Dad charged £31 by hospital to hold his newborn baby

Ryan Grassley says he was charged $39.95 to hold his baby (GoFundMe/Ryan Grassley)

It is supposed to be one of the greatest bonding moments for a new father.

But when Ryan Grassley was given the chance to hold his newborn for the very first time, he was charged $39.95 (£31.30) by the hospital.

Grassley took to Reddit to register his outrage and has also started a GoFundMe page to raise the $39.95 fee.

He said that any money he makes over the required amount he will put towards the cost of a vasectomy.

Grassley explained that he and wife went to Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah, on Seotember 4.

The baby was delivered by C-sectrion.

‘The nurse asked if we wanted to do skin to skin ASAP after baby was born,”’ Grassley told The Mighty website. ‘

‘So we of course said yes, but when the bill came were pretty surprised that was a line item of the bill.”

The cost was itemised on the bill (Reddit/halfthrottle)

The payment has caused outrage and also points up the high cost of medical charges in the US.

The C-section delivery alone was over $3,000 and the couple’s total bill was more than $16,000.

Others have refused to believe the tale, and claim it must have been made up.

After posting on Reddit, Grassley has received more than 2.6 million views in less than 24 hours.

The GoFundMe page has already raised $40.

Grassley added: ‘If I reach my goal of $39.35 I will use it to pay off this ‘ridiculous’ fee, any money donated over the $39.35 will be put towards a Vesectomy [sic] because I never want to go though these sleepless new baby nights again.’