Over the past few years, maternity insurance has started becoming more popular in Singapore with more insurers offering it.
When we first wrote about maternity insurance in 2015, we only found one insurer offering this type of insurance. In this article, we will explore the types of coverage these maternity insurance policies offer, as well as the premiums that you can expect to pay.
What Is Maternity Insurance?
Maternity insurance is a single-premium insurance policy covering unexpected complications arising from pregnancy, which could affect either mother or child. Coverage from the policy is typically provided in the form of a one-time pay out if an insured event occurs. This is useful for parents to offset additional medical costs arising from these pregnancy complications.
For maternity insurance policies, expecting mothers can buy the policies from as early as 13 weeks of the pregnancy. If you already intend to buy maternity insurance, it’s advisable to get it as early as possible so that you enjoy a longer coverage for the same premiums.
What Maternity Insurance Covers?
It’s interesting to note that maternity insurance is one of the rare insurance policies in the market that covers two individuals via a single insurance policy. The two people, are of course, the mother and the child (or multiple children, for mothers who are carrying twins or more).
Coverage For Mother
Coverage for mothers would include a wide range of complications that could occur during pregnancy. Common complications include Abruptio Placentae (premature separation of the placenta from the uterus), Amniotic Fluid Embolism, Fatty Liver of Pregnancy, Postpartum Haemorrhage requiring Hysterectomy, Pre-Eclampsia or Eclampsia and also Still Birth.
Unless you are a doctor, most of these are likely medical terms that you will not be familiar with. However, these are pregnancy-related complications that do occur, which a maternity insurance policy would cover. For the exact extent of coverage, you should check out the details of the maternity insurance policies that you intend to purchase coverage from.
Besides pregnancy complications, other coverage for the mother could include hospital care benefits, where there would be cash payout for each day spent at the hospital for pregnancy-related issues as well as death and total permanent disability benefits.
Coverage For Child
Congenital illnesses are illnesses that are present at birth. Unfortunately, they do happen to a minority of babies for reasons that we will never know. These include Cleft lip and cleft palate, Club foot, Down syndrome and Spina bifida. Based on our observations, insurers in Singapore cover about 17 to 26 different types of congenital illnesses. Once again, you should check out the details of the various maternity insurance policies that you intend to purchase coverage from to know the different congenital illnesses it covers the child for.
For both pregnancy complications for the mother and congenital illnesses for the child, a one-time payout will be given when any of the diagnosed illnesses or complications occur.
Read Also: Different Types Of Baby Insurance To Buy For Your Newborn Child
What Are The Stand-Alone Maternity Insurance Policies In Singapore?
In Singapore currently, there are some insurers that offer stand-alone maternity insurance policies.
NTUC Income Maternity 360
Offered by NTUC Income, Maternity 360 provides coverage against 10 types of pregnancy complications for mothers and 23 types of congenital illnesses for children. It also provides hospital care benefits for both mother and child.
For a sum assured of $5,000, a 30-year-old pregnant mother will pay a single premium of $390.55
For Mothers
| Pregnancy Complication And Congenital Illnesses Benefit | 100% of sum assured (i.e. $5,000) |
| Hospital Care Benefit | 1% of the sum assured (i.e. $50) for each day, up to a maximum of 30% of the sum assured (i.e. $1,500). |
| Death Benefit | 100% of sum assured (i.e. $5,000) |
For Newborns
| Category of insured events | Cover limit |
| Congenital illnesses benefit (23 types)
|
100% of the sum assured
|
| Hospital care benefit
|
1% of sum assured for each day of hospital stay, up to 30% of sum assured
|
| Outpatient phototherapy benefit
|
1% of the sum assured for each day the phototherapy machine is rented, up to 10% of the sum assured
|
| Death benefit
|
100% of the sum assured
|
Great Eastern GREAT Maternity Care 2
The GREAT Maternity Care 2 offers two levels of coverage that provides the sum assured of $5,000 and $10,000.
For example, a 35-year-old mother would pay $509 for the sum assured of $5,000. This covers the mother for 18 types of pregnancy and childbirth complications, along with psychological consultations.
For Mothers
| Pregnancy And Childbirth Complications Benefit | 100% of sum assured |
| Hospital Care Benefit | 2% of sum assured per day, up to maximum of 30 days. Up to $200 per day, up to maximum of 30 days |
| Psychological Consultations Benefit | $100 per consultation, up to a maximum of 3 consultations |
For Newborns
| Death Benefit | 100% of sum assured |
| Congenital Illness Benefit | 2% of sum assured per day, up to maximum of 30 days. Up to $200 per day, up to maximum of 30 days |
| Hospital Care Benefit | Up to $200 per day, up to maximum 30 days |
| Juvenile Illness Benefit | 100% of sum assured |
| Major Organ Benefit | 50% of sum assured |
The policy provides coverage for the Mother and Child separately and it pays out once for each of the covered benefits (except for Hospital Care Benefit and Psychological Consultation Benefit).
For example, in the unfortunate event where mother is diagnosed with a covered pregnancy complications and child is subsequently diagnosed with a congenital illnesses, the policy will pay out the sum assured twice.
PRUMum
Prudential offers a single premium 4-year maternity term protection plan for mothers and their newborns. There are 4 sum assured coverage options that you can choose from. This covers up to 13 pregnancy complications, 25 congenital illnesses, mental wellness care, gestational diabetes mellitus and hospital care benefits.
It also covers assisted pregnancies such as In Vitro Fertilisation.
You can take a look at the summary of benefits here.
For Mothers
| Pregnancy Complications And Congenital Illnesses Benefit | Get protected for up to 13 pregnancy complications; Up to 25 Congenital illnesses |
| Hospital Care Benefit | Receive 2% sum assured a day, for up to 50 days |
| Psychological Consultations And Postpartum Depression Diagnosis | Payout for Psychological Consultations is up to $200; Up to 5% sum assured with Postpartum Depression Diagnosis |
For Newborns
| Hospital care benefit | Receive 1% sum assured a day, for up to 50 days |
Insurance-Linked Maternity Plans
Besides the stand-alone maternity insurance plans, you can also consider maternity insurance plans that are bundled along with a whole life insurance plan or an investment-linked policy (ILP). These insurance-linked maternity plans include the AIA MUM2BABY and Prudential PRUFirst Promise.
Since these maternity plans typically require you to purchase a separate whole life insurance plan or an investment-linked policy, you need to not only consider the maternity insurance protection that you want, but also the life insurance or ILP coverage that you are getting. This is especially since both of these insurance policies are a long-term commitment and you need to ensure that you are comfortable with the premiums you will be paying.
Are there any other stand-alone maternity insurance plans in Singapore that we missed out on? Let us know what they are at [email protected]
Read Also: Should You Get A Whole Life Insurance Policy? We Explain In Details How It Works
This article was first published on 16 February 2021 and has been updated with the latest information.
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