When Caitlin Wells Salerno and Jon Salerno's first son, Hank, was born, his delivery cost the family only $30. Gus' bill came in at more than $16,000, all told — including the $2,755 ER charge. The family was responsible for about $3,600 of the total. Rae Ellen Bichell/KHN hide caption
Mikkel and Kayla Kjelshus' daughter, Charlie, had a complication during delivery that caused her oxygen levels to drop and put her at risk for brain damage. Charlie needed seven days of neonatal intensive care, which resulted in a huge bill — $207,455 for the NICU alone — and confusion over which parent's insurer would cover the little girl's health costs. Christopher Smith for KHN hide caption
Hospitals must now post on their websites, in a consumer-friendly format, the specific costs for 300 common and "shoppable" services, such as having a baby, getting a joint replacement, having a hernia repaired or undergoing a diagnostic brain scan. FS Productions/Tetra images RF/Getty Images hide caption
Eliza Oliver helps her daughter, Taelyn, step down from the exam table after a wellness check at the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Fort Scott, Kan. The child's doctor now has a medical scribe to takes notes. The visit this time seemed more "personal," Oliver says. Sarah Jane Tribble/Kaiser Health News hide caption
Charges for nitrous oxide during labor and delivery haven't been standardized. Courtesy of Kara Jo Prestrud, Birth Made Beautiful hide caption
Nicole and Ben Veum, with their little boy, Adrian. Nicole was in recovery from opioid addiction when she gave birth to Adrian, and she worried the fentanyl in her epidural would lead to relapse, but it didn't. Adam Grossberg/KQED hide caption
Evelyn Marie Vukadinovich is swabbed with a gauze pad immediately after being born by cesarean section at Inova Women's Hospital in Falls Church, Va. Mary Mathis/NPR hide caption
Delayed pushing made no difference in whether first-time mothers had a cesarean section, a large study finds. Getty Images hide caption
Inducing labor at 39 weeks may involve IV medications and continuous fetal monitoring. But if the pregnancy is otherwise uncomplicated, mother and baby can do just fine, the latest evidence suggests. Loic Venance/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Until the 1970s, most U.S. hospitals did not allow fathers into the delivery room for the birth of a child, or children. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive hide caption
Nurse-midwife Cynthia Voytas demonstrates equipment used to deliver nitrous oxide at South County Hospital in South Kingstown, R.I. Kristin Gourlay/RIPR hide caption