How Much Does It Cost to Have a Baby With and Without Health Insurance?
Childbirth costs an average of $15,712 if you pay the full price without insurance and deliver vaginally.
Find Cheap Health Insurance in Your Area
That goes up to $28,998, on average, if you have a caesarean section (C-section) without insurance.
Health insurance typically covers most of the costs related to pregnancy and childbirth. After insurance, you could pay an average of $2,563 for a vaginal delivery or $3,071 for a C-section.
How much does it cost to have a baby?
The average cost of a vaginal birth is $15,712, including all costs related to your pregnancy: check-ups, screenings, delivery and hospital care after the baby is born.
A C-section is much more expensive, at an average of $28,998.
Cost of childbirth without insurance
Procedure | Average cost |
|---|---|
| Vaginal delivery | $15,712 |
| C-section | $28,998 |
What are the typical costs during pregnancy and childbirth?
You can expect to pay for ultrasounds, prebirth care, delivery charges, postpartum care, newborn care and vaccine administration if you're pregnant and going to give birth.
The cost of the delivery of your child depends on where you live, the hospital you go to and the services you'll need. Some costs are unavoidable. For example, you'll always have to pay for the hospital stay and actual delivery.
Other services may differ depending on your health needs and personal preferences. Choosing not to have an epidural during childbirth can lower your final hospital bill.
Find Cheap Health Insurance in Your Area
Common pregnancy and childbirth service average costs
Services | Costs |
|---|---|
| Delivery charges | $6,794 |
| Prebirth care | $1,215 |
| Postpartum care | $500 |
| Newborn care | $256 |
| Ultrasound | $375 |
Based on national averages taken from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid lookup tool. Prices have been adjusted for the commercial market.
How to pay for pregnancy and delivery if you don't have insurance
- Ask your hospital if it has a financial assistance program. Many nonprofit hospitals offer free or reduced price services if you earn a low income.
- Negotiate a lower bill if you're paying in cash. Hospitals are often willing to lower prices if you're paying out of pocket.
- Request a payment plan. You may get a lower interest rate than you would with a credit card or personal loan.
Cost of having a baby with insurance
The average cost of having a baby after insurance is $2,563 for a vaginal delivery.
How much you pay depends on your plan, the hospital you go to and how you give birth.
- Your health insurance plan: The cost to have a baby will depend on your plan's benefits. It's a good idea to take a look at the costs you're responsible for paying with your health insurance plan, including your deductible , copay and coinsurance up to your plan's annual spending cap, called an out-of-pocket maximum. It's a good idea to expect to meet your plan's out-of-pocket maximum during the year you give birth.
- Your hospital and the medical care you need during birth:Average childbirth costs are for births with no complications. But even with a typical birth, costs depend on where you live, your insurance plan and the hospital where you give birth. Your cost also depends on the options you choose during your birth. For example, using anesthesia or hiring a doula to help with childbirth can raise your total bill.
- Which doctors you use: You'll also likely pay less if you choose a doctor in your insurance plan's network. Some health insurance plans don't cover out-of-network doctors or hospitals at all. With other plans, you might still have coverage, but you'll pay more than you would with an in-network doctor.
- Alternative options: The cost of childbirth also changes if you're considering alternative delivery methods. Some pregnant women opt to give birth outside of a hospital. You could use a midwife for maternity care, deliver at a birthing center or even have your baby at home. You'll typically pay less for an alternative birthing method, but you may have access to fewer or different services than you would get in a hospital. It's also important to note you may have to visit the hospital if something goes wrong during your home birth.
You may get charged extra if you need specialist care, such as an anesthesiologist or midwife. Baby monitoring just after birth and follow-up care for you and your child can also add to your total bill.
About 98% of births in the U.S. take place in hospitals, making childbirth one of the most common reasons for hospital stays. If you give birth in a hospital, your insurance will typically pay for at least one night there. If you’ve had a C-section, you should expect a longer stay of about two to four days.
Cost of childbirth by type of health insurance plan
The average cost of pregnancy care and childbirth with insurance ranges from $12,699 to $15,981, including your monthly insurance costs, prenatal care and delivery.
If you choose a plan tier with a higher monthly payment, you'll typically pay less when you get medical care. The opposite is also true. If you choose a plan with a cheaper rate, you'll typically pay far more when you go to the hospital.
For example, a 30-year old woman would pay an average of $512 per month for a Bronze plan compared to an average cost of $916 per month for a Platinum plan. However, she could pay an estimated $11,403 for her total pregnancy and delivery related hospital bill with a Bronze plan. With a Platinum plan, that figure falls to just $1,708.
