Vaginal Delivery Cost in Massachusetts — Compare All Hospitals
Vaginal delivery without sterilization, dilatation, or curettage — the most common inpatient procedure in the United States.
What this hospital charge usually covers
The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for vaginal delivery. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 1–2 days):
Included in the hospital bill
- Labor and delivery room
- Nursing and routine medications during labor and recovery
- Postpartum mother and baby room
- Routine newborn care (Apgar, vitamin K, eye prophylaxis, hearing screen)
- Standard lab work for mother and baby
Usually billed separately
- Obstetrician, midwife, and any anesthesiologist (epidural) professional fees
- Neonatologist or pediatrician fees
- Lactation consultant (sometimes included, sometimes not)
- Postpartum follow-up visits
- Circumcision (often a separate facility fee)
Quality signals to check before picking a hospital
Price alone won't tell you which hospital does vaginal delivery best. These are the CMS quality measures that matter most for this specific procedure. Click any hospital below for its full profile, then look for these:
Patient Experience (HCAHPS)
Communication during labor, nursing responsiveness, and discharge planning shape the whole birth experience.
Birthing-Friendly Hospital designation
CMS marks hospitals committed to evidence-based maternal care and support of physiologic birth.
C-Section Rate (NTSV)
For low-risk first-time mothers, an unusually high C-section rate may signal a hospital quick to escalate to surgical delivery.
When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit
The list below sorts by price. For vaginal delivery, the lowest price isn't automatically the best fit — these are situations where it's worth weighing additional factors against price. None of the below is medical advice; talk to your doctor about what applies to your specific situation.
- For high-risk pregnancies (multiples, prior C-section, preeclampsia, diabetes), a hospital with a Level III or IV NICU is generally the safer setting regardless of price.
- For a specific birth plan (water birth, midwife-led, doula support), matching the hospital's protocols and amenities is usually more important than the price gap.
- When an obstetrician only delivers at certain hospitals, provider continuity usually matters more than price differences across facilities.
Questions to ask your hospital or insurer
The gross charge is the starting point. These are the procedure-specific questions to ask before you commit:
- Are both my obstetrician and the anesthesiologist (if I want an epidural) in-network?
- Is the pediatrician/neonatologist who will see my baby in-network?
- Is there a separate facility fee for the labor room versus the postpartum room?
- Does this estimate include a lactation consultant visit?
Hospitals ranked by gross charge
- 1
Cambridge Health Alliance
Cambridge, MA
Gross charge $6,186 - 2
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Newton, MA
Gross charge $22,471Cash pay $16,854 - 3
Lowell General Hospital
Lowell, MA
Gross charge $23,775Cash pay $16,642 - 4
MelroseWakefield Hospital
Melrose, MA
Gross charge $23,775Cash pay $16,642 - 5
Tufts Medical Center
Boston, MA
Gross charge $23,775Cash pay $16,642 - 6
Mercy Medical Center
Springfield, MA
Gross charge $24,158Cash pay $13,287 - 7
Umass Memorial Healthalliance Hospitals
Leominster, MA
Gross charge $24,889 - 8
Umass Memorial Health - Harrington Hospital
Southbridge, MA
Gross charge $24,889 - 9
Umass Memorial Healthcare-Marlborough Hospital
Marlborough, MA
Gross charge $24,889 - 10
Umass Memorial Medical Center/University Campus
Worcester, MA
Gross charge $24,889 - 11
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA
Gross charge $37,797Cash pay $28,348 - 12
Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital
Jamaica Plain, MA
Gross charge $37,797Cash pay $28,348 - 13
Holyoke Medical Center
Holyoke, MA
Gross charge — - 14
Heywood Hospital
Gardner, MA
Gross charge — - 15
Athol Hospital
Athol, MA
Gross charge —
12 Massachusetts hospitals publish gross charges for vaginal delivery (DRG 807). Prices range from $6,186 to $37,797 — roughly $31,611 apart. The cheapest is Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge; the most expensive is Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. The state average sits at $24,941.
These numbers are list prices — what the hospital bills before any insurance adjustment. Insurance plans negotiate substantial discounts, Medicare and Medicaid pay fixed federal rates, and uninsured patients can usually qualify for a cash-pay discount. But the gross charge still works as a useful benchmark: a hospital that lists vaginal delivery at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.
For vaginal delivery in Massachusetts, the price below is each hospital's gross charge for the facility portion of delivery — your actual out-of-pocket depends on insurance, length of stay, complications, and whether the obstetrician bills separately. Click any hospital name for its full maternity profile, including CMS star rating, patient-experience scores, and (where designated) the CMS Birthing-Friendly Hospital marker — a useful signal of maternity-care quality.
Pricing comes from each hospital's Machine-Readable File (MRF), published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Massachusetts hospitals missing from the list either don't perform vaginal delivery in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 807 in their most recent MRF, or fell below our data-quality thresholds (we filter out clearly erroneous entries like $0 charges). The list refreshes as hospitals update their files.