Paula D’Amore was never expecting to give birth in the backseat of her Jeep. A few hours after she felt a contraction on 7 April, she loaded into the car and her husband started driving to the hospital, only to feel a burning sensation as the car pulled into its driveway.

“Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen,” D’Amore said.

Her husband ran into the hospital to tell the staff his wife was in labor. As he came back and opened the door, the baby began crowning and he was forced to deliver the head. Moments later, a few nurses joined at the car and a midwife helped complete the delivery of her newborn daughter, Danielle.

Only after giving birth in her car was she taken to a recovery room because all the labor rooms at the Boca Raton regional hospital were full.

Given that she gave birth in her car, D’Amore was shocked to receive a hospital bill that charged her more than $7,400 for a delivery room. She is also disputing an additional $4,000 bill for a time her daughter spent in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“I laughed,” she said when she got the bill. “You gotta be kidding right? How do you charge for something that you didn’t do?”

D’Amore and her husband switched to a $5,000 high deductible insurance package that she had saved up for in preparation for the pregnancy, so her expenses will be capped at $5,000 and she has not disputed payment for other services, including the midwife. But she refuses to accept the hospital room charges given that she gave birth in the car.

“I cannot swallow seeing that they have the audacity to charge $7,000,” D’Amore said.

Labor and delivery are among the most expensive healthcare costs in the US. According to a 2013 study by Truven Health Analytics, the cost of childbirth in the US has tripled since 1996. Truven also found the average price of pregnancy and newborn care for a baby was approximately $30,000 for vaginal delivery, and $50,000 for a C-section. Delivery costs alone are an average of $10,000 and over more than $15,000 for a vaginal or C-section respectively, according to the International Federation of Health Plans (IFHP).

After working with counsel provided by her husband’s employer, she took her grievances to the hospital who said they found nothing wrong with the charges after two reviews.

“Boca Raton Regional Hospital has reviewed the matter, understands the concerns of this patient, and has previously attempted to resolve the outstanding balance concerns with the patient,” Thomas Chakurda, vice-president of marketing at Boca Raton regional hospital, said in a statement. “The hospital appropriately bills for the medical services and care it provides and has determined that the level of care provided and billing were appropriate in this instance. We take all of Mrs D’Amore’s concerns seriously and are willing to review them further.”