That means you likely could come out ahead financially by choosing a more expensive Platinum plan rather than a cheaper Bronze plan.
Total costs for a healthy pregnancy, delivery and insurance
Insurance plan tier | Total cost |
|---|---|
| Bronze | $15,981 |
| Silver | $16,244 |
| Gold | $12,873 |
| Platinum | $12,699 |
The total cost includes the monthly cost of an insurance plan for a 30-year old woman, a healthy pregnancy and a standard vaginal delivery.
How much you pay to have a baby will depend on the details of your health insurance plan. You'll typically meet your deductible no matter your plan tier, after which you'll pay a percentage of your medical bill, called coinsurance. Your plan tier determines your portion of the hospital bill, with higher plan tiers typically having lower coinsurance rates.
If you choose a Silver, Gold or Platinum plan, you often won't hit your plan's annual spending cap, called an out-of-pocket maximum, because of your lower coinsurance rate. Bronze plans tend to have high coinsurance rates, which means you can expect to get to your plan's out-of-pocket maximum even if you have a healthy pregnancy and delivery.
That's why Platinum plans are the cheapest option for pregnant women, on average. The lower costs you pay at the hospital more than offset the plan's expensive monthly rate.
Total costs by plan tier for births with medical issues
Insurance plan tier | Total cost |
|---|---|
| Bronze | $15,981 |
| Silver | $17,221 |
| Gold | $16,529 |
| Platinum | $14,819 |
Total cost includes the insurance plan and medical costs up to each plan's average out-of-pocket maximum.
If your pregnancy and delivery are spread across two calendar years, you may have to pay your deductible twice. That's because the costs you're responsible for paying when you go to the hospital reset at the end of each year.
Questions to ask your health insurance company about your delivery
Because health insurance benefits differ by plan, you may want to call your insurance company and ask these questions before giving birth to avoid surprise charges.
-
Question: Are the costs for pregnancy and childbirth capped for each person, or is there a total family
deductible
and
out-of-pocket maximum
?
In most cases, family insurance plans will have separate spending caps for each person in the plan. That means you could pay two deductibles in a single year for both you and your child.
Family health plans have much higher caps on how much you'll pay in a single year for medical care compared to individual coverage. Keep in mind, your pregnancy costs will be capped at the lower individual coverage limit, and it's unlikely that you'll meet the much higher family plan limit, unless your baby has a lot of medical problems in their first year of life or something happens to another family member.Understanding how your insurance plan's individual and family benefits work can help you to better prepare for medical bills. Even if you have reached your individual spending cap, your family and newborn could still have additional medical bills.
-
Question: Once I add my new baby to my plan, when will their medical bills start to count toward their own insurance limits?
Some plans cover the newborn’s hospital care under the mother’s plan until both are released from the hospital. Others consider the baby a new individual family member from the date of their birth, which means that their bills start to count toward their own insurance limit. That means you may have to pay toward your baby's deductible even if you've already met your own. These costs might include their hospital stay, doctor visits and lab tests.
Also, note that if you don’t already have a family plan, having a baby can push you into one. Expect your health insurance costs to increase after the birth of your child.
How your health insurance company handles these issues can make a difference of thousands of dollars to your family budget.
How health insurance covers childbirth
Most health insurance plans have to cover maternity care and childbirth.
This is one of the 10 essential health benefits required by the Affordable Care Act.
Health insurance plans can require pregnant women to pay for a portion of their costs for labor and delivery, and most plans do. You also might have to start paying separate medical bills for your child, with a new deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, from the moment they are born.
Insurance plans for families have a single annual limit, called an out-of-pocket maximum. That means each of your family member's separate bills will count toward this spending cap. Once you reach it, you won't have to pay anything more until your plan resets next year.
Does insurance cover home birth?
Home births are often not fully covered by insurance companies.
Your insurance company might pay for some of the cost or decline your coverage entirely. Having a home birth can be cheaper, but you may end up paying more yourself than you would with a hospital birth since your insurance might not cover it.
The average cost of a home birth in the United States is $4,650. Keep in mind, this is the average, and the amount you pay depends on factors such as where you live, whether you choose to use a doula and the level of care you need during delivery.
Because insurance plans differ widely in how they cover midwives and birthing centers, it's a good idea to talk to your insurance company before you make any decisions.
How to get insurance to cover having a baby
If you don’t have health insurance, you’ll be responsible for all the costs for prenatal care and the birth of your child.
