Birth Costs and Insurance?

[Patrick777]

I'm reading that the average normal birth is 3k S$? C- section around9k? Has anyone recently given birth and can confirm?

Also does anyone know of any insurance you could take out to protect you against crazy costs ? I'd rather like to know I can limit myself to 9k as apposed to 10+k etc!

Any advice would be great !

Cheers

Patrick

[Singapore Newbie]

I just had a baby at Mount Elizabeth. For normal delivery with epidural my total bill was about S$7900. The hospital bill was S$4500, while the three doctors cost $3350 (pediatrician, anesthetist, and obstetrician). I was there for 4 nights. Most private hospitals have package prices (not sure about public hospitals) for deliveries and then you just pay the additional cost of addition nights, your doctor's fees, etc. Just ask the hospital for details. They all seem to have brochures detailing how much the package prices are and what is included.

[Patrick777]

That's almost double what I was expecting for a normal on c-section birth? Did you have a private room for 4 nights? My wife is thai and we were debating whether to have it in Thailand and if it's going to rise to $8k for a normalish birth that's worring?

[Singapore Newbie]

Yes, I had a private room and my husband stayed with me (there's a lodger's fee of $100/night). Most women only stay in the hospital for two nights. I stayed an additional 2 nights due to my baby having jaundice, which was an additional $1200. Again, this is at a private hospital. I've heard good things about KK, a public hospital, and I know it's considerably less expensive to have a baby there. Let me know if you have more questions.

Good luck!

[Patrick777]

I knew it was a private hospital but I'd read some info on out of date sites and the figures were miles out! My wife stayed in 5 days with our first child as he had jaundas as well!

I've just got off the phone to Mount Eliz and they said $2000 for the hospital +$2000-3000 for the doctors etc!

I don't mind paying 5-9k it's if it spirals to +10k I'll start to get upset etc! 8(

I'm not sure what to do at the moment! 8(

[Singapore Newbie]

Their quote sounds right. Yes, the hospital pkg at Mt. E is $2,280 for 2 nights, but that doesn't include a lot of additional things like medications, etc. Ask them to send you their brochure or stop by to pick one up. It provides more details. Also, yes, the total doctors' fees were $3,355 in my case.

I don't think you'll end up paying more than $10K provided there are no complications. Hopefully, you have insurance to help you anyways. If you are overly concerned, then perhaps you should consider the public hospital or going back to Thailand to have the baby.

I must say, though, that the level of care at Mount Elizabeth was exceptional. I had a team of friendly, competent nurses just a click away to help with anything and everything. It was well-worth the cost.

[babypro]

I stayed an additional 2 nights due to my baby having jaundice, which was an additional $1200.

Im really surprised you paid so much!! Ive told some other mothers here already, that a really good way to save some money, is to ask your pediatrician for home phototherapy for your baby's jaundice. This means that you can rent the phototherapy machines at home and treat standard jaundice from home.
For 2 nights, the cost for one bottom light machine is $299, if your baby needs a more intensive treatment, you can rent 2 machines which will shine light on top and the bottom of your baby, and that costs only $389.

My friends who have done it said it was a lifesaver... None of them wanted to go home without their 2-day-old baby... You can see what the machine looks like here http://www.thebabyspecialist.com.sg/med ... ght-combi/
hope it helps!