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Maternity Insurance
Clive Wolstencroft

The cost of having a baby may well cancel next year's holiday! In places like Hong Kong and Shanghai, a normal birth, including ante natal care, delivery and postnatal costs, will be about US$15,000 - US$25,000, assuming there are no complications and the baby does not arrive early.

If a birth is premature, some weeks of intensive care may be needed and at US$100,000 per week, 24 hour care by specialist doctors and nurses is very expensive.

Recently a child was born 15 weeks before the due date in America and lived. The total cost is not difficult to calculate but the financial burden may well be with you long after the baby has recovered and is leading a normal life.

When anticipating maternity costs many people overlook the fact that if the child suffers from such things as:

Hernia
‘Many people don't think of hernias as health problems that can occur in children. But hernias are fairly common in kids. Babies (especially premature babies) can even be born with them. In fact, hernia repair is the one of the most common surgeries performed on children’. Read More >

Epilepsy
‘Epilepsy can begin at any time of life but it is most common in children under five years. Although epilepsy varies from person to person, children with epilepsy generally have seizures that respond well to medication and they enjoy a normal and active childhood. More that half will outgrow their seizures as they mature’. Read more >

Strabismus (squint or crossed-eyes)
‘Newborns often appear to have crossed eyes due to a lack of developed vision, but this disappears as the infant grows. True strabismus does not disappear as the child grows. Visit your eyecare practitioner if you're unsure if your child is demonstrating true strabismus. The earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the better the visual results’.Read More >

Hydrocephalus (Water on the brain)
‘Hydrocephalus can be present at birth or you can develop it later. The outlook for people with hydrocephalus varies depending on how soon the condition is diagnosed, whether any other disorders are present and whether treatment is successful. With no treatment, hydrocephalus is nearly always fatal’. Read More >

Hole in the heart ( Ventricular Septal Defect -VSD)
‘VSD, a congenital disease, is a hole in the heart. The condition affects about one in every 2,000 Americans. The hole, located between the heart's right and left pumping chambers, lets too much blood flow to the lungs. As a result, the heart must work harder to get sufficient blood to the rest of the body. The majority of VSDs are small, and usually close on their own by the time a child is five years old.

Large defects are a different matter. They cause a variety of significant symptoms, usually in the first year of a child's life, and must be closed surgically’. Read More >

There is a very high chance that medical insurance will not cover the treatment of these conditions for which there is little or no indication before birth.

If your baby is born as a result of an artificial method, such as in vitro-fertilization. Even some of the better quality plans that would normally cover congenital defects in a newborn will only cover the cost of delivery.

The costs associated with congenital problems at birth could mean bills many times greater than the cost of delivering the child. Very few insurance companies will accept the risk of what they would consider a pre-existing condition. Those that do will, with rare exceptions, insist on the mother being insured for at least 12 months prior to giving birth.

Some group plans, particularly those that originate in the USA, will give an unconditional undertaking to accept a child from birth with no questions asked. Having cover from such plans will almost certainly mean you would have difficulty in finding replacement insurance if you change to a new company scheme. If you or your child have pre-existing medical conditions they must be declared to a new insurer, who may not want to take on a known risk.

You can of course find your own health insurance, but with so much that can be overlooked it is a good idea to find help from an expert. Anyone who is a specialist in their subject will know the pitfalls, such as those we have listed above, and what is available from all sources. He or she will be able to advise you properly and find the right plan for your family from a multitude of sources.

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