If you don't have insurance, you may be able to negotiate prices with the doctor and hospital. However, be aware that without insurance, you may have to pay tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars if you have complications during pregnancy or a sick baby.
Medicaid: Free health insurance for pregnant women who earn a low income
Roughly half of all births in the U.S. are paid for by Medicaid.
If you earn a low income, you may be eligible for free government health insurance, called Medicaid. Most people need to earn about $22,000 per year (roughly $44,000 per year for a family of four) to get Medicaid.
Keep in mind, you can typically get Medicaid with a higher income if you're pregnant. For example, a pregnant woman in California is eligible for Medicaid if she earns roughly $50,000 per year or less.
With Medicaid, you'll pay little or nothing for your pregnancy and childbirth. That makes Medicaid the best coverage for childbirth if you don't have private health insurance.
Use marketplace coverage to pay for childbirth
Marketplace health insurance is usually the best option for pregnant women who can't get coverage through Medicaid or a job.You can buy a marketplace plan, sometimes called Obamacare or Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage, through HealthCare.gov or your state's health insurance marketplace. A marketplace plan is often the cheapest option available because there are discounts available if you earn less than about $63,000 per year (roughly $129,000 per year for a family of four).
But, you can only get these plans during open enrollment (Nov. 1 to Dec. 15) unless you're eligible for what's called a "special enrollment period" because of a major life event, such as a move, marriage or a new job.
Pregnancy won't qualify you for a special enrollment period, but the birth of your child will. If you use the special enrollment period after childbirth, your new plan won't cover the costs of delivering the baby.
Other types of insurance to help pay for childbirth
If you need coverage outside open enrollment, you can also get health insurance for your pregnancy from an insurance company rather than through the marketplace.
These insurance plans often cost more each month than marketplace plans with discounts. But they won't be as high as paying full price to deliver the baby. Make sure the policy doesn't exclude pregnancy, though. Some plans, like short-term health insurance plans, usually don't cover it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to give birth?
A vaginal delivery costs $15,712 and a C-section costs $28,998, on average, before insurance. If you have health insurance, you can expect to pay an average cost of $2,563 for a vaginal delivery or $3,071 for a C-section.
How much does a midwife cost?
Home births with a midwife cost $4,650, on average. Keep in mind, the average cost for a midwife depends on where you live. Midwife services are most expensive in the Northeast and Southeast.
How much of having a baby is covered by insurance?
On average, roughly 87% of the cost of having a baby is covered by insurance. You can expect to pay up to your health insurance plan's deductible after which you'll be responsible for a percentage of most of your medical costs, called coinsurance, until you hit your plan's annual spending cap, called an out-of-pocket maximum. Keep in mind, given the high cost of pregnancy, it's common to hit your out-of-pocket maximum during the year you give birth.
Methodology
The average cost of childbirth without insurance came from the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
The average cost of childbirth with health insurance is from HealthCare.gov. The cost of individual procedures came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Prices were adjusted to reflect the average costs paid by those with commercial health insurance.
The average cost of a home birth is from "The Cost of Home Birth in the United States," a study that analyzed the cost of home births in all 50 states. Other sources include HealthCare.gov and Covered California.
Senior Writer
Talon Abernathy is a ValuePenguin Senior Writer who specializes in health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid. He's also contributed to other insurance verticals including home, renters, auto, motorcycle and flood insurance.
Talon came to ValuePenguin in 2023. Since his arrival, he's helped to expand the site's health insurance-related content offerings. He enjoys helping readers understand the ins and outs of America's all too complicated health insurance landscape.
Before coming to ValuePenguin, Talon worked as a freelance writer. His prior work has touched on a broad range of personal finance-related topics including credit-building strategies, small business incorporation tactics and creative ways to save for retirement.
Insurance tip
In many parts of the country, you can qualify for a free Silver health insurance plan if you meet certain income requirements. Government subsidies in the form of premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions may mean you'll pay nothing for coverage.
Expertise
- Health insurance
- Medicare and Medicaid
- Flood insurance
- Homeowners insurance
- Renters insurance
- Auto and motorcycle insurance
Referenced by
- The Miami Herald
- Money.com
- MSN
- Nasdaq
- The Sacramento Bee
- Yahoo! Finance
Education
- BA, University of Washington
- Certificate in Copyediting, UC San Diego
Credentials
- Licensed Life & Disability Insurance Agent
- Licensed Property & Casualty Insurance Agent
Editorial note: The content of this article is based on the author's opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
