DRG 788 · Maternity

C-Section Cost in Iowa — Compare All Hospitals

Delivery of a baby through a surgical incision in the abdomen. The stay includes the operation and a few days of recovery care for mother and baby.

State average
$20,480
gross charge · DRG 788
Hospitals
34
with published pricing
Price range
$6,334 – $51,372
low to high
Lowest $6,334 Highest $51,372

Iowa hospitals price c-section (Medicare DRG 788) anywhere from $6,334 to $51,372 — a $45,038 gap between the cheapest and most expensive option. The cheapest is Montgomery County Memorial Hospital + Clinics in Red Oak; the most expensive is Floyd County Medical Center in Charles City. The state average sits at $20,480.

Gross charges are list prices, not what most patients pay. 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 c-section at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.

For c-section in Iowa, 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. Iowa hospitals missing from the list either don't perform c-section in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 788 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.

Hospitals ranked by gross charge

  1. 1
    Gross charge $6,334
    Cash pay $4,434
  2. 2
    Gross charge $9,055
    Cash pay $7,244
  3. 3

    Burgess Health Center

    Onawa, IA

    Gross charge $9,684
    Cash pay $7,747
  4. 4

    Myrtue Medical Center

    Harlan, IA

    Gross charge $14,137
    Cash pay $8,199
  5. 5

    Cherokee Regional Medical Center

    Cherokee, IA

    Gross charge $14,415
    Cash pay $11,532
  6. 6

    Wayne County Hospital

    Corydon, IA

    Gross charge $16,034
  7. 7

    Spencer Municipal Hospital

    Spencer, IA

    Gross charge $17,735
    Cash pay $13,302
  8. 8

    Cass County Memorial Hospital

    Atlantic, IA

    Gross charge $18,384
    Cash pay $12,869
  9. 9
    Gross charge $18,485
    Cash pay $14,788
  10. 10

    MercyOne Newton Medical Center

    Newton, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  11. 11

    MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center

    Davenport, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  12. 12

    MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Mason City, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  13. 13

    MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center

    Waterloo, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  14. 14

    MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Dubuque, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  15. 15

    Mercyone Clinton Medical Center

    Clinton, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  16. 16

    Mercyone Siouxland Medical Center

    Sioux City, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  17. 17
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  18. 18
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  19. 19
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  20. 20
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  21. 21
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  22. 22
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  23. 23
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  24. 24
    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  25. 25

    Hansen Family Hospital

    Iowa Falls, IA

    Gross charge $19,013
    Cash pay $12,358
  26. 26

    Orange City Area Health System (OCAHS)

    Orange City, IA

    Gross charge $19,656
    Cash pay $15,725
  27. 27

    Mahaska Health

    Oskaloosa, IA

    Gross charge $20,000
    Cash pay $17,000
  28. 28

    Buena Vista Regional Medical Center

    Storm Lake, IA

    Gross charge $20,461
    Cash pay $16,368
  29. 29

    Winnmed

    Decorah, IA

    Gross charge $21,906
    Cash pay $15,334
  30. 30

    St Anthony Regional Hospital

    Carroll, IA

    Gross charge $23,983
  31. 31
    Gross charge $32,419
    Cash pay $19,451
  32. 32

    Ottumwa Regional Health Center (Acute Care)

    Ottumwa, IA

    Gross charge $37,854
    Cash pay $15,142
  33. 33

    Mercy Medical Center Cedar Rapids (Acute Care)

    Cedar Rapids, IA

    Gross charge $40,211
    Cash pay $26,137
  34. 34

    Floyd County Medical Center

    Charles City, IA

    Gross charge $51,372
    Cash pay $20,549
  35. 35

    UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Hospital

    Marshalltown, IA

    Gross charge —
  36. 36

    Trinity Muscatine

    Muscatine, IA

    Gross charge —
  37. 37

    Trinity Regional Medical Center

    Fort Dodge, IA

    Gross charge —
  38. 38

    Chi Health Mercy Council Bluffs

    Council Bluffs, IA

    Gross charge —
  39. 39
    Gross charge —
  40. 40

    St Lukes Hospital (Acute Care)

    Cedar Rapids, IA

    Gross charge —
  41. 41

    UnityPoint Health - Iowa Methodist Medical Center

    Des Moines, IA

    Gross charge —
  42. 42

    UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Hospital

    Bettendorf, IA

    Gross charge —
  43. 43

    Allen Hospital

    Waterloo, IA

    Gross charge —
  44. 44

    Finley Hospital

    Dubuque, IA

    Gross charge —
  45. 45
    Gross charge —
  46. 46
    Gross charge —
  47. 47

    Chi Health - Mercy Corning

    Corning, IA

    Gross charge —
  48. 48
    Gross charge —
  49. 49

    Chi Health Missouri Valley

    Missouri Valley, IA

    Gross charge —
  50. 50

    Clarke County Hospital

    Osceola, IA

    Gross charge —
  51. 51

    Henry County Health Center

    Mount Pleasant, IA

    Gross charge —
  52. 52
    Gross charge —
  53. 53

    Sioux Center Health

    Sioux Center, IA

    Gross charge —
  54. 54

    St Lukes Regional Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Sioux City, IA

    Gross charge —

Compare c-section pricing in nearby states