How Much Does It Cost to Have a Baby in America?

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Having a baby in the United States costs an average of $20,416 for pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care combined, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. That figure is a total of all medical spending for those three phases. It is not what most families pay themselves. Your own bill depends mainly on three things: the type of delivery (vaginal or C-section), where you give birth (hospital, birth center or home), and whether you have health insurance or public coverage. The U.S. is one of the most expensive countries in the world in which to give birth, and the gap between the insured, the uninsured and those on Medicaid is measured in thousands of dollars.

What the Average Birth Cost Includes

The $20,416 figure bundles care that is billed across many months and providers. Prenatal care covers checkups, screenings, ultrasounds and lab work. The delivery itself is by far the largest single expense. Postpartum care follows the birth. A delivery bill typically breaks into separate charges such as:

• Labor and delivery services
• The delivery room
• Medical and surgical supplies
• The maternity ward room
• Tests, including fetal nonstress tests, ultrasounds and bloodwork
• Breast pumps

Because these charges come from different places (the hospital, the obstetrician, the anesthesiologist, the lab and the pediatrician who examines the newborn), you may receive several bills rather than one. The baby’s own care after birth can be billed under the baby’s name as a separate patient.

The figures above cover the medical cost of giving birth only. Raising a child (diapers, childcare, housing and later education) is a separate and much larger expense that runs for years after the hospital bill is settled.

Cost by Type of Delivery

The delivery method is the biggest single driver of the bill, and it isn’t always something you can choose in advance.

Vaginal Birth

Peterson-KFF, using data from 2021 to 2023, puts the average cost of a vaginal delivery at $15,712. A separate dataset from FAIR Health, based on 2024 data, puts the median cost of a vaginal birth at $31,117.28. The median is the midpoint of all the vaginal birth costs collected nationwide: half fall above it and half below.

These two numbers come from different sources, years and methods. Neither is “the real price.” The gap shows how much a stated birth cost depends on what is being measured.

FAIR Health’s state-level data show wide geographic spread for vaginal births:

The highest median (Nevada) is roughly two and a half times the lowest (North Dakota), so where you live can shift your exposure as much as the type of birth does. That matters if you’re uninsured or on a plan with coinsurance, since your share is a percentage of a larger base.

C-Section

A Cesarean section costs more because it is abdominal surgery involving the uterus. It requires more staff and anesthesia, a longer hospital stay and a longer recovery. Complications add further cost. Peterson-KFF puts the average C-section at $28,998, and FAIR Health reports a median of $44,432.14.

By state, FAIR Health lists the highest C-section medians in Nevada ($72,603.85), California ($66,661.70) and Florida ($57,071.98). The lowest are in Maryland ($23,309.16) and Oklahoma ($29,496.92).

A C-section can be planned or can become necessary during labor. If you’re budgeting for a vaginal birth, it is worth knowing what your plan would charge if the delivery turns surgical. The difference in total cost between the two averages is about $13,000.

Cost by Birth Setting

Almost all U.S. births (98.4%) take place in a hospital. The rest happen at home or in a freestanding birth center. The setting changes both what you pay for and what happens if something goes wrong.

Hospital Birth

A hospital charges for the delivery room, the inpatient stay, nursing care, supplies and any interventions, on top of the physicians’ fees. It is the most expensive setting. It is also the only one equipped for surgery, epidurals administered by an anesthesiologist, and immediate neonatal intensive care.

Home Birth

A home birth avoids hospital room and delivery room fees and involves no immediate medical intervention. The main expense is a midwife, who may charge a flat fee somewhere between $3,000 and $9,000. That fee often bundles in prenatal and postpartum visits, though what a fee includes varies by midwife. Estimates are hard to pin down, but one published average for a home birth is about $4,650.

Birth Center

A birth center is a facility not attached to or affiliated with a hospital. It is designed for low-risk births and staffed by midwives and other maternity personnel. It costs more than a home birth and less than a hospital. One source cites an average of $8,000 to $10,000, with the total depending on the type of facility and its location.

The Transfer Risk

The lower prices for home and birth center deliveries assume the birth goes as planned. If complications arise, you may need to be transferred to a hospital. You would then pay for the hospital care on top of what you’ve already paid the midwife or center. Also check whether your insurer covers home births or a particular birth center. Coverage for these settings is less uniform than for hospital deliveries.

