If you give birth in a Maryland hospital, your hospital will charge about $5500 if you have an uncomplicated vaginal birth and about $6800 if you have an uncomplicated cesarean section.
Move just up the coast to New Jersey and triple or even quadruple those numbers. The hospital now charges more than $18,000 for the same vaginal birth and a whopping $26,000 for the same cesarean.
Move to a state with a birth center, like California or Washington, and the facility charge drops to as low as $2000 for an uncomplicated vaginal birth.
How does your state measure up? Childbirth Connection has just posted Average Facility Labor and Birth Charges by Site and Method of Birth for the 35 states for which data are available. Our continually updated national charges chart is one of our most widely used resources. We’re glad to now provide new state charts and a companion Quick Facts sheet to advocates, payers, and policy makers to address maternity care value at the state level.
