What Does It Cost To Give Birth in Mexico?
A breakdown of costs for a birth at a private Mexican hospital.
Introduction
Mexico has universal, cost-free healthcare. It’s considered a right as described by Mexico’s constitution. However, it is widely believed that Mexico’s public health system has inconsistencies with quality of care, accessibility, and wait times. As a result, those with the financial resources to do so turn to Mexico’s private healthcare system, which is effectively identical to that of other countries. There are a great many private hospitals and private practices one can turn to for every sort of care one might want or need.
We gave birth in a private hospital and received prenatal care entirely through private clinics. We saw or visited:
An OB-GYN.
A fetal-maternal health specialist.
A private lab for bloodwork and other health screenings.
During the actual birth, our medical team consisted of:
The OB-GYN.
A backup/assisting surgeon.
An anesthesiologist.
A pediatric neonatologist.
An “instrumentista,” which is a doctor who assists with the use of medical instruments.
Somewhere between 3-5 nurses.
Our post-birth team consisted of:
The OB-GYN.
A pediatric surgeon who completed our son’s circumcision.
An assisting doctor during the circumcision.
An anesthesiologist during the circumcision.
A nurse to assist during the circumcision.
Two on-unit nurses in the hospital wing we stayed in.
The pediatric neonatologist (who is now our pediatrician).
The Cost to Us for Giving Birth in Mexico
In regards to the exchange rate, we have provided an average across the entire past year. For about two months now the exchange rate has been very favorable, between 19-20 pesos to the dollar, giving us even greater value.
Quality of Care
Most of today’s entry is about direct costs so that folks can get a sense of how much someone might spend for a birth in Mexico versus in the United States. But it is vital that we also discuss value.
For the amount of money that we spent we received exceptional care. We are certain that, given our existing insurance and the level of care we’ve historically received in the U.S., we received better care in Mexico than we would have back in New York.
Because of the huge degree of variability between insurance plans it’s effectively impossible for me to concretely compare the care we received against what would be provided to an unknown person under their specific and very idiosyncratic plan. But I can give a concrete example as a point of comparison: the number of ultrasounds we received over the course of our prenatal care.
Most health insurance plans seem to cover between 1-3 ultrasounds, depending on medical necessity. That’s true of Medicaid coverage across the United States, at the University of Connecticut Women’s Health Center, with Cigna, and according to pregnancy-related websites like The Bump.
Over the course of our prenatal care, we had 13 ultrasounds. 10 were a standard ultrasound with Andrea’s OB-GYN, Dr. Monica, and three were 3D ultrasounds with our fetal-maternal health specialist, Dr. Mario. The ultrasounds were a base component of the services provided to us. We were not upsold or charged extra.
During every appointment with Dr. Monica, she had an assisting nurse take a video of the examination, which was provided to us. We were given printed photos of Leo’s ultrasounds, giving us an incredibly granular, longitudinal view of his prenatal development. Dr. Mario also provided us with printed photos, and on one occasion Leo was positioned in a way where Dr. Mario was unable to get every photo he needed. He had us return on another day, telling us that we could see him on a Saturday if we wished, and at the conclusion of that appointment he told us it was free of charge and covered by the fee we had paid for the previous appointment.
Time after time, before, during, and immediately after Leo’s birth, we received excellent, comprehensive, wraparound care. Doctors are available for questions via WhatsApp. Appointments are never rushed, and we are never upsold on additional services. Every doctor who helped to deliver Leo, including the anesthesiologist, came to check on us in the aftermath and to say congratulations. Our OB-GYN came in on her day off, in her street clothes, just to check on us.
In Mexico, Your Money Goes Further
There are various potential explanations for why the quality of care we received was so high. One reason may be because in 1999 Mexican hospitals began following the guidelines established by the Joint Commission on Accreditation. However, evidence suggests that adhering to those guidelines has not improved the quality of the Mexican public health system.
