How Much Does Childbirth Cost in America vs. UK?
The Royal Baby's Birth Likely Cost Less Than the Average Birth in the US (Yes, Really)
There are so many things women might not know about childbirth until they go through it personally (the placenta what?), but likely at the top of the list is the cost of the act itself. Let's cut to the chase — it costs thousands of dollars to give birth at a hospital (vaginally or by C-section) and to receive the subsequent newborn care, and the price is particularly high in the US compared to other countries. With the exciting news of the third royal baby in mind, The Economist took a look at the cost comparison between a royal birth in the UK and a birth in America, and the numbers are quite surprising.
The average fee for delivery and newborn care in America is $32,000, according to 2013 data reported by The Guardian. The delivery itself racks up about $10,000, and it's the pre- and postpregnancy care that increase the cost to around the $30,000 mark. Comparatively, in 2015 it cost $8,900 for a deluxe room and a non-Caesarean delivery at the Lindo Wing, the private maternity area at St. Mary's Hospital in London, where Kate Middleton delivered Prince Louis and her other two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
If you have a C-section, though, the average US cost skyrockets to $50,000. "Insurers cover most of the cost, but parents are still left with an average bill of about $3,000," The Economist suggests, so final costs will of course vary by state and insurance coverage. And this is all before the child-rearing costs start rolling in! Consider this yet another thing we "regular" Americans don't have in common with the British royal family.
