The cheapest way to give birth is usually at home. With a home birth, you aren't paying the enormous hospital fees, but there are also more risks involved. Delivering at a birthing center can also be cheaper than a hospital birth.
While many of the more affordable states to give birth were along the East Coast, Michigan was the only state in the dataset to come in under $1,000 on average, at $974 – over 15% lower than the next-lowest state, Maryland ($1,151).
Your savings
Whether you're planning to have a baby or not, it's a good idea to save about 20 percent of your income for future goals. And if you're planning for a baby, you might want to save a little more to help you through the first couple years.
The labor and delivery itself is the biggest expense in pregnancy, as you (and your insurer) will need to pay for things like the practitioner and the actual hospital fees. The costs may be even higher if you're medically induced, if you have a complicated delivery, or if your baby needs to stay in the NICU.
It's also possible to save on some big-ticket items if you're lucky enough to have a baby shower, friends who've had babies and can lend you clothes, or parents or in-laws who want to chip in. Monthly, you could safely plan on spending between $250 (no child care) and $1500 (with child care) a month on your baby.
Setting budget percentages
That rule suggests you should spend 50% of your after-tax pay on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings and paying off debt. While this may work for some, it's often better to start with a more detailed categorizing of expenses to get a better handle on your spending.
Create a family budget with the information you've collected
After you've considered the expenses you may have when you start your family, as well as any entitlements you may be eligible for and how long you may take off work, it can be helpful to set up a budget and start putting money aside for your family's future.
If you budget properly and begin to direct your savings towards the costs of a new baby ahead of time, then it is certainly possible to have a baby while living on a small budget.
Healthcare remains a controversial topic in the United States. According to The Atlantic, the reason why having a baby is more expensive than it used to be is a rise in large deductibles. Again, a deductible is the amount of money that you have to pay before your insurance will even start to pay.
How do the expenses of child rearing break down? Housing is the biggest expense associated with raising kids, followed by paying for food. Following those two categories of expenses, parents spend the most on childcare, transportation, healthcare, clothing, and miscellaneous spending.
The ideal childbearing age is often considered to be in the late 20s and early 30s. Pregnancies later in life could come with some health risks. However, age is just one factor when it comes to giving birth to a child.
While you don't need tons of money sacked away to start trying for a kid, you should have an emergency fund ready to dip into once the baby arrives. “Having savings to cover three-to-six months of bills is recommended for everyone,” says KD Elizabeth.
The average cost of childbirth is $13,024 for a vaginal delivery without insurance. But with a Silver health insurance plan, the average cost of pregnancy care and delivery is $6,940. Here we'll cover the average cost of childbirth — from both sticker price to allowable amounts under health insurance plans.
Average Cost of Childbirth in the US
Giving birth costs $18,865 on average, including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care, according to the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker. Health insurance can cover most of that cost.
Nearly half of American mothers are covered by Medicaid, a program available to low income households that covers nearly all birth costs. But people with private insurance still regularly pay thousands of dollars in co-pays, deductibles and partially reimbursed services when they give birth.
How Much Does It Cost to Have a Baby in the U.S. Without Insurance? The cost of childbirth can vary depending on the type of birth and geographic location within America, but for those without insurance it can cost around $13,000 to $14,000. 2 If you have complications that price can skyrocket.
Save Up. One of the best ways to prepare your finances for a new child is to save up enough money so that the pregnancy and delivery don't drag you into debt. Take your total cost estimate from conception to year one and set a goal to achieve that amount.
Children are worth more than any amount of money, so if you want to be a parent and you and your spouse are ready in every other way, don't let debt stop you. A child isn't going to derail you on your journey to financial peace.
Depending on where you live in the United States, the amount you need to make to get by and support a family can vary by a lot. While a household of two adults and two children can manage on less than $60,000 a year in Tennessee, for example, it takes at least $88,000 a year to make ends meet in New York.