American Mom Breaks Down What It Cost Her To Give Birth And People Are Shocked

Giving birth can be exciting, scary, magical, painful, and many more things all at once. But what it can also be is expensive, especially for people in the US.

A California-based content creator Sarai Jones turned to TikTok to share how much childbirth cost for her. In a video that racked up close to 40 million views, she broke down the price, revealing how much she was expected to pay and how much of it was covered by insurance, all of which many netizens found mind-boggling, to say the least. Scroll down to find the video and their reactions below.

Becoming a parent can be one heck of a roller coaster. From trying to get pregnant, to finally receiving the good news, from dealing with swollen ankles and morning sickness, to experiencing the pregnancy glow and the little one kicking for the first time; there are plenty of ups and downs before the parents-to-be even get near the finish line and arrive at the delivery room. And finally, after the delivery—more complicated for some than for others—they are left with this precious bundle of joy, as well as a hefty bill, on their arms.

Some people might be shocked to learn that new parents often have to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the birth of their little one. But in the US, it’s not unheard of for moms and dads to be thousands of dollars in debt, even if insurance covers most of the hospital bills.

According to Forbes, the costs of childbirth in the US vary quite significantly from state to state, with the expenses being the highest in Nebraska and lowest in Michigan. But the average cost of giving birth in the US stands at $18,865, which includes pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care. For members of a health insurance plan, the out-of-pocket price might shrink to just shy of $3,000 dollars.

While it’s true that childbirth costs tend to differ from state to state, studies found that they can even vary within the same hospital. A comparison of hospital online price and telephone price for shoppable services revealed that the price for vaginal childbirth, for instance, that people received over the phone often differed by as much as 50% or more. There were reportedly five hospitals with prices online set at $20,000 or more, when the price they provided over the phone was less than $10,000.

Knowing the price one might be expected to pay is important for everyone, but it is arguably crucial for those who don’t have an insurance plan in place. Though statistics show that only a small share of mothers cover the expenses of childbirth fully themselves. Data from 2021 found that more than half (51.7%) of mothers in the US giving birth that year were covered by private insurance as their source of payment for the delivery, roughly two-in-five used Medicaid, and only 3.4% used other types of coverage, while 3.9% of mothers self-paid for the delivery.

In her TikTok video, Sarai shared that the larger share of her childbirth bills was covered by insurance. But for some of her followers, even the roughly $2,200 she was left to pay was too large of a sum for childbirth, as many shared that they only had to pay for parking on the day they gave birth themselves.