# Americans: How much did your natural hospital birth cost?



## Proserpina

If you live in America, and you've ever given birth in a hospital naturally (no epidural or pain medications administered, no Pitocin, vaginal delivery), how much was the bill for your delivery? I'm just curious if foregoing interventions actually saves any $$$ with hospitals.


----------



## somedaymama

Before insurance or after? I gave birth in Illinois, no meds or anything. I didn't have any out-of-pocket expenses because insurance covered it all, but the bills were close to $10k if not more. I don't think I actually added it all up. I was a bit horrified at the cost for less than 24 hours in the hospital and maybe an hour with the doctor. The room was a few thousand, the charge for the delivery was a few thousand, and then of course the bills for labs (rhogham shot, etc.) were high as well.


----------



## Proserpina

somedaymama said:


> Before insurance or after? I gave birth in Illinois, no meds or anything. I didn't have any out-of-pocket expenses because insurance covered it all, but the bills were close to $10k if not more. I don't think I actually added it all up. I was a bit horrified at the cost for less than 24 hours in the hospital and maybe an hour with the doctor. The room was a few thousand, the charge for the delivery was a few thousand, and then of course the bills for labs (rhogham shot, etc.) were high as well.

Before, and thanks. I am in Illinois, too. I can't believe how much medical care is these days. 

I won't have any out-of-pocket costs, either. I was just curious.


----------



## nevernormal

My friend was told by her doctor's office that if she was self pay, it was $4000 or so for delivery -- Just the doctor's fees! That's not the hospital stay or anything. I think they told her an epidural would be around $500. She ended up not having to pay anything, but she did have to be induced. She went without an epidural though. Her husband said the bills were around $15000 or so. Once the baby is born, if you stay in the hospital, they charge you for 2 people staying in the room, etc.


----------



## Proserpina

nevernormal said:


> Her husband said the bills were around $15000 or so. Once the baby is born, if you stay in the hospital, they charge you for 2 people staying in the room, etc.

Yuck. 

Like I said, I don't expect that I will have out-of-pocket expenses, but once the baby is born, I'm hoping we can get out of the hospital ASAP.


----------



## nevernormal

Well you've had a baby, so they may not keep you terribly long if everything is okay. I know at that hospital (or maybe in that area?) it was pretty standard to have about a 48 hr stay from the birth for first time mothers, to check for excessive bleeding and whatnot. From what I understood they didn't require/desire 2nd+ time mom's to stay that long, since I guess they expect them to know what to look for and/or know what's normal for them, but then again this same friend just had #2 in the same hospital on Sat., and didn't go home until today I think. She said her little boy had had a fever the first night though, and she'd been gbs positive, so they'd kept them extra because of that. If everything had gone fine I don't know how long she would've stayed.


----------



## Kiwi_Jen

I had a natural birth in Washington State (no interventions, no epidural, etc.).

Mine was about $4500 all in, I think there were some additional charges for supplies (I took a bunch of cold packs and supplies home with me). The website for the hospital with estimated costs is here:
https://www.pullmanregional.org/web/birthplace/financial-information

Costs vary wildly across the country, I can't believe how much things cost in hospitals in bigger cities.


----------



## misspriss

The OB I was seeing quoted me around $4,000 for his services, and the hospital said average with no interventions was around $6,500. I would not pay more than $1,500 out of pocket though with insurance.

I chose to go with a midwife though and am paying $3,000 out of pocket though.


----------



## nevernormal

I just went with my friend to her first appointment. She found out her doctor's fee is just over $4000. She's liable for about $1200 of this as with her insurance she has to pay 20%. We went to the hospital business office and they said their fees for the average 2 day stay range from $6500-$7500, so that would make her liable for $1400 or so with her insurance. This likely doesn't cover the cost of the anesthesiologist should she get an epidural, or pitocin should she be induced etc. So if everything went perfectly she'd still have to pay $2600 WITH insurance, or somewhere around $11-12000 without.


----------



## sevenofnine

Generally between $8 - $15k depending on where you give birth. It's ridiculous. (Obviously you pay less out of pocket with insurance, but they usually charge more if running it through an insurance company vs. self-pay.)


----------



## amjon

I was induced and did have one dose of IV meds, but those were a minor part of my bill. I was in the hospital Monday-Thursday and my portion of the bill (20%) was over $6,000 plus the doctor's fees.


----------



## PepsiChic

I had a completely natural hospital birth. 

My obgyn fee for the prenatal care, and delivery was $2500 self-pay 

The hospital charge for me originally was $5000

HOWEVER I then asked for an itemized bill, they automatically charged an epidural, IV, the shot they give you to clot your blood, and a bunch of other crap. Once that was all removed the bill went down to $2750. I was in the hospital for 27 hours. the bill covered the care from the nurses, the room, the "equiptment" (scales to weight baby, over head lights, heart rate monitor), tv, and food and drink. 

The babys hospital bill was another $1250 - he was given the vitamin K shot, but was not circ'd or needed any breathing equiptment/incubator etc. 

so the total pregnancy + labour and birth = approx $6500

baby was covered by his own medicaid and they paid his balance in full. I dont have insurance and not eligible for medicaid, so I applied through the hosptals private financial aid program, they basically collect your income information and write off a % of the bill. Because maternity was unpaid leave, my income was considered $0 and they paid 100% of my bill.

