There are so many things women might not know about childbirth [1] 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 [2] in mind, The Economist took a look at the cost comparison between a royal birth in the UK and a birth in America [3], and the numbers are quite surprising.
The average fee for delivery and newborn care in America [4] 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 [5] and her other two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte [6].
If you have a C-section [8], 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 [9].