Securing Insurance for Pregnancy in Singapore

Expats and foreigners can secure insurance for pregnancy in Singapore through the help of an experienced broker like Pacific Prime. A broker can help you research maternity insurance providers, compare plans, make sure you have all the benefits you need, and set up your coverage plan for you.

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Are you a future mother or father heading to Singapore, and you want to learn how to get pregnancy insurance while abroad? Are you curious about the steps to securing maternity coverage and what will be covered?

This blog post is perfect for your needs! We will break down 5 easy steps you can follow to secure your maternity insurance plan for your time in Singapore. We’ll also teach you what is and isn’t covered by insurance, and we’ll let you know some things you should consider before picking a plan.

When it comes to getting maternity insurance in Singapore as an expat, we are here to help! Contact us with your questions, and compare quotes online yourself.

How Expats Can Get Pregnancy Insurance in Singapore

Marina Bay Sands View: Lantern Perspective, Singapore

Expats can get pregnancy insurance in Singapore if they:

  1. Research the Top Maternity Insurance Providers
  2. Determine the Maternity Benefits You Need
  3. Compare Maternity Insurance Plans
  4. Consult an Insurance Expert
  5. Begin a Pregnancy Insurance Plan Long in Advance

We will break down these 5 steps for you. If you have any questions about this process, please reach out to our insurance team. We’ll give you unbiased advice without any pressure to purchase insurance before you’re ready. Pacific Prime is here to serve you!

Step 1: Research the Top Maternity Insurance Providers

Soon-to-be-mothers in Singapore should become familiar with these top maternity insurance providers:

Each of these providers offers phenomenal pregnancy insurance benefits, including inpatient hospitalization, routine maternity care, pregnancy and childbirth complications, and more.

Not all providers include maternity or newborn benefits in their international health insurance plans, so you’ll want to take the time to make sure the plan you are considering has exceptional maternity coverage.

Step 2: Determine the Maternity Benefits You Need

Expat mothers and pregnant women in Singapore must know which maternity benefits are essential to them and which ones they don’t need. Following is a list of pregnancy coverage benefits you should consider so you make sure you find plans with everything you need:

  • Pregnancy complications
  • Childbirth complications
  • Newborn care
  • Congenital conditions
  • Childbirth services
  • Breastfeeding services
  • Expat infertility treatments
  • Epidurals

Make a list of all the benefits you absolutely must have, the ones you’d like to have, and the ones you don’t need. Knowing your needs and priorities ahead of time will largely inform your plan comparisons in the next step.

Step 3: Compare Maternity Insurance Plans

Next, future mothers and fathers in Singapore should compare the many maternity insurance plans available. Make sure the plans you consider have the essential benefits you can’t live without. Using an online quote generator that can compare across plans and providers is a great tool for this step.

If you use Pacific Prime’s health insurance quote generator, it is really easy to plug in Singapore as your destination, the type of coverage you need, how long you’ll live there, and your age and gender.

If you make a free account, you can even save your favorite quotes for easy reference later on!  

Step 4: Consult an Insurance Expert

Consulting an insurance expert, like a broker, can make the entire research process easier. Brokers can compare insurance plans for you and walk you through the various customizable steps to make the plan exactly what you want and need, and so it fits inside your budget.

Brokers are a third party, so they aren’t linked to a single insurance provider the way many insurance agents are. This frees up brokers to give you advice and experienced knowledge about a variety of providers with the ultimate goal of helping you find what you want, and not the other way around.

There are many benefits to using a broker, and one of them is that you won’t owe them a penny!

Step 5: Begin a Pregnancy Insurance Plan Long in Advance

Many pregnancy insurance plans for Singapore expats have waiting periods or moratoriums. These can be anywhere from 10-24 months, so you must begin your insurance plan at least 2 years before you even try to become pregnant, otherwise, you run the risk of not having coverage.

The way a maternity insurance waiting period works is that you have to establish coverage and pay premiums for the full duration of the waiting period before any pregnancy benefits take effect. To work around this, we highly recommend you begin your insurance plan long in advance.

Things to Consider About Singapore Pregnancy Coverage

Singapore's Football Field: City Skyline Under Cloudy Day

It is important to consider the local birthing practices and customs of Singapore when you are picking your insurance coverage. Things such as using a doula or midwife, whether or not you want an epidural, and having the power to choose your doctor may affect your financial and insurance decisions.

Let’s discuss a few Singapore pregnancy practices you should consider.

