The High Cost of Childbirth…Only in America

In most developed countries, having a baby costs a parent(s) nothing, or is relatively cheap. That is not the case in the United States.

Americans are confronted with hospital costs for delivering a child that can range from $30,000 to $50,000, according to a new report commissioned by three health care groups.

In European countries, like France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the cost tops out at $4,000 (assuming the mother does not require a Cesarean section). In others, like Ireland, there is no cost at public hospitals.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the annual cumulative cost of about four million births is a whopping $50 billion.

No other country comes close to spending so much on its next generation of citizens. And those in other nations are not getting shortchanged in terms of maternity services.

http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/the-high-cost-of-childbirthonly-in-america-130706?news=850490