It definitely depends on the area that you live in and the amount of insurance coverage you have.  I know that for our DD we paid about $1800 out of pocket to our OB for prenatal and delivery care as well as about $1000 for hospital charges for delivery (and that was with the discount I got for working at the hospital).  Those costs also didn't include the charges for the u/s, glucose testing, or other blood tests, etc that were done at the hospital.

This time, with the problems we have been having and the extra testing, we are expecting to hit our annual out of pocket of $5k.  Again, this varies for each doctor, hospital, location, etc. but it can definitely be very expensive.  As far as income tax goes, we pay quite a bit as a family and some of the medical expenses can be deducted, but here it doesn't matter in terms of our income taxes what we have to pay for medical care.

My company pays me more not to take insurance then my husband's company charge for premiums so it really doesn't cost us anything. We have a family plan so the baby won't cost us anything additional. We do have a pretty high deductible so it could cost us as much as $3k this year for medical. So overall it's not too bad. That's less then we'll get back in taxes next year for having another child.

We make more than double what we made when we had our first child, and we really didn't notice the money for diapers, food etc. then so I don't think we'll notice it this time either.

My insurance covers everything except for the $135 hospital copay.  All dr. visits and testing are covered 100%.  

I get 6-8 weeks of maternity leave depending on whether or not I have a c-section, but I have to use up all of my accumulated sick time.  I think I have 40 days built up, so depending on when she makes her debut, I may use all my accumulated time.  

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident.  I am not sure how much my total bill will be---but I have really good insurance so it shouldn't be more than a couple thousand when all is said and done (and really, this is much cheaper than the taxes Canadians pay to have universal healthcare).

I get 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Definitely envious that my Canadian friends get so much time off, but also glad I won't have to lose almost 50% of my income for an entire year. There are pros and cons to both, for sure. 

I know most people in the States have insurance that covers this care, but how much do you pay in monthly premiums for this service?

If I understand it correctly, many plans don't automatically cover prenatal care and you have to pay additional per month (on top of whatever you are already paying or what your employer is paying) to get those services on your plan. I could be wrong about this though with new healthcare regulations and I'm fortunate enough, like PP, to have very straightforward military-based health coverage so it isn't something I generally have to worry about yet.

Also, don't underestimate the number of people who are completely uninsured in the US, though there are other means women can acquire prenatal care via state programs like WIC.

No, you don't receive money to assist with child-raising costs, but you can claim tax deductions for dependent family members. 

It's a lot more in the US! 

 1. Health care costs a lot more. In New York, childbirth can cost from $8,000 - $20,000, depending on complications and whether a cesarean is done. Insurance often does not cover all of the costs. Note that this does not include prenatal care, or pediatric care for baby once he or she is born.

 2. Paid maternity leave is not a requirement here in the US. Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave is required of certain employers, but only if you've worked there for a certain amount of time. 

 3. You're so lucky to get $150/month! We get nothing, unless we're poor enough to receive public assistance. 

4. We have RESPs here in the US (e.g., 519 savings plans), but we're completely on our own in terms of deposits.

 In short, your tax dollars seem to take you much further in Canada. Then again, we have no federal sales tax. 

It depends on your health insurance plan.

With DS we paid $400 a month for our insurance poilcy. I had a $20 copay for each Drs visit. No copay for labs/ultrasounds and a $250 copay for my hospital stay.

Thsi time around, our insurance costs $550 a month and I am responsible for 20% of ALL charges up to a maximum of $8,000. I've all ready started making payments to my OB (5 payments of $456) to cover my Dr bills. The hospital will bill me for a balance of $5720 after LO is born.

It definitely depends on your insurance. My insurance covers all prenatal visits and tests 100%, no copay. My hospital copay is only $300, the rest is completely covered.  

ETA: My insurance costs $100/month.

sometimesdee:

It's a lot more in the US!nbsp;nbsp;1. Health care costs a lot more. In New York, childbirth can cost from 8,000 20,000, depending on complications and whether anbsp;cesareannbsp;is done. Insurance often does not cover all of the costs. Note that this does not include prenatal care, or pediatric care for baby once he or she is born.nbsp;2. Paid maternity leave is not a requirement here in the US. Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave is required of certain employers, but only if you've worked there for a certain amount of time.nbsp;nbsp;3. You're so lucky to get 150/month! We get nothing, unless we're poor enough to receive public assistance.nbsp;4. We have RESPs here in the US e.g., 519 savings plans, but we're completely on our own in terms of deposits.nbsp;In short, your tax dollars seem to take you much further in Canada. Then again, we have no federal sales tax.nbsp;

Health insurance for DH & myself costs $340/month.

Each prenatal visit is a $20 co-pay.

The delivery & hospital stay is fully covered (including complications/c-section). We won't pay anything out of pocket.

