Caraline Stephens said having a baby was going to be fun.
Her husband Patrick Duke said it was going to be an adventure.
But four months after baby Chloe joined the family in September, Stephens, a 25-year-old UF mass communication graduate student, said she still wasn’t sure what she owed UF Health Shands Hospital for her delivery.
She was tired and distracted in the beginning, but as Chloe’s feeding and sleeping habits became more regular, Stephens said she became more aware of the bills.
According to an article from The New York Times, the average cost for a hospital delivery in America is more expensive than it would be anywhere else in the world. A standard delivery averages $9,775.
In Florida, the figures are close to this national average. The lowest statewide average for a standard hospital delivery is $9,008, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s website.
Rossana Passaniti, a UF Health spokeswoman, said the average hospital bill is about $11,000 for a standard delivery at UF Health Shands Hospital.
She said about 4 percent of UF Health patients are not covered by commercial insurance or Medicaid.
For patients with insurance, billing can be a lengthy process.
“It’s really confusing how you get charged,” Stephens said. “Everything ends up being billed separately. The doctor visits are separate. The delivery and hospital stay are separate. Then, the pediatrician who sees your baby after delivery is a different bill.”
Stephens and her husband paid about $1,200 in out-of-pocket expenses by the time they received all of the bills. It was manageable, she said, but sometimes she wondered if she should have brought her own Motrin to the delivery room.
Kristen Phillips, co-owner of the Birth & Wellness Center of Gainesville, said birth in the United States is probably more expensive because hospitals itemize every service.
“In a hospital setting, you get itemized for the toilet paper you use,” Phillips said.
After she found out about the high costs of birth and high frequency of cesarean sections at hospitals, Gainesville resident Kerri Audette said she decided to give birth to her first child at home with the help of midwives.
Audette, 29, said her insurance covers the method but raises her deductible. The additional cost is worth it to her, she said, but she understands the confusion birth costs can cause.
Two-week-old Jordan Decker lies on his mother, Sandra Decker, at a La Leche League of Gainesville meeting in April. In Florida, the lowest statewide average for a standard hospital delivery is $9,008.
