Birth...how much does it cost? Here's one answer!

I just went through all the birth bills today and have the final number/breakdown. It was really hard to find this info when I was pregnant and the actual numbers are interesting, so I thought I'd share.

For background, I belong to a corporate PPO plan with a $300 individual deductible/$600 family deductible. Keep in mind the numbers below don't include my monthly premiums and my pregnancy did not span multiple years, so I only had to pay the deductibles once. My copay is 10% for hospital stays.

I saw a hospital based CNM and had an uncomplicated (except for meconium) vaginal delivery at a local hospital. I did have an epidural. We also left one day early, but I don't think it made too much of a difference in the final numbers. Also, I didn't include any of the baby's care after the newborn exams in the hospital.

Also:

Billed=the base amount billed by the provider. I assume this is what anyone "off the street' (without insurance) would be charged, though I've heard you can negotiate this quite a bit.

Negotiated=The amount the insurance company actually has to pay due to the rates they have negotiated with the provider.

My portion= The amount I was actually responsible for paying

	Billed	Negotiated	My Portion
Prenatal Care/Midwife Fee	$3,900.00	$2,302.16	$230.21
Early visit to hospital (not dilated enough)	$473.47	$317.22	$63.44
Delivery/Hospital Stay including Epi supplies (Mom)	$7,081.55	$1,948.92	$389.73
Epidural--Anesthesiologist Fee	$1,978.20	$1,114.70	$111.47
Delivery/Hospital Stay (Baby)	$1,452.26	$507.00	$41.40
Newborn Exam (Possibly for Meconium--unsure)	$326.00	$325.39	$32.53
Newborn Exam	$400.00	$89.66	$8.96
Baby Labs/Bloodwork	$39.78	$29.00	$2.90
Mom Deductible			$300.00
Baby Deductible			$300.00
Total	$15,651.26	$6,634.05	$1,480.64

That epidural worked out to something like $95/min because I waited until 9cm and turned it off after 45 minutes to push. Granted, I didn't pay that much, but isn't that amazing!? If someone had told me the base cost without telling me an out-of-pocket estimate (I didn't know either), you can bet I would have found a way to push through that pain!