OBJECTIVES To determine and quantify the level of price variation in inpatient care for obstetrical services across hospitals in the State of Vermont, USA. METHODS We used data from Vermont Healthcare Claims Uniform Reporting and Evaluation System (VHCURES) for the calendar year 2012. We generated single-line summaries for all inpatient obstetrical services with an admission date in 2012. We excluded records for Medicaid, secondary payments either to Medicare or another commercial insurance, denied claims, non-VT resident claims and adjustments to existing claims. This produced a total of 4,019 records for the evaluated services from 13 Vermont hospitals. We calculated the allowed amount for each Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) (total amount a hospital received from a payer, including any prepaid amounts related to the service, plus the amount due from a patient through copayment, co-insurance and deductible). The outcome of interest is the average price of a specific DRG at each hospital as a percent of group average price in Vermont Hospitals. To reflect patient severity we adjusted prices by case-mix. Results were generated for hospitals only when there were at least 10 discharges in a specific hospital. RESULTS The average prices for a vaginal delivery with complicating diagnoses varied between 66% to 156% of the group average, vaginal delivery without complicating diagnoses varied between 74% to 182%, neonate with other significant problems varied between 60% to 206% and normal newborn varied between 77% to 180%. CONCLUSIONS There is wide variation in payments for obstetrical services across Vermont hospitals. Further analysis is necessary to understand the role of various factors that contribute to this variation. During this transition period to a single-payer system in the rural state of Vermont, policy makers will need evidence-based information to ensure undiminished access to care in obstetrical services.