Want to Have a Baby in the US? Get Ready to Pay a Big Bill
Average cost of child birth in US is $18,865, study finds, with about $2,850 not covered by insurance
The average cost of child birth in the US is $18,865.
Source: Kwangmoozaa/Getty ImagesHaving a baby is expensive in the US, and not even a good insurance plan will pick up the full tab.
A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average cost of childbirth in the US is $18,865 under large insurance plans. Though most of that is often picked up by insurance, out-of-pocket payments clock in at an average of $2,854. That includes money spent during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum-care periods over the course of about three years. Those costs also do not include the amount spent on heath-insurance premiums themselves, or extra bills incurred from out-of-network providers or non-medical procedures and services.
The average cost for pre-and postnatal care, as well as the cost of delivery for someone covered by Medicare was $12,770 in 2010, according to the Guttmacher Institute.