Categories: HealthHealth InsuranceInsurance

Viral hospital bill appears to show $40 charge for dad to hold newborn

Craig Johnson | September 7th, 2018

Team Clark is adamant that we will never write content influenced by or paid for by an advertiser. To support our work, we do make money from some links to companies and deals on our site. Learn more about our guarantee here.

We all know that health care and medical bills in particular have gotten out of hand. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the costs associated with child birth. The cost of having a baby in 2018 can range between $5,000 to $14,500, according to the latest figures.

But when you look at the itemized costs, certain things may seem a bit outrageous. Enter a neonatal medical bill that was featured on the homepage of Reddit.com this week. The image appears to show a $40 fee charged to a new father for holding his son.

Medical bill shows $40 fee for holding baby

After doing some research, we found that the photo, which lists a $39.35 charge called “SKIN TO SKIN AFTER C-SEC,” was first uploaded to the site in 2016.

According to the Huffington Post, the pic was posted by Ryan Grassley, a new father at the time. He said that that bill came after his wife Lidia gave birth to their second child.

“I had to pay $39.35 to hold my baby after he was born,” Grassley wrote with the original post.

A representative from Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, where the Grassleys welcomed their child, told the HuffPost that the skin-to-skin charge wasn’t just for holding the baby, but also covered the cost of bringing into the room an additional caregiver.

“In the case of a C-section, where the bedside caregiver is occupied caring for the mother during surgery, an additional nurse is brought into the OR to allow the infant to remain in the OR suite with the mother,” the rep was quoted as saying.

Grassley had a bit of fun with the moment, even starting a temporary GoFundMe to cover the $40 fee. Overall, he wrote, the care his wife received was positive.