holy cow! (cost of childbirth)

[kimsansf]

OMG!!! I just got the bill for DSs delivery (yes, more than a year later)

I knew childbirth was expensive but HOLY COW!

Grand total excluding all prenatal care: $27,294.28

And I had a normal vag delivery!

Thank gawd for health insurance! how do people afford it without insurance? how much does a home birth cost (with a doula or midwife)?

[hippydippymama]

My homebirth is a bargain at $2,000, which includes all prenatals and postpartum care as well. I'm paying for it out of pocket, though...it could be covered by our insurance, but I'm choosing to have insurance cover the possible hospital birth in case of transfer, since it'll be MUCH more!

[marymom]

my homebirth is a little less than $5,000. i cost more b/c i'm VBA2C.

my first birth was hundreds of thousands :eek:

[FaeryGnomeHome]

:giggle: That's nothing. My middle child was a pit-induced vaginal delivery with 3 days prior to induction of hospitalization for me with antibiotics and betamethasone shots and 11 days of nicu stay for her with a spinal tap and an EKG and countless blood cultures and blood gases and going home on an apnea monitor for 6 months. She was the $250K baby. My last child was also a pit-induced vaginal delivery with only 1 day of hospitalization prior to induction with just antibiotics and 6 days in a level 3 nicu and an ambulence transfer to 5 more days in a level 2 nicu and she was a mere $175K baby. :giggle:

[Ashleybelle]

:holysheep: :holysheep: :holysheep:

[Ladycop79]

Holy moley...I gave birth in the "natural" room at the Naval hospital (I had a delightful experience, BTW) and I didn't pay anything...I never got a bill, so I haven't a clue how much it "cost." Gotta love the military!

[oneofsix]

fwiw thats what they charge the insurance co, the cost is higher because of the red tape. Its cheaper than that if you do self pay. I know I do self pay. The cost excluding prenatals here at west valley hospital is $5000 paid up front. But I do hbs and it only costs me like $1500-$3000 (depending on the mw). One time I only had to pay $1100!

[Equivocal]

I'm pretty sure (I don't remember specifically and have no clue where the bills/documentation are currently and don't want to log on to the insurance network to check, 'cause I can't remember my PW offhand) that my hospital bill was less than that.

I was in the hospital from Wednesday, July 18th until Sunday, July 22nd. Had a cervidil and pitocin induced labor, an epidural (which if I remember was nearly $2,000 all by itself) and stadol. And some medications after delivery due to hemorrhaging on my part.

And several blood draws, several doses of iron and several doses of antibiotic (I was GBS+).

My med. insurance covered 90% of the cost and I covered 10% of the cost.

[Katherine]

dd1's and my total hospital bills were over $40,000 for a c/s. That doesn't include the prenatal care. We are waiting on dd2's bills...

[katiematie]

thats nothing! my friend had a baby with down syndrome who needed open heart surgery within hours of his birth and weeks in the hospital following it. her total was close to a million dollars, im not kidding!

[katiematie]

we are military as well and dont pay a dime for medical 9well besides the $12 a month to stay enrolled but we have no deductables, or co-pays. its all free :-) thats one reason i want my Dh to re-enlist, the free medical is just too tempting to pass up.

[lyn1270]

my first ds was over $25,000 (emergency c/s, long crappy day of induction)....my DH & i almost choked...thank The Lord for insurance. DS#2 was about $15,000...scheduled c/s (didn't want to go thru the long, crappy day of induction!)...again, thank The Lord for insurance. As for LO #3 (hopefully, prayerfully!), only the Lord knows how we are going to pay for that one, cause we'll be doing self-pay, as our current insurance has no maternity coverage...yikes! how i wish DH would do homebirth...but...he's very loving & protective & it makes him want to pass out...hehehehe!

[bobandjess99]

my midwife (cnm) charges $2000 for complete prenatal, birth and pp package.

[luvsviola]

Wow...my birth with my costs and DD's at the fanciest hospital in Indianapolis was $18,000. That included doctors, epi, birth, labs, everything. It ended up costing me about $2k.

[Lovely]

Wow. I never received a bill because I had medicaid. But those amounts are CRAZY!

[MyM&W]

Thats crazy! But worth it...:)

I hope to use a midwife next time and possibly do a home birth

[vee_nice21]

we are military as well and dont pay a dime for medical 9well besides the $12 a month to stay enrolled but we have no deductables, or co-pays. its all free :-) thats one reason i want my Dh to re-enlist, the free medical is just too tempting to pass up.

