Childbirth puts $7,564 dent in family finances

Baby, you’re adorable. But expensive.

Normal childbirth — the uncomplicated, mom-and-baby-doing-well variety — is a pricey prospect for parents these days. Between pre-natal care and a visit to the delivery room, it now costs $7,564 to have a baby, according to new figures released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

This is the first time that the federal agency crunched the numbers to put an exact price tag on the blessed event, according to spokesman Bob Isquith. There are no comparative numbers available yet for the rate of obstetrical inflation over the years.

But there is anecdotal evidence.

A peek inside a gilt-edged, leather-bound family physician’s logbook from 1957 — this belonging to one Dr. Bertram J. Sauerbrunn of Elizabeth, N.J. — reveals the expectant mother of 50 years ago paid an average of $5 to $7 per house call or office visit during her time of “confinement,” as pregnancy was called in a more delicate era.

When the stork eventually arrived, the hospital stay was perhaps $150, as detailed in the hand-written entries for “Mrs. Wilson” and other mothers-to-be, penned with a flourish by Dr. Sauerbrunn in navy blue ink.

The total birth costs for Mrs. Wilson, et al? Maybe $200, tops.

The price was significantly lower even a decade ago. In 1997, the typical hospital birth was $5,464, according to an analysis in the Journal of Midwifery at the time. In 1987, the cost was $3,983, according to figures published in U.S. Health Care for Children, an academic publication.

Among other things, the new AHRQ numbers show that expenses for women with private insurance were more than those for women on Medicaid. For insured women, the cost was $6,520 for delivery and $1,962 for prenatal care. For women on Medicaid, the costs were $4,577 and $2,142, respectively.

Private insurance paid 87 percent of the expenses of insured women, who paid 8 percent of the remaining costs out of pocket and 5 percent from “other sources.” Medicaid paid 92 percent of the expenses of participants, who paid less than 1 percent out of pocket and 8 percent from other sources.

The rising cost of motherhood have had a distinct effect on all mothers in the aftermath, though. Most want cold cash, not spiffy diaper bags at that baby shower.

Seven out of 10 new mothers prefer money or a contribution to a child’s savings account over any other gift, according to a survey of 2,800 women released Oct. 16 by San Francisco-based Baby Center, which provides online resources and books for expectant parents. The respondents meant well: 93 percent intended to open a savings account for their baby but only 42 percent followed through once the baby arrived.

The most hair-raising costs are yet to come. To raise a child to age 18 costs about $153,000, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.