Our insurance also fully covers circumcision.

MrserinJ:

That is crazy! As far as Federal Sales tax, unless i'm spacing, we don't either. BUT each province does have a sales tax.

 If my research is right, Alberta has GST (federal), but no Provinicial tax. We have no GST here in the US, only State and county/city sales tax (and some states have no sales tax at all!). 

I have 90/10 coinsurance so this is what i paid out of pocket. 

Prenatal care: $260

Prescriptions: $150

Hospital visit #1: $250 

Hospital visit #2: $250

Gallbladder surgery: $950

Delivery: $1,020

Total: $2,880

If I had delivered the same year I got pregnant (I delivered in January) I would've only paid my max out of pocket which is $1,500.

ETA: I misunderstood the question. Our monthly premium for a family plan (which won't increase no matter how many children we have) for medical, dental, vision and supplemental life insurance and STD is $340

My insurance covers the cost 100%, but I'm opting for a home birth with a midwife that is not covered by the insurance so I'll pay $3800 out of pocket.

I don't technically get any maternity leave, but I can work from home so I plan to do that for a year or two.  

My experience from living in both Canada and the US is that I definitely take home a lot more of my paycheck living in the US.  It probably adds up to a few thousand a year if not more.  Also here you can immediate health care if you feel you need it and not have to wait for a referral, which was my experience in Canada.  So, for instance, if you are having weird cramping you can go to the emergency room and get an ultrasound, which is often covered by insurance if considered an emergency.

No paid leave from the government here.  And health care isn't universal here.  Although some employers have nice benefits for employees, not everyone does and up to a year is rare.  We don't get a monthly stipend, but you do get about $1,000 in tax returns per child per year so it works out to a little less than that.

sometimesdee:

MrserinJ:

That is crazy!

As far as Federal Sales tax, unless i'm spacing, we don't either. BUT each province does have a sales tax.

 If my research is right, Alberta has GST (federal), but no Provinicial tax. We have no GST here in the US, only State and county/city sales tax (and some states have no sales tax at all!). 

 

emolm:

My husband is active duty military so we're covered by his insurance. We paid absolutely nothing for the last baby and will not pay anything for this one either.

TheyCalledHerKate:

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident.  I am not sure how much my total bill will be---but I have really good insurance so it shouldn't be more than a couple thousand when all is said and done (and really, this is much cheaper than the taxes Canadians pay to have universal healthcare).

I get 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Definitely envious that my Canadian friends get so much time off, but also glad I won't have to lose almost 50% of my income for an entire year. There are pros and cons to both, for sure. 

I am also a canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident and honestly the tax rate is very similar in both places, you just get a lot more for it in Canada (remember you are not only paying for universal health care with your taxes but also social programs such as the much much better maternity leave the government pays for). If you are in a really high income bracket taxes are higher in Canada but I'v read that most low and middle class income brackets are very comparable. I have worked in both countries after university and honestly the tax rate for me was slightly higher in Canada but then when you look at how expensive health insurance is even the ones offere through my or my DHs employers you pretty much pay the difference in taxes just to have health insurance. I had additional health insurance through my employer in Canada and comparing the coverage of the 2, the US one falls short by a long shot even though its considered great by US standards. Honestly the high tax rates in Canada are really exaggerated. Grated it varies by province, Alberta is such a rich province it has minimal provincial taxes compared to ontario for example. BTW I have lived and worked in more than 1 state also so my Us experience is not based on just one place.

MrserinJ:

sometimesdee:

It's a lot more in the US!nbsp;nbsp;1. Health care costs a lot more. In New York, childbirth can cost from 8,000 20,000, depending on complications and whether anbsp;cesareannbsp;is done. Insurance often does not cover all of the costs. Note that this does not include prenatal care, or pediatric care for baby once he or she is born.nbsp;2. Paid maternity leave is not a requirement here in the US. Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave is required of certain employers, but only if you've worked there for a certain amount of time.nbsp;nbsp;3. You're so lucky to get 150/month! We get nothing, unless we're poor enough to receive public assistance.nbsp;4. We have RESPs here in the US e.g., 519 savings plans, but we're completely on our own in terms of deposits.nbsp;In short, your tax dollars seem to take you much further in Canada. Then again, we have no federal sales tax.nbsp;

That is crazy! As far as Federal Sales tax, unless i'm spacing, we don't either. BUT each province does have a sales tax. Some higher than others. Being from Alberta, we are lucky that our GST is only 5. I know some provinces are around 13. I suppose this seems like a lot and I have definitely noticed things are crazy cheap when I'm in the States. Even when I was looking in the American Toys R Us site vs the Canadian one, strollers were 2050 dollars cheaper on the American one.

