It does vary quite a bit...
The actual pregnancy check ups for me ran around $100 each visit for ten visits (and that is after what my insurance covered). I had two ultrasounds which were medically necessary, thus covered by insurance, but the doctor said any non-medically necessary ultrasounds are $300 (not the 3D or 4D kind). Tests and other screenings are also an additional cost, and depending on your personal beliefs and your wife's age, could get quite costly.
I wound up being overdue, and incredibly uncomfortable. My mother has a condition which renders her incapable of having contractions and going into labor (some kind of hormone doesn't react the way it should) and had cesareans with my brother and I when we were 3.5 and 2 weeks overdue. With her medical history, my doctor had a similar concern for me when I was very, very large, engaged, and dilated, but nothing was happening. I had my membranes stripped in the doctor's office, my water broke at home, I got to the hospital, and still wasn't really in labor. Because my water had broken, I had 24 hours to deliver the baby, and spent the next 14 hours on a pitocin drip trying to make labor happen.
I eventually birthed with the assistance of an epidural (thanks to Pitocin and its double peak contractions). And while my son's cord was wrapped, it was still a pretty textbook delivery.
Because I went into labor in the evening, and gave birth in the early morning, I didn't meet the cut off point to be released within 24 hours (I'm not really sure how else to explain that). My son failed the first few hearing tests, and that was another setback. Overall I was in the hospital for three days and three nights.
AFTER insurance I paid $1500 for the epidural and $2500 for the hospital stay. The total on the bills was something like $8000 or so.
I had a pretty uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth, didn't have any additional tests done or excessive ultrasounds, and still wound up spending quite a bit of money.
Other things to think about are maternity clothing, missing work for check ups (if she does not have paid sick leave), and classes. I didn't take any birthing classes, but if you go the all natural route, it's a good idea to take classes to learn about pain management and delivery techniques. There's also expenses immediately post delivery. If your wife intends to breastfeed, usually a hospital or midwife will want to set you up with a lactation consultant, and while breastfeeding is cheaper in the long run, it's pretty expensive at first to get pumps and special clothing and whatnot. Plus, in the first few months, your baby would be visiting a doctor every few weeks for well baby checkups. And that's just if they're healthy, even common newborn problems require tons of visits (jaundice, eczema, bowel problems, etc.)
And as another poster stated, think about maternity leave. I have what's considered an excellent benefits package for the area I live and work in, and had to use my own vacation leave for my six week maternity leave. I only had enough to cover 4 weeks, so two weeks were unpaid leave. And daycare costs are another issue, many daycares don't like to take newborns, and if they do, it's at an exorbitant price (going rate downtown here is $250+/week, suburban is about $180-$200/week), and there's usually a wait list.
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