3 ms·

How much were you expecting it to be?

Balgair 6y ago
I don't know about OP, but where I am the cost of the average vaginal delivery is ~$8k and the average c-section is ~$12k on top of that, so ~$20k. C-sections account for ~30% of the births where I am. Complications with the birth will add to the cost. The devil is in the details though. I don't know if Medicaid is factored into these averages and I don't know what the median cost is. Individual insurance will vary wildly, and the specifics of every delivery also vary wildly. You could be paying $0 or $100,000, it's a total crap-shoot.
- stickyricky 6y ago
  Brutal. I've seen a lot of people advertise giving birth in bathtubs (or small pools) with just a midwife. Now I'm starting to wonder if that's a response to the high costs of hospital delivery.
  - jschwartzi 6y ago
    That's exactly what it is. We did a lot of research on this to try to keep the costs low, but the risk of complications with delivery requiring us to then go to the hospital is high enough that this doesn't save us any money. It just makes it more likely she or the baby will die from complications before they get to the hospital.
  - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
    We birthed at home (& later at birthing centers) so my wife could be appropriately in control. She's a chemical sensitive. Staying out of a hospital was the only way to keep some rando hospital staffer caked in perfume (or Tide) from walking in & triggering an 8 hour migraine.
  - RhysU 6y ago
    We used a birthing center, twice. In conjunction with medical insurance from a large local employer, the births and associated pre/post-natal visits each cost us $500 out-of-pocket roughly a decade ago. The insurer, not surprisingly, was happy to have us pursue that route. Hence including pre/post-natal care in the bundle. Now, the birthing center screened for low-risk mothers and we were indeed lucky. Still, a considerable fraction of the population should be able to to access, at low cost, "technology" that we have exercised as a species since time immemorial.

I don't know about OP, but where I am the cost of the average vaginal delivery is ~$8k and the average c-section is ~$12k on top of that, so ~$20k. C-sections account for ~30% of the births where I am. Complications with the birth will add to the cost. The devil is in the details though. I don't know if Medicaid is factored into these averages and I don't know what the median cost is. Individual insurance will vary wildly, and the specifics of every delivery also vary wildly. You could be paying $0 or $100,000, it's a total crap-shoot.

stickyricky 6y ago
Brutal. I've seen a lot of people advertise giving birth in bathtubs (or small pools) with just a midwife. Now I'm starting to wonder if that's a response to the high costs of hospital delivery.
- jschwartzi 6y ago
  That's exactly what it is. We did a lot of research on this to try to keep the costs low, but the risk of complications with delivery requiring us to then go to the hospital is high enough that this doesn't save us any money. It just makes it more likely she or the baby will die from complications before they get to the hospital.
- WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
  We birthed at home (& later at birthing centers) so my wife could be appropriately in control. She's a chemical sensitive. Staying out of a hospital was the only way to keep some rando hospital staffer caked in perfume (or Tide) from walking in & triggering an 8 hour migraine.
- RhysU 6y ago
  We used a birthing center, twice. In conjunction with medical insurance from a large local employer, the births and associated pre/post-natal visits each cost us $500 out-of-pocket roughly a decade ago. The insurer, not surprisingly, was happy to have us pursue that route. Hence including pre/post-natal care in the bundle. Now, the birthing center screened for low-risk mothers and we were indeed lucky. Still, a considerable fraction of the population should be able to to access, at low cost, "technology" that we have exercised as a species since time immemorial.