Seeing What A C-Section Actually Costs Will Make Your Head Explode

Redditor shares an itemized chart of a c-section hospital bill, and it’s insane

Bringing a baby into the world is a very beautiful, but very costly thing for most families in the U.S. Among the endless stressors that come into play the very second you deliver a baby: how to pay for delivering said baby. The hospital bill — while certainly acknowledged — is probably not always at the forefront of most new parents’ minds throughout pregnancy and delivery.

But the sticker shock of what it actually costs for a C-section delivery in the United States isn’t something one can easily ignore. Just check out this chart a Redditor put together to show what the bill really looks like.

Reddit user TheOnlyToast broke down the expenditures of his wife’s c-section to show exactly what his insurance company was billed for — section by section. And hoo boy, was that bill big. Tens of thousands of dollars big. While the original poster says he’s only responsible for a few thousand dollars of the total cost, it’s still worth noting two things: one, not everyone gets that option because not everyone is insured similarly or at all; and two, that’s still a fuck-ton of money owed no matter who’s paying it.

Of course, it can come as no surprise that a serious surgery is astronomically expensive. But considering this particular surgery is a very common one that goes hand-in-hand with populating the world (no biggie), it’s crazy that many women and their families see hospital bills just like this one. This is some Beyonce-level, all-inclusive, five-star birthing suite kind of stuff. Are the scalpels made of 14-karat gold? Does the “recovery room” include a day spa?

Plenty of other Redditors shared similar experiences.

“We now own our daughter outright.” LOL. Yes, we all just lease them from the hospital until they’re paid in full.

“Come and take him back then.” Dying.

BRB, moving to Norway to conceive and deliver my next child.

OK, I am intimately familiar with that numbing spray (aren’t we all) and while it certainly provided a nice, cool, temporary relief — there’s no way in HELL that’s worth more than a couple of bucks at the local drugstore.

It really is incredibly disheartening that so many individuals and families find themselves having to navigate bills and coverage and out-of-pocket costs during the most vulnerable and inconvenient times.

AMEN. ^What that person said.

When it comes to competing with other developed countries, the U.S. falls flat. According to The New York Times, the United States is the only country that bills pregnancy and delivery item by item — exactly like this chart. Charges that used to be lumped together in one sum are now broken out over and over again, increasing bills and inflating costs. One study shows the prices insurers pay for c-sections rose 41 percent from 2004-2010, and out-of-pocket costs increased four times over.

Basically, if you’ve looked at your post-delivery hospital bill and your jaw hit the floor at the enormous total cost and general unfairness of it all — you’re not alone.