Maternity Insurance is, by far, one of the most demanded cover by mums-to-be and ladies when they are relocated in Singapore. Singapore’s National Health System is ranked well above their counterparties in the region. If you are an expatriate planning to grow your family, Singapore is probably, the country where you would like to be for your delivery. With a newborn mortality rate of 2 every 1,000* (or 0.2%) and maternal mortality rate of 8 every 100,000** deliveries (or 0.008%), is one of safest countries in the world due to their advanced technologies, access the latest research centers and modern interconnected network.
Maternity Insurance Quotation
Pre-Delivery Insurance
It all comes with a price. Whereas locals and Permanent Residents (PR) enjoy benefits only made available to them, expatriates and all foreigners in the need of medical facilities must fork out large sums in order to receive the best of the treatments. Even though local public hospitals in Singapore are well equipped and life threatening complications are well covered for all, when you choose to be treated through the public system you are not allowed to choose your visiting doctor or OG (Obstetrics and Gynecologist). Furthermore, you may need to book much in advance your appointments, especially on weekends, before all slots are taken up.
The convenience and comfort of engaging a private clinic for all your pre-delivery consultation during the whole course of your pregnancy appears to be priceless. Whether by your personal choice, by a friend’s recommendation or by online positive remarks, the selection fo your OG is something you would like to have under control.
There’s nobody better than you to know how it feels during your pregnancy. Nothing better than you to decide your treating medical team. The sensitiveness of your state and privacy moments spent with your Obstetrician should not be summed-up to the fact that the person is treating you does not make you feel comfortable and, for your next consultation, by luck and random allocation of specialists, this may be a different person again.
Think no more and get an instant quotation online for your pregnancy insurance. Get covered for what is really important to you.
Delivery Insurance
Moving forward to your big day: the delivery of your baby. Probably the most important part of the whole maternity journey. Therefore, all details must be tied up well in advance, just to avoid any unpleasant surprise whether on the availability of hospital room, medical facilities or attending medical team and the high cost involving all these circumstances. A part from your optional choices, unfortunately, and facing the reality, you must be prepared for any delivery complications, as well as your baby complications right after birth. These are, obviously, unwanted circumstances but, as a matter of fact, they happen and more often times than desired. Insure yourself with a comprehensive maternity plan now.
Pregnancy Insurance for foreigners
Having a maternity with delivery insurance has become a must. Not just for the convenience of your appointments and selection of your doctor, but to be prepared for the unforeseen and unwanted situations.
In short, a maternity insurance would cover for all your pre and post-delivery consultations as well as the delivery itself. As a long and completed description of benefits, please continue reading below. You will find the long list of benefits which are built-in a pregnancy insurance in Singapore.
Review of cover – Maternity insurance
Depending on the level of cover you chose, your maternity insurance may cover your check-ups, tests and scanners during your pregnancy, together with the delivery itself, or just the latter.
All health insurance policies’ core plan is of inpatient cover. Translated onto maternity insurance this is the delivery and its complications such as c-section. Since you are purchasing your maternity insurance with ample time in advance and so, intentionally to fall pregnant anytime soon, it is unavoidable that you will need check-ups, test and scans before your delivery. Therefore, you may want to consider buying a comprehensive cover with full protection.
Let us go into details, exploring each of the benefits so you may have a better idea on what you need, what you don’t and which plan would fit your priorities to the maximum.
Pregnancy and pre-delivery insurance
From the moment you receive the good news, whether by your own self-test or from your doctor, you will have to start planning a long period of 36 weeks full of consultations, check-ups, tests, ultrasound scans, diets, monitoring…
First weeks: routine maternity check-ups
All of these are outpatient consultations. Mostly routine check-ups and the necessary scheduled scans. If it all goes well, you may find this period even boring and kind of routinary stuff. This boredom period, even though may be boring, is crucial as many future complications can be identified during the first weeks. It’s just a matter of time for thing to start getting more exciting and you will go through it, believe me.
From approximately the 4th month, your baby gender maybe visible. This is just an approximate as it could be different from baby to baby and her position during the scan.
Fourth month: necessary scans
At this stage, things start to get more exciting. You will be able to see more clearly your baby’s body parts in the print out of your ultrasound scans. You will feel kicking and reactions of your baby to external stimulus such as loud music.
Therefore, more frequent check-ups and scans are necessary by now. Your doctor will need to make sure your baby development is going well and according to the gestational time. You as well, will want to be sure your baby is doing well.
Last weeks of pregnancy
As the 36th week approaches, the ultrasound scans will be more frequent. During this period, your doctor is able to see clearer details such as head circumference or the length of arms and legs. What to you is maybe a nice and memorable experience, getting to see your baby kicking for the first time, to your doctor provides with valuable information; heartbeat rate or baby’s and cord’s position.
At this point your doctor may recommend to reduce your physical activities. To increase them or to attend a pre-delivery course for a smoother and healthier delivery.
Cost of pre-delivery consultations
The cost will vary depending on the clinic you choose. Within the clinic, the rate of your obstetrician, based on her length of experience and expertise, day of the visit (weekends’ rate is higher), number of appointments, number of scans, complications, and other tests and services that may not be necessary for all pregnancies and patients.
For the whole course you should put aside a budget of $5,000 and up to $8,000 for outpatient maternity consultations.
