance plan ($9K deductible plus 20% of surgery costs), we decided not to have additional biological children.
Story Credit: Reddit/IsThisNameTakenThen
Bad Insurance
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I had a C-section with terrible insurance. It cost $28,000. I also had to pay my doctor $3,000 before the baby was born.
The hospital made me pay before the baby was born and took $8,000. They are still waiting for that other ,000, and I don’t know when I will be able to pay it. (fleshbot.com)
Story Credit: Reddit/gaby5372
