Having a Baby in California? It's Among the 'Best' States to Do So, Study Finds

Having a baby is arguably the biggest life-changing event a parent will ever face in his or her lifetime. From sleepless nights to the indescribable joy that radiates when baby smiles for the first time— the emotional roller-coaster is an adventure like no other.

One thing that all new parents will also learn: having kids is expensive.

Just how expensive? Medical bills alone for baby's birth can easily cost more than $10,000, according to financial experts.

All the costs can vary greatly from state to state, so the people over at the personal-finance website WalletHub took an in-depth look at 2016’s Best & Worst States to Have a Baby.

"WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia to give expectant parents an idea of the delivery costs, health-care accessibility and baby friendliness of each state," the organization said. "Our data set of 17 key metrics ranges from 'hospital Caesarean-delivery charges' to 'annual average infant-care costs' to 'number of pediatricians per capita.'" (Read full methodology here.)

When it was all said and done, the final findings put Vermont on top, followed by Maine and Connecticut. Mississippi landed at the bottom.

WalletHub's study put the state of California at number 17 overall. The state scored especially high in some of the sub-categories, coming in with the lowest infant-mortality rate in the nation, as well as the best parental leave policy.

Here are some more of the specifics of how California ranked:

Having a Baby in California (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

• 1st – Infant-Mortality Rate
• 9th – Rate of Low Birth-Weight
• 28th – Number of Midwives & OB-GYNs per Capita
• 22nd – Number of Pediatricians & Family Doctors per Capita
• 1st – ‘Parental Leave Policy’ Score
• 6th – Rate of Preterm Births

To learn more, read the full report here.

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(Photo courtesy of Renee Schiavone)