Women have been having babies since the beginning of time. Literally! Whether prehistoric humans were having babies in caves, women in Biblical Times having babies in Bedouin tents, mothers in Asia delivering babies in bamboo huts, or women in Medieval Times having babies in thatched roof cottages or stone villas, it has been going on for a long time. The question that Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health News asked is: why does it cost so much just to have a baby in the United States? One woman told KFF Health News the cost having her baby was $59,710. Another said hers was $41,831.49, while a third mother reported her hospital bill was a whopping $144,482.15.
A mother who recently gave birth to premature quadruplets experienced a $4 million hospital bill. That was $1 million per child. Her babies required neonatal ICU for lengths of stay that varied from two months to nearly five months. The mother even quit her job in the sixth month of her pregnancy to qualify for Medicaid because she knew she could not afford the medical bills associated with quadruplets. The following is from ABC News:
According to Katie Martin, president and CEO of the nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute, the cost of childbirth has been going up, just like the cost of health care in the last five years.
“Our research shows that for people who get insurance through work, the average cost of having a baby is about $24,000 and that’s from the prenatal period to the postpartum period,” Martin told “GMA,” referencing a May 2023 HCCI study. “For childbirth itself, the average is closer to $13,000, though that varies considerably, whether it’s a vaginal birth or a C-section, that number has gone up over time, not dramatically differently from how healthcare costs in general had been increasing.”
The initial three anecdotes (above) are most likely chargemaster (list) prices before insurance discounts. Medicaid certainly did not reimburse $4 million for the mother of four premature newborns. When babies stay in the hospital longer than their mother costs can add up quickly. More from ABC News:
An HCCI study from 2023 examined NICU use and spending from 2017 to 2021 and found that higher level NICU care per baby has increased to $3,741 per day, triple the cost of general newborn care of about $1,200 per day.
Oddly enough, I was born seven to eight weeks premature back in 1963. I also had to spend the next seven to eight weeks in the hospital after my mother went home. My father once remarked that the cost of my mother’s and my care was about $2,500. When adjusted for inflation that is about $26,392.81 today. For the past few decades medical prices have been rising at about three times the rate of inflation. That still only adds up to about $75,000. However, had I been born today the cost of my care would probably have approached $1 million. That is the price of a large, luxury house in many suburban cities. In 1963 $2,500 would buy a Chevrolet Chevy II series or a Ford Falcon. A Ford Mustang was a few hundred dollars cheaper.
The cost of childbirth is far too high due to a dysfunctional health care system and pathologizing a natural process. Expectant parents can get the costs down if they choose, but many have little incentive and may lack the knowledge of how to do so. Birthing centers and home births attended by midwives are all options that cost less than hospital births. Prices for home births are often as low as $3,000 to $5,000 but fees vary considerably.
KFF Health News video: Why Is Having a Baby So Expensive in the US?