I still paid for all my OBGYNs expenses but we paid in monthly installments over the period of the pregnancy. so in the end I paid just the $2500 for the obgyn.

That was with our first son Barry.

Doing the same thing again this time round! but, im expecting to pay a % of the hospital bill as I'll be returning to work within a couple of days.


----------



## Proserpina

Thanks everyone who has responded. 



PepsiChic said:


> HOWEVER I then asked for an itemized bill, they automatically charged an epidural, IV, the shot they give you to clot your blood, and a bunch of other crap. Once that was all removed the bill went down to $2750. I was in the hospital for 27 hours. the bill covered the care from the nurses, the room, the "equiptment" (scales to weight baby, over head lights, heart rate monitor), tv, and food and drink.
> 
> The babys hospital bill was another $1250 - he was given the vitamin K shot, but was not circ'd or needed any breathing equiptment/incubator etc.
> 
> so the total pregnancy + labour and birth = approx $6500

Yikes. I will have to ask for an itemized bill in case I'm getting any "auto" charges for services I don't use. 

I'm a long ways off from this (on cycle #1 of TTC right now, 10 dpo, crossing my fingers), but I'm hoping to make this hospital stay as "home-birthey" as possible: spend a significant amount of time laboring at home, leave the hospital as soon as possible, not use continuous monitoring or epidurals or meds, etc. I have had a baby before, so yes, here's hoping they'll let me go early. 

It amazes me how much they charge for this stuff. I have a friend in Utah who is looking into a natural childbirth at a birthing center, not because she actually wants one, but because she's basically uninsured and will have to pay for it all herself.


----------



## PepsiChic

Proserpina said:


> Thanks everyone who has responded.
> 
> 
> 
> PepsiChic said:
> 
> 
> HOWEVER I then asked for an itemized bill, they automatically charged an epidural, IV, the shot they give you to clot your blood, and a bunch of other crap. Once that was all removed the bill went down to $2750. I was in the hospital for 27 hours. the bill covered the care from the nurses, the room, the "equiptment" (scales to weight baby, over head lights, heart rate monitor), tv, and food and drink.
> 
> The babys hospital bill was another $1250 - he was given the vitamin K shot, but was not circ'd or needed any breathing equiptment/incubator etc.
> 
> so the total pregnancy + labour and birth = approx $6500
> 
> Yikes. I will have to ask for an itemized bill in case I'm getting any "auto" charges for services I don't use.
> 
> I'm a long ways off from this (on cycle #1 of TTC right now, 10 dpo, crossing my fingers), but I'm hoping to make this hospital stay as "home-birthey" as possible: spend a significant amount of time laboring at home, leave the hospital as soon as possible, not use continuous monitoring or epidurals or meds, etc. I have had a baby before, so yes, here's hoping they'll let me go early.
> 
> It amazes me how much they charge for this stuff. I have a friend in Utah who is looking into a natural childbirth at a birthing center, not because she actually wants one, but because she's basically uninsured and will have to pay for it all herself.Click to expand...

Birthing centers (at least here) charge more because they dont have the funding that the hospitals do. Id advise you friend to contact her local hospitals and see what financial assistance they offer, and payment plans. 

I also laboured at home, We left the house when my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, the hospital was an hour away, when I arrived I was 8cm dilated, contractions 2 minutes apart, and I gave birth to him 1.5 hours later. 

For us that worked out ideal, I felt so much more relaxed at home, I had a shower, ate dinner, sorted out my hospital bag, played facebook games and for some unknown reason jacked the car up and swopped the tires over! :haha:


----------



## nevernormal

I know if I was to pay the full amount, the closest birth center (40 minutes away, in another state) is cheaper than self-paying the full amount of the hospital. 

But you're right Pepsi-Chic. Depending on your finances the hospital financial aid can be extremely helpful. I've had blood work covered that way in the past, and when DH had surgery on his back we only ended up having to pay $20 (originally our bill was around $6000 AFTER they billed the insurance).


----------



## youngwife20

omggg i cant believe how much you hav e to pay im in the uk so had no clue - what happens if someone hasnt got that money to pay? gosh i know id never have kids if i had to pay tht for each baby i could not afford that


----------



## gryphongrl

Mine was about $9k. I requested an itemized bill... $6 for a motrin. Good thing I didn't get an epidural... I could barely afford the motrin! Ha!


----------



## kajastarlight

youngwife20 said:


> omggg i cant believe how much you hav e to pay im in the uk so had no clue - what happens if someone hasnt got that money to pay? gosh i know id never have kids if i had to pay tht for each baby i could not afford that

We have a lot of public assistant programs, if you can't pay their is some help. :) 

I would say check into a good NPO hospital


----------



## Samiam03

Mine cost 7000...700 after insurance. It is ridiculous...I was only in l and d for an hour total and got an early hospital release but it was still so much!


----------



## Proserpina

Well, don't know if y'all noticed, but I got my BFP a few days ago! 

My doctor made me very happy today. Was talking to him on the phone about my :bfp: & he said, "I'm delivering this month and I just talked to a midwife, and you are going to have a doula & we are going to do this right!" It sounds like he's going to be supportive of me wanting a natural childbirth. I can't wait!


----------

