ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The cost of living has taken on a whole new meaning. New research reveals the price of having a baby from the first prenatal exam to delivery, and everything in between, averages about $7,600 for an uncomplicated birth.

The total includes charges for hospital delivery, prenatal office visits, prescription medicines and other services associated with pregnancy. Data was collected over a four-year period to compile the final average. “This is based on a survey, called the medical expenditure panel survey, so we use the data from that survey in a way to produce these estimates,” Stephen Machlin, statistician at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, told Ivanhoe.

The grand total is a combination of expenses, some of which is paid by insurance. “In our survey, cost means how much is paid for care from any source. For most people who are insured during their pregnancy, some of the costs are covered by your insurance source and some are out of pocket. When we talk about expenditures, we’re talking about the sum of that,” Machlin said.
 

Expenses differ for women who are insured by private agencies from women who are insured by Medicaid. “What women pay out of pocket is about eight percent for privately insured, for Medicaid it’s a lot less,” Machlin said. Prenatal care is about the same from privately insured women versus women on Medicaid. However, average expenses for hospital delivery were about $2,000 more for privately insured women. Hospital delivery accounts for about three-quarters of the total expense of pregnancy.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Stephen Machlin; Health Care Expenses for Uncomplicated Pregnancies, 2007