Man shows that hospital charged him $40 for a time of skin-to-skin contact with his own baby.
A Utah hospital charged a man and his wife $40 to hold their newborn baby after a C-section birth last month.
Ryan Grassley originally posted a photo of the bill on Reddit with the charge that read “skin-to-skin” contact.
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“On Sept 4th my son was born. In the OR the nurse asked if we wanted to do skin to skin as soon as possible after he was born. After the C-section our baby was cleaned up and ready for skin to skin,” Grassley wrote on the post.
But, the family was surprised to see the charge when their bill came in the mail.
“Later we both got a laugh about the itemized bill with a 39.35 charge for skin to skin time,” Grassley said on a GoFundMe page started to pay the bill. “So I posted it on Reddit and it blew up. "To be clear I wasn't complaining or trying to send people on a witch hunt for the hospital. We had a very positive experience.”
I had to pay $39.35 to hold my baby after he was born.
The couple thought it was funny, but were surprised to see the shock from people around the world at the expense.
Many expressed their outrage on social media after seeing the image of the bill, which has been viewed more than three million times.
“As a Brit this all seems so unbelievable,” one user across the pond wrote on social media. “Having to go into debt for basic healthcare is a disgrace.”
Others made light of the charge.
“Eventually you will be happy to pay $39 to have someone else hold your baby,” one viewer wrote.
The GoFundMe page had already surpassed its goal on Wednesday with $50 in donations.
Janet Frank, a spokeswoman for the Utah Valley Hospital told PIX11 that there was an additional nurse in the room during the C-section, hence the charge.
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“In the case of a C-section, where the bedside caregiver is occupied caring for the mother during surgery, an additional nurse is brought into the OR to allow the infant to remain in the OR suite with the mother. The charge is not for holding the baby, but for the additional caregiver needed to maintain the highest levels of patient safety," Frank said.
Either way Grassley may not be having any more of these types of charges in the future.
“Any money donated over the $39.35 will be put towards a vasectomy because I never want to go through these sleepless new baby nights again.”
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