Same here! Both DH and I were both military when she was born so she was 100% free of charge under my tricare! The thought of getting sick without insurance scares us enough that DH decided to stay in till retirement. Only in America... UGH :yuck: ! I saw a movie (sicko) where in france the government even sends out a nanny for mommas who just gave birth to help out with cooking cleaning and so forth.

[Shah'ada]

My homebirths are $1,600 :)

[funda62]

Both my babies were free. :mrgreen:

First was born at the university hospital were I DH and worked. One of my student's was head of ob/gyn and gave me a private room and everything.

Second was born in the army hospital in Germany.

Both were c-sections and both involved before birth stays for me and five days after birth for the babies and me.

We were so lucky.

[shel*bel]

Same here! Both DH and I were both military when she was born so she was 100% free of charge under my tricare! The thought of getting sick without insurance scares us enough that DH decided to stay in till retirement. Only in America... UGH :yuck: ! I saw a movie (sicko) where in france the government even sends out a nanny for mommas who just gave birth to help out with cooking cleaning and so forth.

A nanny would be nice right away in theory, but I get all mama bear if I have too much company, even if they're helping... I'm just very protective of my family those first few weeks and want them and only them around me as much as possible. I check out of the hospital after 24 hours because I can't stand so many people around and in our faces all the time. Don't remember what it cost for any of them though... I just thank God for insurance! :pray:

[katesmash]

This thread makes me sooo happy to live in Canada. My hospital birth with DD that involved being augmented (induced after labour started). All I had to pay for was the cost of having a semi-private room, and tv if I wanted it.

[JeDeeLenae]

No clue on cost for DS1... I was on Medicaid.

But DS2... it was $17K not including my $15 co-pays for office visits!!

For DD... it's $1800, plus the cost of supplies which should only be another $200 MAX, and that's a reach.

[Ladycop79]

Same here! Both DH and I were both military when she was born so she was 100% free of charge under my tricare! The thought of getting sick without insurance scares us enough that DH decided to stay in till retirement. Only in America... UGH :yuck: ! I saw a movie (sicko) where in france the government even sends out a nanny for mommas who just gave birth to help out with cooking cleaning and so forth.

The military DID send out a nurse to help with some things (she did a well-baby check up, would offer lactation support if we needed it, etc.) but I, if I remember correctly, she was actually paid for through a Federal grant that was in place to help protect women against PPD. I had no PPD (thank the Lord!) and I was so happy with my new baby that I think she actually thought I was psycho. She sat around "cleaning" things with me and folding laundry but I think it was all a ruse to make sure I wasn't crazy... I am pretty sure she wasn't supposed to help out with the chores! Eclairs and nannies...hmmmm...I wonder if there is a shore duty billet in France?

ETA: And I totally understand being afraid of being off of military insurance. Because of my breast cancer, I have a "pre-existing condition" so I am SOL off of Tricare. And after a bilateral mastectomy, radiation treatment, 3 years of medication, 3 (and one coming up) full reconstructive surgeries and nipple flap and tattooing, I couldn't IMAGINE what "Real" insurance is like.

[JDT]

My 1st baby was a $30K baby. That was with midwifery prenatal. She's a famous midwife so maybe that's why it cost so much. I paid $0 out of pocket.

Baby #2 - $40K planned c-section. I think it cost is like $500 out of pocket

Baby #4 - $60-70K (all of the bills are not in yet). I was over 35 when I delivered so I had 2 prenatal docs. One was high risk (due to my advanced maternal age-37). His bill alone was $10K. I saw him 3-4 times for the ultra screen. We paid $0 out of pocket.

[mikoto127]

DS was $40k I believe...but we had to have a ceserian, he was on oxygen for a bit and all sorts of other non fun things...and a 5 day hospital stay for us both!

[monstersmom]

our insurance didn't cover completely.. so i still joke with my DH that we don't own our DS yet...lol

[1orange23]

Holy Cow !! A million dollar !! :yikes: God Bless Canada !! I paid nothing with my second.

I paid only $100 co-pay when my eldest was born 7.5 years ago in Texas. The insurance paid around $5000, though. My friend's bill for c-section, baby stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks in Minnesota 5 years ago was $80,000 and I thought it was crazy. Now I think it's nothing.

[boomer]

My homebirth was $2400. I have no idea how much my hospital births cost.

[squintz22]

DD1 - non-medicated vag birth, 2 night stay $12K
DD2 - induced, non-med vag birth, 2 night stay $15K
DS3 - emergency cs, 4 night stay $28K
DS4 - planned cs, 4 night stay $25K

Our out-of-pocket cost:
DD1 - $2400
DD2 - $1500
DS1 - $520
DS2 - $3000 (max OOP)

We had a different insurance with all 4 kids. Obviously, #3 was best....paid the $500 deductible and a $20 copay and that was it. We hit our deductibles with the rest.

