By now you have probably heard that the pride and joy of the UK are expecting their own first pride and joy.  The royal couple Prince William and his beautiful bride Kate Middleton announced recently they are about to experience one of life’s greatest pleasures in becoming parents.  As a fairly new parent myself, I am still recent enough to recall not only the joys of bringing a little one into the world, but also the shock of realizing the bill is a big one to boot.

My son just turned a year old last month and I was looking through the folder I keep all of his special documents in.  Of course there is his birth certificate, the baby card showing his birth time/height/weight, our hospital wristbands, his footprints, and pictures from his childbirth that I will one day use as embarrassing blackmail to get him to keep his grades up.  Then as I thumbed through some hospital paperwork, I came across the hospital bill and insurance coverage.  Even though the entire bill does not come out of my pocket, I am always curious to see what the cost of healthcare is, and childbirth is something that took my breath away.  Bringing my son into this world cost a whopping $31,000!  It was about

The Cost of a childbirth in the United States

$14,000 for mom, and $17,000 for baby.  Now, our situation included a c-section and an overnight stay in the NICU for my son, but nothing too out of the ordinary.  But according to a recent study by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the average cost of a normal childbirth in the US is over $10,000, and over $17,000 for a Cesarian childbirth  in the US is (www.childbirthconnection.com).  We had a 5-day stay in the hospital plus the NICU costs, plus all the medications for mom and baby.

U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HCUPnet, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Rockville, MD: AHRQ. Available at: http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/

As any new parent will tell you, having a healthy baby is worth every penny.  You can bet that the royal family will spare no expense to make sure both mommy and baby have a safe, comfortable, and likely luxurious delivery.  Being the fashionista that she is, maternity clothes alone are probably going to amount to thousands of dollars for Kate Middleton.  I can’t help but wonder what the royal childbirth of a possible future heir to the thrown would cost these days.

It’s crazy to think that with all of today’s discussion around healthcare reform in our country, it is still going to cost the average American family tens of thousands of dollars just to have a child.  The new year is typically the time a family reviews its health insurance coverage during open enrollment at work.  Be sure to see if you have maternity coverage available, and when it is effective.  Some plans require you to be insured with them for 12 months before they will cover maternity costs.  Kate Middleton may not have to worry about the costs associated with a royal pregnancy.  But for most of us, a $30,000 health bill without insurance can leave us with a royal pain.

Written by:

Chris Sands

Vice President and Private CFO™, oXYGen Financial, Inc.

Co-CEO and Founder of oXYGen Financial, Inc - The Leaders in Gen X & Y Financial Advice and Services

Ted Jenkin  is one of the foremost knowledgeable professionals in giving financial advice to the X and Y Generation.

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