Emily Chan
In America, having a baby in the hospital is expensive. The costs add up quickly, and the numbers will make your head spin. Sarai Jones (@krazysarai) is a new mom, and she’s on TikTok breaking down the cost of having a baby in the United States. Her video went viral and racked up 39 million views as people flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts.
She began the video by explaining what type of birth she had, saying, “So, I vaginally delivered him, and I was induced. And yes, I got the epidural.”
Then, she launched into a description of everything she was billed for. The first charge on her hospital bill was for $13,900 for the labor/delivery room. Another bill for semi-private room and board listed a cost of $19,111. The next charge was for anesthesia, which came out to $2,181. The pharmacy charged $1,291.33, and something called “other diagnostic services” was $1,001.
“What is that? Please explain,” she said with a confused expression on her face, referring to the other diagnostic services.
Then, there was a $862 charge for the laboratory. She also got a charge from the emergency room, which was $411. When all those expenses were added up, the total came out to $38,757.33. Luckily, Sarai wasn’t required to pay that entire sum of money.
“That hurt more than the contractions. Thank god for insurance. They covered a lot of it. My amount due is only $1,418.26,” stated Sarai.
But wait, there’s more! She reviewed the last three charges, which included a bill from U.S. Anesthesia for $1,356.68. After insurance, the total went down to $135.67.
The remaining two charges were for her postpartum care, which was $6,793, and the cervical dilator used to induce her labor, which cost $385 after insurance. The final total amounted to $47,292.01. After insurance, she only needed to pay $2,205.09.
Several TikTok users could relate to Sarai and shared the outrageous charges they received after giving birth, while others listed countries where you can have a baby for no cost at all.
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