[Mommimi]

What the medical bill is to hospital and what actual hospital gets are 2 different things. Big med insurances ask for 50-70% discount, so hospitals just up their cost to get more money. If you are self-paying they usually have no problem giving you a 40% discount upfront and make affordable payment structures.
I paid nothing out of pocket for DS or DD. Just the one time $15 co-pay for OBGYN. Cost according to hospital bill is $200K for DS (10 days NICU, countless test, and we had expert from Stanford come - he charge $5K for a 30min consultation) and $15K for DD.

[~happy2Bamommy~]

I know when I checked into it here it was going to be $5,700 for the OB and they said around $12K total for a normal no meds birth.

I think our first two home births were $1,200 (I know one was because I sold a horse to cover it)

Third was $1,600 if I remember correctly and then this last one was $2,100 for all visits,birth,pp visits and a picture package.

[pillywiggins]

DD #1- all prenatal care, pit induced (2.5 days), c/s, $10k

Twins- planned c/s, all prenatal, $15k.

Both of these totals are with the care of the girls in the hospital too. Even though we had most covered by insurance, I feel very blessed that we have a great doc, and we live in a small town. I drive 30 mins to get to this doc. Him and his midwife plus the maternity dept are all pro drug free, breast feeding with no nursery. LOVE IT!

[Ali]

Hospital bills are crazy hey? My first son was a 28 weeker, had an almost 3 month NICU stay and quite a few surgeries. He is literally our million dollar baby. Thank goodness for insurance...but then again insurance is a big part of the reason that the doctors bills are so high to begin with!

[jollygoodANDgreen]

I try not to think about it actually. Can't remember (convenient amnesia) w/ DD1 & 2 but things where different then as I was a WOHM. W DS we have private insurance now & I think the grand total was like $26,000 for a normal vag delivery at Cedars in LA. To be honest the sad thing is I had planned to not have an epidural with DS only because I wanted to save $3,000. So that's what I did. After insurance covered some of it, we were left with only $2,600 to pay out of pocket, I pay them $225 monthly til it's gone. On a brighter note, I'd pay any amount of money for my kiddos.:goodvibes:

[logansmomma07]

We are military, so we don't usually pay anything at all, but we are doing a homebirth this time, and they dont cover those. So, we are paying out of pocket (ouch). The midwife's bill was $1800, with all the supplies and her assistant's fee, its going to be a little over $2000. Though I can't really complain about that in this thread:blush: Its amazing the insurance companies will pay out so much for hospital births, but won't cover a homebirth that is a tiny fraction of the cost :headscratch:

[calideedle]

Both of my kids (C/S) were around $20,000. (insurance covered)

My next (Home birth) is around $4000. (insurance will not cover)

HUGE difference!!!!

[OneFabMama]

My DD I think was about 15K and that didn't include the epidural which was another 2K. Of that 15K we paid 13 dollars and change to the hospital and I think 300 out of pocket for the epi.

Nor does that include the 840 we paid out of pocket for my delivery charge through my OB. Plus, 20 dollar co pays.

My midwife charges 3200 for a HB. We paid some to her, and I qualified for a state health program and it is now all being covered by them. Then I paid about 80 dollars for additional birthing supplies.

[sabrina_the_mommies]

ETA: And I totally understand being afraid of being off of military insurance. Because of my breast cancer, I have a "pre-existing condition" so I am SOL off of Tricare. And after a bilateral mastectomy, radiation treatment, 3 years of medication, 3 (and one coming up) full reconstructive surgeries and nipple flap and tattooing, I couldn't IMAGINE what "Real" insurance is like.


My really good friend had breast cancer while her DH was Navy. She had the BEST care. Great, loving doctors & everything was taken care of. I love that even if one has breast cancer before becoming a military wife, you'd STILL be taken care of, no questions asked. She was seen in SD at Balboa & then up somewhere in Washington... top notch :goodvibes:

[sabrina_the_mommies]

Military here too; 6hrs of labor w/an epi & monitors, then went for emergency c-sect... I think we paid $3.50 for our 'celebratory meal' <~ there was brussel sprouts on my plate :yuck: so not even worth the $3.50! Although I did enjoy the mini bottle of martinellis apple cider & DH was excited for coffee :giggle:

[mmmom]

:holysheep: I must say I am glad to be in Canada. They may have kicked me out of the hospital 24 hours or less after giving birth but geez those are some high numbers. I bet they are all worth it though.

To be honest I did choose to leave they would have allowed me to stay but who wants to stay in a hospital

[kettle]

OMG! I had an emergency c/s with complications and 7 days in the hospital and it was just short of $2,000 (and that included all of my visits up to delivery!). That was here in Korea (and I didn't even have insurance!!!)! I'm definitely having the next one here!

Edit: I should add I had an induction as well... and still $2000 for everything! And in Korea you get an ultrasound every single time you go to the doctor!

[naivete]

word to the fellow Canadians! My cost was 40$, and that was for the cost of a private room for one night. It would have been free if I shared a room with another mama, but two crying bubs = not for me. It wouldn't matter how many complications I had or what was needed, it's all covered. I can't imagine seeing a bill that high for it, but then again we just take for granted that we can go into a doctor for anything, surgery, prescriptions, well visits at any time, and never see a bill for 99% of it.

[IaRyJoAb4]

My copay was $100!!!!(we have good insurance and she was totally natural/no meds/no complications)

Thank God for Insurance!

[jausten]

I think mine was around $18K? Didn't need an induction, didn't need NICU or anything like that, but I had an epidural and 2 rounds of pit afterwards because I wouldn't stop bleeding.

Checked in Tuesday evening, checked out Friday afternoon. Would have checked out Thursday evening, but Emma wasn't nursing so we had to wait until she had regular wet diapers.

I think we paid around $2K out of pocket?

[KaleidoscopeEyes]

Hm, both mine were free but I did receive a bill accidentally and it was sno where near that.

[OpenArms]

DD: $700.
Homebirth: Just hired a lay midwife to sleep on the couch just in case we needed her.

DS1: $700
Homebirth: Same midwife to sleep on our couch. :giggle:

DS2: FREE
Homebirth: Had him unassisted!

:goodvibes:

[elemonj]

:giggle: That's nothing. My middle child was a pit-induced vaginal delivery with 3 days prior to induction of hospitalization for me with antibiotics and betamethasone shots and 11 days of nicu stay for her with a spinal tap and an EKG and countless blood cultures and blood gases and going home on an apnea monitor for 6 months. She was the $250K baby. My last child was also a pit-induced vaginal delivery with only 1 day of hospitalization prior to induction with just antibiotics and 6 days in a level 3 nicu and an ambulence transfer to 5 more days in a level 2 nicu and she was a mere $175K baby. :giggle:

WHAT?????? I had no idea ahving babies could be this expensive!!!! I hope you had good insurance. Even wit hinsurance I can imagine the copay was a killer!

[kettle]

Wow! I can't get over these numbers.

DH and I have been talking and have decided to stay in Korea at least until we have our second LO... not only is the price way cheaper (and I'll have insurance for the next one so it'll probably cost around $250, $500 if I have another section) but I think the level of care is better. Korea has a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S. DH was horrified when I told him that if we had had DS in the U.S. I would probably have only had 2-3 ultrasounds. He says the only thing that kept him from going nuts while I was pregnant was being able to see Jeremy every time we went to the doc (regular and 3d us every single visit!). We have a book with a 3d ultrasound pic of DS from every month!

[HadassahSukkot]

Good Golly Miss Molly!

I am so glad I live here in Germany!! The only cost I had was for the family room, which was like paying for a hotel stay, right around 50Euro a night...

[Ami in Deutschland]

Germany here too!
10 Euro copay for ambulance transport
30 Euro copay for hospital stay (10 Euros a day)
100 Euro would have had to pay for midwife if she had been able to attend the birth (I ended up in the wrong hospital)
40 Euros copayments for prenatal office visits
Total: 80 Euros (would have been 180 if I went to the right hospital)

OT: Please don't forget these numbers when you go to vote this fall. Universal health care coverage is not a dream. Germany does it with private insurers and a concept called solidarity- you pay based on your income, not based on your pre-existing conditions (about 8 percent of gross income). NPR did a great series (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91972152) on health care costs in US vs. other countries.

[kettle]

Germany here too!
10 Euro copay for ambulance transport
30 Euro copay for hospital stay (10 Euros a day)
100 Euro would have had to pay for midwife if she had been able to attend the birth (I ended up in the wrong hospital)
40 Euros copayments for prenatal office visits
Total: 80 Euros (would have been 180 if I went to the right hospital)

OT: Please don't forget these numbers when you go to vote this fall. Universal health care coverage is not a dream. Germany does it with private insurers and a concept called solidarity- you pay based on your income, not based on your pre-existing conditions (about 8 percent of gross income). NPR did a great series (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91972152) on health care costs in US vs. other countries.