Two factors are likely at play. The first is that we went to private medical facilities, which are more expensive, pay doctors better, and are likely more attractive than the public hospital system to more talented and experienced practitioners. But secondly, because of a beneficial exchange rate, an American’s money simply goes much, much farther here.
The $4,403.37 USD that we paid in Mexico effectively purchased us a level of care that, in the United States, would have been (making an educated estimate) in the multiple tens-of-thousands-of-dollars range. In the U.S. we would not have been able to afford the level of care we received in Mexico.
Sources of Information For Comparisons
Costs for healthcare vary widely (and wildly) across the United States, both because of state law and the variation between insurance plans. Because of that, I can’t tell you exactly what a birth costs in the United States.
For this article, I’ve relied on information provided by legitimate, trusted non-profit sources, or from government data. One key source of information is this article from the Peterson Center on Healthcare in collaboration with KFF (formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation). They write, “The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker provides clear, up-to-date information on trends, drivers and issues that impact the performance of the [U.S. healthcare] system. It also illustrates how the U.S. is performing relative to other countries and how different parts of the system are performing relative to one another.”
Please note that the Kaiser Family Foundation is not related to the insurance company Kaiser Permanente.
Total Costs Vs. Actual Costs
The information provided here is most helpful if you compare the costs of giving birth in Mexico against your actual, post-insurance costs.
Unless you’re completely uninsured and don’t qualify for income-related forgiveness via hospital policy, or if you have a procedure done out-of-network or that isn’t covered by your plan, you’re only going to pay a percentage of the total cost of a U.S. medical procedure.
For those reasons, when comparing our costs against U.S. costs, consider:
How much your monthly insurance payment is, combined with;
How much your copay is.
You should also consider:
How much your yearly maximum out-of-pocket is, as this will influence what you’ll end up paying for a birth.
Do You Need Mexican Health Insurance To Give Birth in Mexico?
You do not need to be insured in Mexico to be able to affordably give birth here.
We do not have health insurance in Mexico and all of our medical costs are out of pocket. We do have friends in Mexico with health insurance, though, and they told us that, as in the United States, having insurance can significantly reduce costs. However, when we’ve compared our uninsured out-of-pocket costs in Mexico against what we would have paid in the United States for our monthly insurance cost combined with copays, we’re paying significantly less for medical care even without any sort of insurance at all.
Is It Cheaper To Give Birth In Mexico?
Yes, it is less expensive to give birth in Mexico, especially when considering the level of care you are likely to receive in a private hospital here.
KFF estimates that the average cost of pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care in the United States is $18,865. On average—and with huge variability—insurance pays $16,011 and the co-pay for the birthing person is $2,854.
The dollar values listed above, though, do not include the cost of monthly insurance payments, or what you may be required to pay in addition if you have not yet met your deductibles.
You’re not just paying for the co-pay, you’re paying for (about) ten months of insurance as well. Altogether, your costs would be well beyond what we paid, and at, what we believe, is likely to be a much lower standard of care. Certainly, you will receive fewer ultrasounds for the dollar values listed above.
Summary (With Caveats)
Everything written above could be debated, of course. I’m not a healthcare researcher and do not have access to the level of data I would need to be more definitive. We’re also writing about our own experience, which of course is subjective. The hospital we visited may not be representative of standard, private care in Mexico, and it’s also possible the care we received as individuals may vary in some way from what others might have received. In short, my analysis makes some assumptions and I take some leaps.
But, if you’re wondering what we paid versus what the average birthing person in the United States pays, our costs were less and the quality of care we received was extraordinary. We went to a modern facility, were attended to by empathetic, skilled doctors, felt taken care of, and received phenomenal postpartum care (the costs of which are not reflected in this summary).
Also, a bonus: the birth of our son Leo automatically qualifies us for Permanent Residency in Mexico. This will be covered in an upcoming post!
My medical experience in private hospitals in Puerto Vallarta has been similar. The level of care was exceptional, and the cost without insurance was a fraction of what I would have paid in the States.
Awesome! Similar to what we have found in Manzanillo.