Most developed countries provide deeply subsidized, flat-fee maternity care to give each newborn the healthiest start possible, but the cost of prenatal care and delivery in the U.S. is the highest in the world — and billed to the patient item by item, leaving some women to choose during labor whether to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an epidural. "British royal born in fanciest ward: $15,000. Average US birth: billed $30,000; paid $18,000. What's wrong here?" Elisabeth Rosenthal of the New York Times tweeted this week. The historic Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge ... (full story)