A New Mom Was Charged $39.35 To Hold Her Baby And US Healthcare Has No Chill
The joy babies bring new parents is priceless, but the little bundles of joy ain't cheap.
A hospital recently charged a new mom $39.35 to hold her own baby after she gave birth.
Yes, you read that correctly. She literally had to pay to touch the new life she brought into the world.
What a country we live in!
The woman's husband posted the hospital bill to Reddit.
If you take a look at the bill, it shows a $39.95 charge for "SKIN TO SKIN AFTER C-SEC.”
The husband elaborated on what this meant on Reddit,
During the C-section the nurse asked my wife if she would like to do skin to skin after the baby was born. Which of course anyone would say yes too. We just noticed it in the bill today. The nurse let me hold the baby on my wife's neck/chest. Even borrowed my camera to take a few pictures for us. Everyone involved in the process was great, and we had a positive experience. We just got a chuckle out of seeing that on the bill.
Most people probably wouldn't assume they'd be charged to hold their own child. It's the most natural thing to do once the baby is born.
But it's apparently not free.
In the comments for the dad's post on Reddit, a labor and delivery nurse expanded on why these parents were likely charged for holding their own newborn,
As a labor and delivery nurse, I can kind of explain this. I didn't know that hospitals charged for it, but doing 'skin to skin' in the operating room requires an additional staff member to be present just to watch the baby. We used to take all babies to the nursery once the NICU team made sure everything was okay. 'Skin to skin' in the OR is a relatively new thing and requires a second Labor and Delivery RN to come in to the OR and make sure the baby is safe.
While these parents seem to have a pretty good attitude about this, it's emblematic of how expensive healthcare in the US can be. This is especially true when it comes to childbirth.
The cost of childbirth differs greatly from city to city in the US.
But the average national cost of a routine vaginal delivery is $8,875, while the average national cost for c-sections is $11,525, according to data from Castlight Health.
Long story short, bringing a little human to life is amazing, but it costs a lot of money.
Citations: A woman had a baby. Then her hospital charged her $39.35 to hold it. (VOX)