With Insurance vs. Without

Health insurance changes the question from “what does a birth cost” to “what is my share.” Most plans cover routine prenatal care (checkups, screenings and tests), the delivery and postpartum care. Under the Affordable Care Act, maternity and newborn care is one of the essential health benefits that individual and small-group plans must include. Peterson-KFF found that people in large group health plans paid an average of $2,743 out of pocket for pregnancy, birth and postpartum care.

How Your Share Is Calculated

Your out-of-pocket cost is set by your plan’s cost-sharing terms:

• Deductible: what you pay before the plan starts sharing costs.
• Coinsurance or copays: your percentage or flat amount after the deductible.
• Out-of-pocket maximum: the annual cap on what you pay for covered, in-network care.

Hypothetical example (not any insurer’s terms): Assume a plan with a $3,000 deductible, 20% coinsurance and a $6,000 out-of-pocket maximum, and an in-network allowed amount of $15,000 for the birth. You pay the $3,000 deductible, then 20% of the remaining $12,000 ($2,400), for a total of $5,400. That is below the $6,000 cap. If complications pushed the allowed amount to $40,000, your share would stop at $6,000. The example assumes everything falls in one plan year and all providers are in network. A pregnancy that spans two plan years can trigger two deductibles, and the newborn’s care may count toward a separate deductible depending on the plan.

Without Insurance

If you’re uninsured, you are responsible for the entire bill. That can mean five-figure debt arriving just as a new child arrives. There are several routes to coverage:

• The Health Insurance Marketplace is an option if your employer doesn’t offer coverage or you’re self-employed. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to enroll during open enrollment or through a special enrollment period.
• A parent’s plan can cover you if you’re under 26. Confirm what it covers, because plans aren’t required to treat a dependent’s labor and delivery the same way as the policyholder’s.
• Medicaid, if your income qualifies (see below).

If you pay out of pocket, federal law under the No Surprises Act entitles uninsured and self-pay patients to a good faith estimate of expected charges before scheduled care. The same law also limits surprise bills from out-of-network providers in emergencies and at in-network facilities.

Adding Your Baby to Coverage

The birth of a child is a qualifying life event. If you have Marketplace coverage, you can add your baby within 60 days of the birth. For employer or other private coverage, ask your insurer or HR department what deadline applies, since it may be shorter. Missing the window can leave the newborn’s own bills uncovered.

Financial Assistance Programs

Public programs can cut the cost of having a baby to little or nothing. Most are income-based, so eligibility is the first thing to check.

• Medicaid is funded jointly by the federal government and the states and run by each state. It provides coverage to low-income individuals and families. It covers pregnancy-related expenses with no out-of-pocket costs for the pregnant patient. Income limits for pregnant applicants are set by each state.
• The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) covers children under 18 whose families earn too much for Medicaid but can’t afford private insurance. Out-of-pocket costs are generally low or zero. Some states extend CHIP coverage to pregnant individuals, including Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia.

Free or low-cost prenatal and postpartum care is also available at federally qualified health centers and community health centers, which you can locate through the federal government’s online database. Planned Parenthood centers offer no-cost and low-cost pregnancy services to people who qualify.

Ways to Lower Your Bill

Beyond choosing coverage, a few practical steps reduce what you end up owing:

1. Stay in network. Confirm that your obstetrician, the hospital and, where possible, the anesthesiology group are in your plan’s network.
2. Get estimates early. Ask your insurer and the hospital for an estimate of your share for both a vaginal birth and a C-section.
3. Time your plan year. If your due date falls near January, estimate whether you’ll face one deductible or two.
4. Use tax-advantaged accounts. Health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) can pay for qualified prenatal, delivery and postpartum expenses with pre-tax money.
5. Request an itemized bill. Compare each line with your insurer’s explanation of benefits and dispute duplicate or unfamiliar charges.
6. Ask about payment plans or financial assistance. Nonprofit hospitals are required to have financial assistance policies, and many hospitals offer interest-free payment plans.
7. Enroll the baby on time. Add the newborn to your plan within your insurer’s deadline.

For broader budgeting as your household changes, see our personal finance guides.

The Bottom Line

Expecting parents should plan around their own share of the bill, which depends on coverage, delivery type, setting and state. Insured families can estimate costs from their deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum, while uninsured families should look into Marketplace plans, a parent's plan or Medicaid before the birth. Staying in network, requesting estimates for both delivery types and enrolling the baby on time all help keep the total down.