  1. Doula or Midwife: A midwife is a trained professional who can assist in the delivery of your baby, and a doula is trained to assist you through the labor process. Doulas are usually not covered by insurance, but midwives can be covered.
  2. Partners are Welcome: Though this is not true in all countries, it is common in Singapore for the mother’s partner to stay with her throughout the whole process of her labor and delivery, including for cesarean sections.
  3. Epidurals: Epidurals are frequently administered in Singapore, so if you plan on using this service, you’ll want to make sure your insurance covers this procedure. There may be longer wait times to receive your epidural in a public hospital than there would be in a private one.
  4. Choosing Your Doctor: For some pregnant women, being able to choose the doctor who does your maternity care and delivery is very important to them. You will be able to pick your doctor in a Singapore private hospital, but you may not be able to do so in a public one.
  5. Delivery Costs in Singapore: A traditional delivery in Singapore in public hospitals may cost anywhere from about USD $5,000 – $7,000 (SGD 6,700 – SGD 9,200). A c-section ranges from USD $8,200 – $ 10,000 (SGD 11,000 – 13,000).In private hospitals with more luxurious accommodations, costs can be $7,400 (SGD 10,000) for a vaginal delivery and up to $15,000 (SGD 20,000) for a c-section.
  6. Language Barriers: It is possible expats won’t speak the local language. This may mean you’ll be more interested in private insurance so you can have access to multilingual healthcare providers who work in private hospitals and facilities.

What Most Pregnancy Insurance Plans in Singapore Cover

Merlion Statue: Iconic Fountain, Singapore

Many Singapore pregnancy insurance plans will cover the following benefits:

  • Doctor consultations
  • Prenatal and postnatal treatments and care
  • Medically prescribed c-sections
  • Normal deliveries
  • Pregnancy complications
  • Childbirth complications
  • Congenital disorders
  • Hospital, birthing center, or home delivery costs
  • Death benefit

Every plan is unique, however, so it is essential you carefully read your entire policy so you know what is covered and what is not. If you want help with this, consulting a broker is always a free resource at your disposal.

What Maternity Insurance in Singapore Doesn’t Cover

It is possible in Singapore for maternity insurance plans do not cover the following:

  • Mothers with multiple babies, such as twins or triplets
  • Termination of a pregnancy for a non-medically necessary reason
  • Miscarriage
  • Premature babies (that are not diagnosed with a congenital illness)
  • Pregnancies that result from IVF or other assisted fertility procedures

Frequently Asked Questions

Singapore's Vibrant Post Lights

When should I buy maternity insurance in Singapore?

It is best to buy maternity insurance as a Singapore expat a year to two years before you plan on trying to get pregnant. This is because most maternity insurance plans have a waiting period of 10-24 months of which you need to have an established plan before maternity benefits kick in.

Do I need maternity insurance in Singapore?

A delivery alone in Singapore can cost anywhere from $5,000 – $15,000 (3,723 – 11,170 SGD), so if you don’t have maternity insurance you’ll pay the full expense out of pocket. This doesn’t include the fees for prenatal, postnatal, and newborn care. For many women, maternity insurance is necessary.

Are there Singapore insurance plans just for pregnancy?

Most insurance plans in Singapore do not exclusively have pregnancy benefits. Rather, they have other inpatient and outpatient benefits in addition to the prenatal, postnatal, childbirth, and newborn care maternity benefits.

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Conclusion

We’ve now discussed the steps expatriate pregnant women can take to secure maternity insurance while living in Singapore. We’ve also introduced some of the local birthing practices so you can be more familiar with how that may affect your pregnancy and delivery.

If you’ve found value in this article, you’ll also want to read Maternity Insurance with No Waiting Period in Singapore and Exploring Maternity Insurance Coverage in Singapore.

You can get free pregnancy insurance quotes online or you can talk to an insurance broker.

Head of Content at Pacific Prime
Serena Fung is the Head of Content at Pacific Prime, a global insurance brokerage and employee specialist serving over 1.5 million clients in 15 offices across the world. With 6+ years of experience writing about the subject, she aims to demystify the world of insurance for readers with the latest updates, guides and articles on the blog.

Serena earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Canada. As such, she is an avid advocate of mental health and is fascinated by all things psychology (especially if it’s cognitive psychology!).

Her previous work experience includes teaching toddlers to read, writing for a travel/wellness online magazine, and then a business news blog. These combined experiences give her the skills and insights she needs to explain complex ideas in a succinct way. Being the daughter of an immigrant and a traveler herself, she is passionate about educating expats and digital nomads on travel and international health insurance.
Serena Fung
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