What Does It Cost to Have a Baby?

Being in the healthcare industry, I'm always curious as to what hospitals charge for things. I asked for an itemized copy of my bill from when I was hospitalized for those 2 1/2 weeks. Here are some of the charges:

-ultrasound: $228.00
-Magnesium Sulfate (to stop contractions): one bag is $227.50
-Ampicillin (an antibiotic): one bag is: $41.40
-Lidocaine: one vial is $150.00
-Normal Saline for an IV: one bag is $113.80
-Lactated Ringers for an IV: one bag is $42.00
-CBC: $127.00
-IV tubing: $153.00
-foley catheter: $192.00
-Colace: $2.03
-Fentanyl (for epidural): $150.67
-Ropivacaine (for epidural): $151.88
-heplock: $27.75
-hematocrit: $59.00
-Terbutaline (to stop contractions): one shot is $152.14
-one night on high-risk OB: $1,149.00
-one night in L & D: $1,174.00
-prenatal vitamin: one pill is $8.26
-Ambien: one pill is $8.31
-compression stockings: one pair is $437.00
-to test for fetal lung maturity: $258.00
-Pitocin (to speed up contractions): one bag is $236.50
-Rhogam shot: $262.00
-vaginal delivery: $2,194.00
-Ibuprofen (400mg): $8.32
-TDaP immunization: $184.21
-Erythromycin (antibiotic ointment for baby's eyes): $8.87
-Vitamin K shot: $153.15
-one night for Riley in hospital: $894.00
-hearing screen: $67.00
-total bilirubin: $108.00
-newborn screen: $150.00

That's a grand total of $32,044.46 for me and $1,488.02 for Riley. When Ethan and Mia were in the NICU, their average total per day was $4,200.00, and for both of them, their bill was $175,000 for 20 days. It's much cheaper to keep people pregnant than deliver early and baby goes to the NICU!