Talk about labor pains.
The cost of giving birth in the US is rising, and New York and New Jersey are among the most expensive in the country, according to data from the nonprofit FAIR Health.
In NJ and NY, the median cost for an in-network vaginal delivery is $23,000. It’s $27,000 for a C-section, according to a new report.
California hospitals bill moms’ insurance $21,000, median, for vaginal birth and $25,000 for a cesarean.
The costliest state overall was Alaska, with $31,000 for vaginal birth and $42,000 for a C-section.
That compares to a national average of $15,700 for vaginal delivery and around $20,000 for C-section, according to FAIR Health.
Costs nationwide were up about 3.6% from last year — though they have skyrocketed 21% for vaginal birth and 28% for C-section since 2022, FAIR found.
Those figures include consultations, anesthesia, labs, ultrasounds, and other facility and professional costs.
They are essentially the sticker prices providers bill, rather than what insured families typically pay out of pocket.
Out-of-network deliveries are far more expensive — with a median of $43,000 nationally for a C-section. In Nevada, the cost was $79,000.
As for what moms actually pay: The average out-of-pocket costs for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care for women with employer insurance plans comes to around $2,700, according to health research organization KFF.
If you want to have babies more economically, the South and Midwest are great places to be.
The Dakotas have the lowest out-of-network costs at just under $21,000 each for vaginal births, and Alabama and Mississippi have the lowest in-network costs at just over $10,000.
The news comes as birth rates are dropping in the US and fertility rates are already below replacement levels.
