ENA family planning to have a baby in a German hospital usually wants to know the cost of giving birth in Germany before booking flights. The answer depends on the kind of birth, how long mother and baby stay in hospital and what happens on the day itself.
This page is for women without German health insurance who pay for the birth themselves; for women insured in Germany, the insurer covers the birth, and their case is not discussed here. How giving birth in Germany works in practice is explained on a separate page; this one deals only with costs. You will not find ready-made figures here: the exact sum comes from the hospital, in a written estimate for your particular pregnancy.
How Much Does Childbirth Cost in Germany: What the Hospital Bill Includes
How much does childbirth cost in Germany? There is no single average cost of childbirth in Germany: the sum follows the kind of birth and the length of stay. The hospital bills under the DRG system — in plain words, each case receives a group code, and the code carries a set sum for the whole stay. The mother’s stay is one case; a newborn who stays on in hospital after the delivery room is a separate case with its own group, and the hospital issues one bill for the mother and another for the baby. A natural birth and a caesarean fall into different groups, as do births with and without complications.
These case sums cover the essentials of every birth: the delivery room, the midwife and obstetrician on duty, anaesthesia when needed, the stay on the ward, nursing care and the newborn’s first examinations.
Doctors’ services outside the case sum, such as a chosen senior physician, are billed separately under the GOÄ, the official German fee schedule for doctors, as § 17 of the Hospital Remuneration Act (KHEntgG) provides. Each GOÄ service has a number of points, and the fee is calculated with a multiplier that reflects the difficulty and time involved. The official GOÄ text is published on the federal law portal.
| Cost item | Depends on | Guide figure |
|---|---|---|
| Mother’s stay: natural birth | course of labour and any complications, days in hospital | per hospital estimate |
| Mother’s stay: caesarean | planned or unplanned operation, days in hospital afterwards | per hospital estimate |
| The newborn’s own case | whether the baby is healthy or needs intensive care | per hospital estimate |
| Treatment by the head of department | scope of his or her services under the GOÄ | per hospital estimate |
| Single or family room | whether the family chooses it and for how many days | per hospital estimate |
Natural Birth or Caesarean: Why the Estimate Differs
The estimate differs because these are different cases: a planned caesarean is an operation, usually followed by a longer stay, so the hospital estimates it under a different group. During a natural birth, an epidural adds an anaesthetist’s service. The operation itself is described on our page on caesarean section in Germany.
Plans can change during labour: if an unplanned caesarean becomes necessary or the baby needs neonatal intensive care, the final bill changes, because the hospital bills the case as it actually happened. An estimate therefore states expected charges, not a fixed price.
Costs Before and After the Birth
Besides the bill for the birth itself, a family has costs before and after it, starting with antenatal care: check-ups and ultrasound scans in the last weeks of pregnancy, usually with an obstetrician or at the hospital’s outpatient clinic, are priced separately from the birth.
Optional extras, called Wahlleistung in German, are also billed separately: a single room, or a family room where the partner can stay with mother and baby, and private medical treatment by the head of department. By law, such extras are agreed in writing before they are provided, after the hospital has set out their price and content in writing.
After discharge come midwife home visits, check-ups with a paediatrician and the baby’s documents; the midwife and the paediatrician bill separately from the hospital. Whether the child can become a German citizen is explained on our page on birth in Germany and citizenship.
Hospitals with Obstetric Departments
Birth care is offered by many hospitals across Germany, and a separate directory of maternity hospitals in Germany brings them together. Examples from it include Rotkreuzklinikum München, where Dr. med. Ina M. Rühl heads obstetrics; Bürgerhospital Frankfurt, where Prof. Dr. med. Franz Bahlmann heads gynaecology and obstetrics; and Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch with its perinatal centre.
A high-risk pregnancy calls for a perinatal centre. Put simply, this is a hospital with a neonatal intensive care unit next to the delivery room, so a baby who needs help does not have to be moved to another hospital. The rules of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) require the delivery area, the operating theatre and the neonatal intensive care unit of a top-level perinatal centre to be in one building, wall to wall where possible, or in connected buildings. Good care during labour is described in the WHO recommendations on intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience.
Frequently asked questions
Is giving birth free in Germany?
For women insured in Germany, yes: their health insurer pays for the birth. For a family from abroad without German insurance, no: the mother pays the hospital herself, according to its written estimate. A baby who stays on in hospital after the delivery room is a separate case with a separate bill, so that bill belongs in the budget too.
How much do you pay for childbirth in Germany?
There is no single figure: a family without German insurance pays the sum in the hospital’s written estimate, which differs for a natural birth and a caesarean. The patient pays the hospital directly; for women insured in Germany, the insurer pays. The final bill follows the actual course of the birth and the days mother and baby spend in hospital.
Do you have to pay the hospital in advance?
The hospital may ask for a reasonable advance payment if health insurance cover is not proven, as § 8 of the Hospital Remuneration Act (KHEntgG) allows. The same law requires it to tell a self-paying patient the expected charges in writing as early as possible, and § 630c of the German Civil Code (BGB) requires information on the expected costs in text form before treatment if an insurer will not fully pay them.
Can you choose the doctor who delivers the baby?
Yes, for an extra fee: treatment by the head of department is an optional extra (Wahlleistung), agreed in writing before the birth and billed under the GOÄ. By law, such an agreement extends to all hospital doctors involved in the treatment who may bill separately, so it is worth asking in advance which doctors it covers.
How AlenMed Organises Birth in Germany and the Estimate
We start with the medical records and the estimate: the family contacts us early in pregnancy, we send the records to hospitals with obstetric departments and request an estimate from them. Airlines set their own rules for flying in late pregnancy, so these are checked with the airline well before the tickets are booked.
We then help with the invitation for the visa (more on our page on visa support for treatment), provide an interpreter for appointments and for the birth, and arrange accommodation for the family. Payment goes directly to the hospital, according to its estimate. Our company office is in Munich.
This material is for reference only and is not an offer. The hospital estimate covers only the services it lists, and the course of the birth is decided by the doctor and midwife on site.