Royal birth cost $15k, average U.S. birth billed at $30k

Birthing the royal baby in Britain's nicest private ward cost an estimated $15,000 -- half the $30,000 average bill for an ordinary vaginal birth in the U.S.

The estimate is based on what it would cost to deliver in the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London, where the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a son on Monday.

Though the royal birth can be considered luxurious by British standards, $15,000 in the U.S. would be a really good deal.

According to a Truven Analytics report, the average total price billed for pregnancy and newborn care in the U.S. was about $30,000 for a vaginal delivery and $50,000 for a C-section, with insurers paying out an average of $18,329 and $27,866 respectively.

Although that report includes full pregnancy costs, the gap in cost for just delivery remains. In 2012, the total hospital and physician cost for a normal delivery in the U.K. was $2,641, while in the U.S. the average price was between $7,000 and $10,000.

The U.S. is the most expensive place to have a baby, largely due to itemized billing that can go so far as to charge separately for removing the placenta.