Having a baby is meant to be one of the most joyous occasions in any parent’s life. Welcoming a child into the world should be the only stress that new parents have to worry about, however, having a child in America means that’s just one of the stressors.
Without benefits or medical insurance, hospital bills for mothers giving birth is astronomical, and this heartbreaking Reddit thread truly puts it into perspective.
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Of course, there are many factors that play into how expensive a child’s birth will be.
Depending on the type of birth, state, and additional assistance required after the baby is born, parents can be looking at spending an average of $10,000 welcoming their bundle of joy, as reported by Business Insider .
One woman has taken to Reddit to ask fellow parents how much it cost them to welcome their baby in the USA.
“I’m curious to what others will be, or have paid to have a child in the United States,” the original poster (OP) wrote .
“My OB wants a down payment of $3200 and the hospital has yet to give me an estimate.”
With nearly 1,000 comment replies, it’s clear people are eager to share their experiences, as well as their receipts.
“No idea how it was this expensive but my normal vaginal delivery with zero complications and two nights in the hospital (baby was born at 10 pm so we had to stay two nights) cost… 38,000 dollars. WTF. After insurance I only paid about a grand or two,” shared one woman.
“$30k. For my stay (4 days), and my son’s NICU stay for 6 days, including his speciality ambulance ride to the NICU ($1400 for a 1.5 mile ride),” shared a different user.
“We only paid a total of $1k out of pocket for our copays ($500 each). We are fortunate to have great insurance coverage.”
Of course, not everyone is so lucky with such generous medical insurance.
“My girl didn’t have prenatal coverage with her health insurance and our first was a surprise so we paid out of pocket,” shared one dad.
“The hospital and doctor knew our situation and they informed us that they would give us the lowest price possible.(standard for people in our situation). Our bill was a little over 18000,” he added.
“$7k out of pocket. My insurance sucks,” said one user.
“Same,” echoed another. “Out of pocket was $6,250. This year it’s $12,500! Insane. We’re going to have to pay for supplemental insurance if we have another this year.”
What an interesting and eye-opening thread!