OP you are incorrect, there are federal taxes in canada, the GST is a national government sales taxes. PST is provincial sales taxes which  most provinces have but Alberta does not have, that is why you just pay GST.  In Ontario there is both the GST and PST which is y sales taxes add up to about 14%

Edited, OP I see you corrected yourself regarding the federal taxes Canada does have. Alberta is the odd province out by not having PST. It has enough oil money it doesnt seem to need the extra taxes.

We pay for our insurance through work.  I want to say it costs us about $450 a month for insurance.  Insurance pays 90% of maternity things.

My total bill for my prenatal care and delivery (including GD counselling, diabetes monitors, test strips etc, multiple ultrasounds and NSTs and an induction with a 5 day hospital stay and epidural came out to about $3500-$4000 overall.

My company is only required to hold your job for 12 weeks total under FMLA (but with manager approval you can take up to 6 months off).  That's including any time you take off before the baby is born related to the pregnancy (if you don't use PTO for it.)  They pay 6 weeks of short term disability at 66% of your normal wage.  Any time you take beyond that is unpaid.

Our insurance is very expensive...but we pay $500 for our portion of the birth.  Insurance is charged $15,000 for hospital stay and *midwife* delivery (no complications), an additional $10,000 for an epidural.

So, $25,000 over here with no complications, no doctor other than the one administering the epi.

This is a very interesting post.

I am also from Canada (Manitoba). Having the baby will cost me absolutely nothing at all as well. My province will also give me a family allowance (I think it's about $100 per child per month).

We have a provincial sales tax of 7% so we do pay that on some goods (not staple food and not some other items too, like gas but mostly retail and luxuary goods and other non-essentials).

I am shocked that many USA mom's will only get 6 weeks unpaid! WOW!! 1 Year is the standard here, if you went back any earlier, your social community would look at you funny. Here in Manitoba childcare is so hard to get that you have to get yourself on the waiting list at several centres or day homes while you are still pregnant (I am on 17 waiting lists) so you need that year off just to take care of your child.

The only hard part will be is my maternity leave, while I will get one year off and they will hold my job for me (by law). The governement will give me a salary while I am off and while the original poster does indicate it's about 60% of your salary, that value has a cap. I make more than the cap so I will end up taking about a 50-60% cut which will probably hurt. So- no wonder people go back to work! We will be Ok though because my husband makes a good wage and I will work part time teaching fitness classes and will overall have less expenses when I'm not working.  We are also lucky to have supportive family that I know will spoil this child with gifts and goods, as well as there will be probably 4 baby showers after baby is born so alot of first year expenses will be gifts. We are only buying the first month essentials and nothign else. So hopefully it all works out. I might have to cut back on my trips to the spa and travel, but it will be worth it!

ShannonR7:

TheyCalledHerKate:

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident.  I am not sure how much my total bill will be---but I have really good insurance so it shouldn't be more than a couple thousand when all is said and done (and really, this is much cheaper than the taxes Canadians pay to have universal healthcare).

I get 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Definitely envious that my Canadian friends get so much time off, but also glad I won't have to lose almost 50% of my income for an entire year. There are pros and cons to both, for sure. 

I am also a canadian citizen living in the US as a permanent resident and honestly the tax rate is very similar in both places, you just get a lot more for it in Canada (remember you are not only paying for universal health care with your taxes but also social programs such as the much much better maternity leave the government pays for). If you are in a really high income bracket taxes are higher in Canada but I'v read that most low and middle class income brackets are very comparable. I have worked in both countries after university and honestly the tax rate for me was slightly higher in Canada but then when you look at how expensive health insurance is even the ones offere through my or my DHs employers you pretty much pay the difference in taxes just to have health insurance. I had additional health insurance through my employer in Canada and comparing the coverage of the 2, the US one falls short by a long shot even though its considered great by US standards. Honestly the high tax rates in Canada are really exaggerated. Grated it varies by province, Alberta is such a rich province it has minimal provincial taxes compared to ontario for example. BTW I have lived and worked in more than 1 state also so my Us experience is not based on just one place.

Meemaleema:

My husbands is a minister the church pays for our insurance, we dont pay from his paycheck. We do pay deductibles at appointments. The entire maternity deductible is 750. Once the child is born they have 0 copays at child appointments. I dont work but he will be able to spend a lot of time home with me maternity leave thats paid. Curious, if the mother/wife is unemployed is she on her husband insurance in Canada?nbsp;

Technically, we don't get six weeks of maternity leave. The only federal mandate is FMLA (unpaid up to 12 weeks) and you have to qualify (more than 50 employees in the company and have been working there for 12 months).  Outside of that there is no federal provision for maternity leave. Six weeks is more of an employer provision, but they aren't required to give any if it's too small a company to qualify for FMLA.

My cost is going to be $2500 (that's the OOP max with our plan).