Agreed! National healthcare works great here in Korea... if you have insurance it's absurdly cheap, if you don't have insurance it's just cheap! Don't buy this crap about national healthcare lowering quality... I received better care here than I ever did in the states. Everything was state of the art and most of the doctors are trained in the west.

I got upset because DH had to take DS to the doctor the other day with a rash... the visit and two prescriptions cost $17 and I was like, "WTH? Why was it so expensive?" Plus no deductibles!

I had a wisdom tooth pulled and it cost me $25! That included the prescriptions...

My health insurance starts in two weeks and my husband is getting braces. It's been a lifelong dream of his but we've never been able to afford them... with my National insurance it will cost around $300 to have them put on, monitored etc for a year.

In Korea the deal is you pay 3.5-7% of your income (sliding scale) and your employer matches.

[vmccal1]

[QUOTE=hippydippymama;4330455]My homebirth is a bargain at $2,000, which includes all prenatals and postpartum care as well. [QUOTE]

And we never have to wait to see the midwife for prenatals and she comes to us for postpartum care!!:thumbsup:

[Weezy6703]

that's why i'm on HMO. next baby (if we are at same jobs next go around) all we have to pay is initial 15 dollar copay at the beginning and a $200 hospital copay. Granted if there are issues the cost would be higher. But considering i can stay local this is the best option for us at this time.

[ClothDiaperMePlease]

My middle one was 23k; I paid 7k with insurance. (2500 per person deuct and non-covered expenses like solo room which is all they have there and "repeat" bloodwork- my RH factor blood work)

My HB was 2800 :)
ETA: I was in the hospital less than 24 hours and in labor for 45 minutes there. I had no drugs or interventions.

[mbsr76]

My son was around 30k but I was in the hospital from Wed am and he wasn't born until Sat after 11pm, then I was discharged on Monday and he had to stay in the NICU for several days. Our copay was $750 but we didn't pay a penny because my husband was a chaplain at that hospital at the time.

[ThatLinGirl]

This homebirth will be 3.3k.

My daughter was born in the UK, so we did not directly pay for her birth or maternity care at all. No copay, nothing.

Ridiculous that birth centers are having to close because what they bill (a small FRACTION of what hospitals bill, very reasonable and not inflated) isn't anywhere close to what they're getting.

[tusheez]

i had a midwife but did a hospital birth ended up in csection so dr had to do but DS was negotiated down to 7k if paid then!

[blossomgoat]

I had an unmedicated labor and an unplanned C sec. We never saw a bill because my HMO is very good... I"m a state employee. Phew!

[duck411]

wow - my vag delivery w/ 2 epidurals and pitocin induction w/ 2 day hospital stay was less than 15K for everything, including prenatal care. but i had a 2500 deductible i had 2 pay. :yuck:

[SativaStarr]

I know JUST DSs part of the bill was over $10,000 and I cant tell ya what mine was.. but I spent 5 days in the hospital (2 prior, 3 after birth) so i bet it was alot. Dh ended up payin $1800 back towards birth expenses.

Never saw a bill for DD but it ad to be even more.. I was in for 5 days prior to her birth with nifedipine, IVs, zofran, steroids, and more, plus 2 days after birth, and she spent 2 days in NICU.

Thank goodness for medical assistance!

[momtoamiracle]

My dr charges $3000 for normal delivery, I paid $300. I paid $800 to the hospital but I think the bill wasn't really that much. Maybe $7000 or $8000? I had epidural and a two day stay. My $1100 out of pocket was pretty cheap! Altho if I would have a baby on current insurance I would only pay $15! Too bad I'm infertile and can't have any more babies...

[Weezy6703]

I had an unmedicated labor and an unplanned C sec. We never saw a bill because my HMO is very good... I"m a state employee. Phew!

i was on medicaid at the time so we never saw a bill...then I came back to my state job (well not state, but for the university which has state benefits) after he was born and when he had his surgery and when i had my oral surgery the first year we were married I never saw bills for those. Some complain about hospital births but I can't complain about $200. lol and we don't have midwives in our podunk town. If we did my perspective would change a little. We just don't have money to fork out like that.

[thefragile7393]

My birth center birth cost around 5,000...most covered by insurance.

This time we're at home...and I'm not sure what it will cost. She takes insurance and has agreed to accept the 70% the insurance should cover...if they want to be idiots it will be 3,000 bucks (we're hoping insurance will pay up the 70% they should).

Even without insurance we'd home birth....heck of a lot cheaper than any hospital or birth center, provided that I didn't become high risk.