Maternity Insurance: Delivery cover (Inpatient)
With a couple of weeks in advance, you will be encourage by your doctor to book your hospital room for the delivery. Some doctors work in partnership with hospitals. Your doctor may encourage you to book your room in a specific hospital where he/she works in partnership with.
It is time for your to choose your hospital. Whether public or private. And your room; private (1 bed), semi-private (2 bedded) or more (4 bedded and above).
Maternity Cover: Private room
Needless to say, if you acquire a health insurance policy with maternity cover, you would like to enjoy the benefit of privacy and a calmed room. For yourself and your baby, this would be the most appropriate option right after birth. Standard private room is the typical room covered by a maternity insurance. VIP, Deluxe and other higher standard rooms are, by default, excluded from cover with all pregnancy policies. If you wish to enjoy a VIP room, available in private hospitals, you are still able to do so so. However your insurer would just pay for the cost of a private room. You will have to pay the difference.
Epidural and other costs
When necessary, your doctor would recommend you to take the epidural. This involves the payment of anaesthetist and the epidural itself. Epidural is injected with a syringe via your lower spine. Due to the location of the point to be applied, unless it is really necessary, some doctors are reluctant to recommend it.
C-section
When yours or your baby’s life is in risk, or advised in order to avoid further complications, your doctor will encourage you to go through a Caesarian Section. This is basically a incision in your abdomen through which your baby will be born. Due to the high number of Cesarean sections practiced these days, this may sound like a routinary procedure. However C-Section is surgical procedure and, as such, it involves risk in it. By default, all deliveries via Caesarian sections are categorised as of risk.
Surgery fee and medical team
Your Obstetrician will attend your delivery, unless you have chosen a different specialist for it. By default and as a standard practice, is your O&G specialist who attends your check-ups and routinary antenatal consultations to assist with your delivery as well.
Depending on his/her years of service as well as reputation, her surgery fees will be. Adding on, Obstetricians typically work with a team of nurses and other professionals. You may not know; all other medical staff in your delivery, is usually a closed profesional team selected by your doctor. They are not there by a random shift draw, fortunately; as you choose the professional you feel confident with, your professional doctor chooses as well her team.
Basic Baby Care and nursing
Whether with or without c-section, you may need to stay in your hospital room a couple of days. Natural birth typically does not require convalescence period in the hospital, the most you would stay may just be 1 day. If your delivery was with Caesarian Section, you will need at least 3-4 days under observation. Your baby may stay with you of course. The hospital may charge you for all her expenses such as diaper, formulae milk or suring care. It won’t make a hole in your pocket fortunately.
A maternity insurance would cover these expenses within the mother’s plan. On policy to policy basis, this cover typically covers up to certain number of days, usually 7.
Baby medical care right after birth
If, right after birth, your baby requires of any medical treatment such as incubator phototherapy or, in a more extreme case, surgery, you will have to put aside a separate budget.
Your health insurance policy with maternity benefits would allow you include your newborn baby onto your plan within a number of days from birth, typically 30. In this article you will find further details, terms and conditions for each of the insurers on how to add my newborn baby onto my current health insurance policy.
Insurers typically provide with a benefit for just born babies and their complications right after birth. This allowance is, most of the times, enough to cover the cost of any emergency treatment. Each insurer will impose certain conditions in order for you to benefit from this cover, typically consists of a waiting period. Hence, in order to avoid you having to spend large amounts in treatments for your newborn, please make sure you have purchased your plan with ample time in advance. Aside from waiting period, other conditions referring to the addition of your baby and payment of premiums apply. Speak to our specialist as soon as you start planning to have a baby.
Cost of delivery covered by a maternity insurance
A natural delivery, excluding all outpatient consultations, tests and scans, would cost your from $9,000 to $17,000. Provided that you have chosen private hospital and private room.
In the unfortunate case of emergency C-section, the above may be doubled easily, including the cost of your room for a few more days under observation.
Waiting period of maternity insurance
Like any other insurance type, maternity insurance is meant to cover your maternity expenses and it must be purchased before the need arises. You won’t buy a home insurance after your house is set on fire. Likewise, your maternity insurance must be purchased before you fall pregnant.
All health insurance policies with maternity benefits impose a waiting period, during which you will not be able to claim any maternity-related expenses. The most common waiting period for pregnancy insurance is 12 months. There are policies in the market with a shorter waiting period (i.e. 10 months). While some policies’ waiting period is as long as 24 months.
Maternity insurance with the shortest waiting period
Are you planning to grow your family anytime soon? in a couple of months? maybe in a few years’ time? whichever your situation is, speak to our specialist and get a personalised quotation to find out what are the maternity solutions available to you.
The best pregnancy insurance in Singapore is the one that provides with the cover you require. Due to the multiple options out in the market, we highly encourage you to speak with our International Health Insurance specialist, share your concerns and listen to his proposed solutions. With his advice, you should be able to identify the best maternity insurance for you.
Maternity and all health insurance premiums are calculated based on your age, country of residence and level of cover of your choice. Just to give you an idea, for a 25 year old lady residing in Singapore, a health insurance policy with maternity benefits can cos as low as $4,000 per annum. However, you may choose antenatal cover, check-ups and tests. It is better you to get a personalised maternity insurance quotation with all available options before you make your decision.
By default, maternity cover is a rider to be purchased as an add-on to your core international health insurance. However, some insurers provide with maternity cover built-in their core plan. Some of the insurers with maternity cover in their core plans are BUPA, CIGNA or AXA International Exclusive Plan A.
Other policies our specialists can help you with:
