How Much Does Your Pregnancy Cost?

Just wondering whether anyone out there tracked ALL their expenses relating to their pregnancy? I was reading an article in the New York Times which claims that America is the most expensive place to give birth in the world because their health system is such a capital market that it can cost between $4,000 and $45,000 to give birth! Here's some of the article:

LACONIA, N.H. — Seven months pregnant, at a time when most expectant couples are stockpiling diapers and choosingcar seats, Renée Martin was struggling with bigger purchases.

At a prenatal class in March, she was told about epiduralanesthesia and was given the option of using a birthing tub during labor. To each offer, she had one gnawing question: “How much is that going to cost?”

Though Ms. Martin, 31, and her husband, Mark Willett, are both professionals with health insurance, her current policy does not cover maternity care. So the couple had to approach the nine months that led to the birth of their daughter in May like an extended shopping trip though the American health care bazaar, sorting through an array of maternity services that most often have no clear price and — with no insurer to haggle on their behalf — trying to negotiate discounts from hospitals and doctors.

When she became pregnant, Ms. Martin called her local hospital inquiring about the price of maternity care; the finance office at first said it did not know, and then gave her a range of $4,000 to $45,000. “It was unreal,” Ms. Martin said. “I was like, How could you not know this? You’re a hospital.”

Read the rest o the article here.