Image zoom Credit: Illustration: Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong No matter how you slice it, having a baby is expensive. Recent data suggests a vaginal delivery costs, on average, around $12,235 and a caesarean section (C-section) costs $17,004. With private health insurance, you'd likely still pay $1,000 to $2,500 out of pocket, but without it, your first instinct may be to panic. That's the position of plenty of parents today: As the massive job losses from the COVID-19 pandemic added up, expecting parents have been forced to navigate the health care system after years of employer-sponsored coverage or look into federal and state insurance called Medicaid—income-based insurance that usually has no co-pays and helps those with limited income.