This Is Why That Hospital Charged A Family $40 To 'Hold' Their Newborn Baby

A dad has revealed just how much a baby’s cuddles are worth, at least according to one hospital.

Ryan Grassley posted a photo on Reddit of the hospital bill he and his wife, Lidia, received after she had a C-section and they welcomed their second child. The bill shows a charge titled “SKIN TO SKIN AFTER C-SEC” and totals almost $40.

“I had to pay $39.35 to hold my baby after he was born,” Grassley wrote as the title of his post.

A representative from Intermountain Healthcare, which includes Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah, where Grassley’s wife had her C-section, told The Huffington Post that the hospital is an advocate for skin-to-skin contact after birth and that the charge is to ensure the safety of both the mother and child.

Though she could not comment on specific patients, she clarified that the charge is not for simply holding the baby, but to bring an additional caregiver into the operating room “to maintain the highest levels of patient safety.”

“In the case of a C-section, where the bedside caregiver is occupied caring for the mother during surgery, an additional nurse is brought into the OR to allow the infant to remain in the OR suite with the mother,” said the representative.

Grassley clarified on Reddit that he had a “positive experience” at the hospital and that everyone involved was “great.” He wrote that a nurse took photos with his camera as he held his newborn son on his wife’s neck and chest.

The dad is also taking in the situation with a bit of humor. He decided to crowdfund the almost $40 to cover the skin-to-skin contact cost.

“I’ve also started a GoFundMe to raise the $39.00 I had to spend to for my wife to hold the baby,” he said. “Kind of as a joke because we are all having such a good laugh over all of this.”

As of Wednesday morning, Grassley has raised exactly $60. Mission accomplished.