The average conventional birth costs more than $2,600 for those with insurance and nearly $15,000 for those without, according to WalletHub’s 2023′s best and worst states to have a baby.
Which state you live in can go a long way to determining not only how much you’ll pay but also what your experience will be like.
To determine the most ideal places in the United States for parents and their newborns, the financial website compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across four key dimensions: cost, health care, baby friendliness and family friendliness.
It then evaluated those dimensions using 31 relevant metrics, graded on a 100 point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for expectant parents and newborns.
Although Georgia moved up one space this year, it still landed among the worst states.
The Peach State rose from No. 47 to No. 46, with an overall score of just 34.31.
Our highest ranking was No. 29 for cost. In the other three dimensions, we finished No. 46 for health care, No. 48 for baby friendliness and No. 42 for family friendliness.
In addition, Georgia finished:
- 22nd for midwives and OB-GYNs per capita
- 34th for parental leave policy score
- 37th for infant mortality rate
- 38th for child care centers per capita
- 46th for pediatricians and family medicine physicians per capita
- 49th for rate of low birth weight
Nine of the bottom 10 states are in the South. In spots 47-51, respectively, are West Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.
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