EXCLUSIVE New mom details shocking cost of giving birth in America
Emily Fisher, 36, from Columbus, Ohio, welcomed twin girls last month and was left stunned when she saw an insurance claim come through for her delivery that was over $10,000.
Completely shocked by the immense figure, she decided to go back and total up all the bills she had received over the course of her pregnancy to determine just how much having a baby in the US really costs.
And after adding everything up, Emily found that having her baby girls would have cost her a whopping $120,527.51 had she not had insurance.
She shared her findings in a video shared to TikTok earlier this month and it quickly went viral, leaving thousands across the globe just as surprised as she was.
'So I am five weeks postpartum with twin girls and I've been seeing a lot of headlines recently about how the birth rate in America is declining and how concerning that is,' Emily began in the video.
'I thought to myself, I could think of a lot of reasons why the birth rate might be declining. First and foremost, cost.
'So I decided to take it upon myself and look at every bill that I received over the course of my pregnancy and total what it costs to deliver twins in America.'
Emily explained that she is considered 'advanced maternal age' and was pregnant with 'dichorionic diamniotic twins' which made her pregnancy 'high risk.'
In addition, about halfway through the pregnancy her doctor raised concerns about potential 'fetal growth restriction,' so from about 22 weeks on she had to have two appointments every week with her OBGYN and a maternal fetal medicine specialist to make sure the babies were healthy.
'So what was the total cost of that? From the start of my pregnancy through delivery and me walking out of those hospital doors, the total bill for my care was $120,527.51,' she said in the video.
'Now I am very fortunate great insurance and I have a low deductible so over the course of my pregnancy out of pocket I paid $2,038.70.
'I know that is relatively good but still, $2,000 for something that is considered necessary and vital to the future of America is pretty significant.'
Emily added that on top of that, her newborns both received bills for their delivery.
'It's kind of funny, they're not even able to blink yet and they've already been billed more than the total cost of my student loans,' she continued.
'Baby A received a bill for $15,124.55 and Baby B was billed $14,875.55, I guess there was some sort of sibling discount.
She added, 'The total cost I owed for those two bills was $750, which was the cost of my deductible.' The bills are seen above
'The total cost I owed for those two bills was $750, which was the cost of my deductible.'
She then broke down what some of the highest costs were during the pregnancy.
Unsurprisingly, the delivery itself and the hospital stay afterwards was the most costly expense.
Emily explained that she had a scheduled C-section at 37 weeks and spent four days in the hospital post delivery, and the total cost of her care before insurance was $65,665.50.
The second highest cost during the pregnancy was an appointment she had about seven months in, during which she complained to her doctor that she was having headaches.
She said they took her blood pressure and it was slightly elevated, so they monitored the heart rate of the babies for 20 minutes to 'make sure they were okay.'
She was then given 'two extra strength Tylenol' and they 'did some blood work.'
'The cost that was billed to my insurance for that visit was $9,115,' shared the new mom.
'All things considered, I'm very grateful for the experience that I had and very grateful to have great insurance, but I know that for a lot of people who live in America that is simply not possible,' she concluded.
'And if I did not have insurance delivery my two baby girls, I would not be able to afford it.
'In fact, I probably would have had to file bankruptcy had I not had insurance. So when people act confused why the birth rates are down, maybe it's not necessarily all attributed to lifestyle choices, maybe it's not because people aren't feeling the vibe of having kids, maybe it's because the cost of having a baby in America is over six figures.'
While chatting with the Daily Mail about it, Emily, who used to work on the healthcare space, said she believes the insurance system in America 'needs a complete overhaul.'
'Given that the US is the one of (if not the only) developed nation in the world without some sort of universal healthcare, we're falling behind,' she said.
'People are spending too much on basic and necessary care. Medical debt is one of the number one reasons for bankruptcy in the US, and it shouldn't be that way.
'If we invested in a system that put the health its people first, everyone would be better off.
'And given the decline in birth rates, if our politicians are genuinely concerned about falling birth rates, they would be incentivizing people to have children. You shouldn't have to pay to give birth.'
She added that while she was 'shocked' by the high number that her insurance was billed, she was 'not surprised at the same time.'
'The first thing that came to mind when I saw the total was, "How do people without insurance afford this?"' she shared.
'But I've always known that healthcare in America is a business. Ultimately, like most necessities in the US, privatized insurance is designed to make money.'
She said she certainly wasn't expecting her video, which was viewed more than one million times, to get as much attention as it did, but she's so glad that it has sparked a conversation.
'I hope my video makes people think twice about having kids in America. Because until the system is redesigned to truly support the people, we shouldn't be buying into it,' she concluded.
'I'm fortunate to have good health coverage. I'm not on the hook for much as far as the cost of my pregnancy, but that is only the beginning for my family and what we'll pay to raise my kids.
'Now we have to think about things like paying for their health coverage, daycare, food, housing and college.
'All of these things are only getting more and more expensive and almost unreachable for people.'
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