Vaginal Delivery Cost in Iowa — Compare All Hospitals
Vaginal delivery without sterilization, dilatation, or curettage — the most common inpatient procedure in the United States.
What this hospital charge usually covers
The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for vaginal delivery. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 1–2 days):
Included in the hospital bill
- Labor and delivery room
- Nursing and routine medications during labor and recovery
- Postpartum mother and baby room
- Routine newborn care (Apgar, vitamin K, eye prophylaxis, hearing screen)
- Standard lab work for mother and baby
Usually billed separately
- Obstetrician, midwife, and any anesthesiologist (epidural) professional fees
- Neonatologist or pediatrician fees
- Lactation consultant (sometimes included, sometimes not)
- Postpartum follow-up visits
- Circumcision (often a separate facility fee)
Quality signals to check before picking a hospital
Price alone won't tell you which hospital does vaginal delivery best. These are the CMS quality measures that matter most for this specific procedure. Click any hospital below for its full profile, then look for these:
Patient Experience (HCAHPS)
Communication during labor, nursing responsiveness, and discharge planning shape the whole birth experience.
Birthing-Friendly Hospital designation
CMS marks hospitals committed to evidence-based maternal care and support of physiologic birth.
C-Section Rate (NTSV)
For low-risk first-time mothers, an unusually high C-section rate may signal a hospital quick to escalate to surgical delivery.
When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit
The list below sorts by price. For vaginal delivery, the lowest price isn't automatically the best fit — these are situations where it's worth weighing additional factors against price. None of the below is medical advice; talk to your doctor about what applies to your specific situation.
- For high-risk pregnancies (multiples, prior C-section, preeclampsia, diabetes), a hospital with a Level III or IV NICU is generally the safer setting regardless of price.
- For a specific birth plan (water birth, midwife-led, doula support), matching the hospital's protocols and amenities is usually more important than the price gap.
- When an obstetrician only delivers at certain hospitals, provider continuity usually matters more than price differences across facilities.
Questions to ask your hospital or insurer
The gross charge is the starting point. These are the procedure-specific questions to ask before you commit:
- Are both my obstetrician and the anesthesiologist (if I want an epidural) in-network?
- Is the pediatrician/neonatologist who will see my baby in-network?
- Is there a separate facility fee for the labor room versus the postpartum room?
- Does this estimate include a lactation consultant visit?
Data notes for Iowa
- The lowest published charge ($3,889 at Boone County Hospital) is unusually low for an inpatient stay. This may reflect a data-quality issue in the hospital's MRF rather than an actual price — verify directly with the hospital before relying on it.
Hospitals ranked by gross charge
- 1
Boone County Hospital
Boone, IA
Gross charge $3,889Cash pay $3,111 - 2
Montgomery County Memorial Hospital + Clinics
Red Oak, IA
Gross charge $4,454Cash pay $3,118 - 3
Buena Vista Regional Medical Center
Storm Lake, IA
Gross charge $4,967Cash pay $3,973 - 4
Cass County Memorial Hospital
Atlantic, IA
Gross charge $5,942Cash pay $4,159 - 5
Wayne County Hospital
Corydon, IA
Gross charge $7,318 - 6
Stewart Memorial Community Hospital
Lake City, IA
Gross charge $7,587Cash pay $6,069 - 7
Cherokee Regional Medical Center
Cherokee, IA
Gross charge $7,600Cash pay $6,080 - 8
Myrtue Medical Center
Harlan, IA
Gross charge $7,698Cash pay $4,465 - 9
Burgess Health Center
Onawa, IA
Gross charge $8,072Cash pay $6,457 - 10
Mahaska Health
Oskaloosa, IA
Gross charge $8,273Cash pay $7,032 - 11
Winnmed
Decorah, IA
Gross charge $8,324Cash pay $5,827 - 12
MercyOne Newton Medical Center
Newton, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 13
MercyOne Genesis Davenport Medical Center
Davenport, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 14
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center (Acute Care)
Mason City, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 15
MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center
Waterloo, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 16
MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center (Acute Care)
Dubuque, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 17
Mercyone Clinton Medical Center
Clinton, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 18
Mercyone Siouxland Medical Center
Sioux City, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 19
Hancock County Health System
Britt, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 20
Franklin General Hospital
Hampton, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 21
MercyOne Genesis DeWitt Medical Center
Dewitt, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 22
MercyOne Elkader Medical Center
Elkader, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 23
MercyOne New Hampton Medical Center
New Hampton, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 24
MercyOne Oelwein Medical Center
Oelwein, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 25
Mercyone Centerville Medical Center
Centerville, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 26
MercyOne Dyersville Medical Center
Dyersville, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 27
Hansen Family Hospital
Iowa Falls, IA
Gross charge $10,333Cash pay $6,716 - 28
Floyd County Medical Center
Charles City, IA
Gross charge $10,814Cash pay $4,326 - 29
Orange City Area Health System (OCAHS)
Orange City, IA
Gross charge $11,305Cash pay $9,044 - 30
Spencer Municipal Hospital
Spencer, IA
Gross charge $11,459Cash pay $8,594 - 31
St Anthony Regional Hospital
Carroll, IA
Gross charge $11,481 - 32
Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion
Clarion, IA
Gross charge $12,579Cash pay $7,547 - 33
Ottumwa Regional Health Center (Acute Care)
Ottumwa, IA
Gross charge $16,235Cash pay $6,494 - 34
Mercy Medical Center Cedar Rapids (Acute Care)
Cedar Rapids, IA
Gross charge $19,763Cash pay $12,846 - 35
UnityPoint Health - Marshalltown Hospital
Marshalltown, IA
Gross charge — - 36
Trinity Muscatine
Muscatine, IA
Gross charge — - 37
Trinity Regional Medical Center
Fort Dodge, IA
Gross charge — - 38
Chi Health Mercy Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs, IA
Gross charge — - 39
University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center Downtown
Iowa City, IA
Gross charge — - 40
St Lukes Hospital (Acute Care)
Cedar Rapids, IA
Gross charge — - 41
UnityPoint Health - Iowa Methodist Medical Center
Des Moines, IA
Gross charge — - 42
UnityPoint Health - Trinity Bettendorf Hospital
Bettendorf, IA
Gross charge — - 43
Allen Hospital
Waterloo, IA
Gross charge — - 44
Finley Hospital
Dubuque, IA
Gross charge — - 45
UnityPoint Health - Grinnell Regional Medical Center
Grinnell, IA
Gross charge — - 46
Grundy County Memorial Hospital
Grundy Center, IA
Gross charge — - 47
Chi Health - Mercy Corning
Corning, IA
Gross charge — - 48Gross charge —
- 49
Chi Health Missouri Valley
Missouri Valley, IA
Gross charge — - 50
Clarke County Hospital
Osceola, IA
Gross charge — - 51
Henry County Health Center
Mount Pleasant, IA
Gross charge — - 52
St Lukes Regional Medical Center
Sioux City, IA
Gross charge — - 53
Community Memorial Hospital Medical Center
Sumner, IA
Gross charge — - 54
Sioux Center Health
Sioux Center, IA
Gross charge —
Iowa hospitals price vaginal delivery (Medicare DRG 807) anywhere from $3,889 to $19,763 — a $15,874 gap between the cheapest and most expensive option. The cheapest is Boone County Hospital in Boone; the most expensive is Mercy Medical Center Cedar Rapids (Acute Care) in Cedar Rapids. The state average sits at $9,797.
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 vaginal delivery at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.
For vaginal delivery 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 vaginal delivery in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 807 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.