Children, I’ve been told, are expensive.
This is an observation from a childless woman.
There is the constant need for diapers and wipes and creams on one end and the other end requires food. Like, every day, many times every day.
Sometimes the food (formula) requires bottles and nipples. As well as the cost of the formula and the water to mix it with and the sterilization of the bottles so that the infant doesn’t get sick. Sometimes (always) the food (breast milk) requires that the woman supplying the breast milk be fed as well. I am unsure how to write you have to feed the cow in a non-judgmental gentle way. Perhaps a better way of putting it is that you can’t get milk from a stone.
There is always going to be an opportunity cost. (I learned that one from Economics class).
Another thing that feeding a baby, no matter how (breast or bottle), requires is time.
Time to sterilize the bottles.
Time to feed at the breast.
Time.
Then you have to clothe the baby. It is high summer right now here in North Carolina and I know that baby would be most comfortable in just a diaper. In the shade. But it is not always high summer. This means that there are costs for clothes for the baby.
You know what else happens? Babies grow because you’ve been feeding them. That is their job after all, to grow and learn and explore.
Humans are astonishingly unable to care for themselves after they are born. A foal stands minutes after birth, even kittens’ learning period is vastly truncated from the years it takes a human to be self sufficient. Someone needs to mind the baby. But most Americans’ work so that they can afford a roof over baby’s head or food for baby or clothes for baby. Since we know that baby’s self sufficiency is non-existent, someone has to mind the baby and often mothers and fathers pay for someone else to mind the baby when they are at work to earn the money to house, feed, and clothe the baby. This means childcare, which is extremely expensive.
Babies are expensive.
But this entire post is about the initial cost of a baby.
According to Fair Health, a healthcare data company, the costs can vary widely across the U.S.
I am going to write about North Carolina and South Carolina, since they are the closest geographically.
These costs are inclusive of pharmacy costs, nursery while in the hospital costs, the labor and delivery room cost, the medical supplies, the room and board for mother. Also included in the cost estimate is anesthesia costs for delivery, feral non-stress tests in the weeks before delivery, ultrasounds, and the laboratory tests that may be needed.
And a breast pump.
You know, to feed baby.
I think that is a pretty inclusive list for delivery. But what do I know? I’m just a childless woman.
I am going to break it down by the two types of delivery- vaginal and cesarean section.
For vaginal births, NC is near the bottom of the middle of the pack. According to their numbers it costs $14,250 to delivery vaginally. Reminder this includes the costs that are listed above. The South Carolina cost of a vaginal delivery is $13,865.
For section births, NC is again near the bottom of the middle of the pack at $18,490. It surprised me when South Carolina was at $19,654.
Again these are the costs inclusive of the above list.
But, Kate, where did you get this list?
From Becker’s Hospital Review. This is a clearinghouse newsletter of new and notable data and information in the healthcare realm.
Oh, and the data? From 2024. When I googled the cost of a vaginal birth in North Carolina, Fair Health was the second result.
The most expensive state to have either a vaginal birth or a section birth is Alaska ($29,152/$39,532). This makes sense as everything has to be shipped state side and hospitals are in the bigger cities, which costs travel. The least expensive in both kinds of delivery is Mississippi ($9,847/$11,110). According the KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) the maternal mortality rate for Mississippi is 39 per 100,000 live births. The maternal mortality rate for Alaska has been suppressed due to reliability and confidentiality restrictions.
But my take away is that babies are expensive straight out of the gate. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)
This is not something to be taken lightly and should absolutely factor into a woman’s desire to have children.
I can hear it now “But, Kate, what do you know about it?” Well, nothing but I have friends and family who have recently given birth. That also doesn’t mean that I can’t add to the conversation.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 