Lingua Marina is an entrepreneur and YouTuber who recently made a viral TikTok sharing her experience giving birth in a California hospital — and how much it cost:
She starts her video — which has over 33 million views — by first sharing her experience. "I started laboring at home, so we waited a couple of hours to make sure I am actually in labor. And then we drove all the way to the hospital."
"When we came to the hospital, I was already eight centimeters dilated. We went straight into the delivery room. Because this was my second baby, the delivery was super fast."
LINGUA DELIVERED IN 20 MINUTES!!!!
"It was a very smooth delivery, I had a tear — which they stitched — and brought us to our room. Here we had our own bathroom, my husband was allowed to stay with me, and we had unlimited food."
"Now, because we had a small kid at home, we asked them to discharge us the next day. So, we only stayed there one night."
"We went home and, in two weeks, we recieved a bill. $36,000..."
"I actually had insurance, so it was only $2,000 for me, but STILL, $36,000 for a natural delivery and one night at a hospital," she concluded in her TikTok.
According to Business Insider, the average cost of having a baby without complications in the United States is between $10,000 and $30,000.
People from other countries quickly flooded the comments to share that their cost of having a baby is free (minus the cost of parking in some places).
And some places outside the US even PAY YOU to help care for your kids.
All of this isn't news to American moms, though. They have been sharing their frustrations for years...
Because, even WITH insurance, a hospital delivery is not what you would consider affordable.
Anyway, I can't think about this anymore, it's defeating. Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter in the comments!!
