pregnancy : confused on which place is better !!!

Nivee · Oct 18, 2011

Hi,

My husband is moving to singapore as part of long term assignment. I am 6 weeks pregnant and currently employed here in india..

Confused whether to stay back in india till the delivery OR to come to a totally new place and new gynec and everything.

Need suggestions from IL's out there in singapore on pregancy in singapore?
1) how are the doctors out there? is it really difficult to get a god gynec?
2) What is the expected approximate cost for delivery and related expense ?
3) I will be travelling in depenent pass and will not work there. My husbands insurance doesnt cover my hospital expense. In that case do i need a insurance. Taking insurance is better or must ?

Awating reply from my new singapore mates out there :cheers

Cheers,
Nivee

AkilaMani · Oct 19, 2011

Dear Nivee,

First of all Congrats dear!!

Now to answer your questions,

1) how are the doctors out there? is it really difficult to get a god gynec?

There are good gynec doctors available here and it is not that difficult to find one either. If you are particular about getting a female indian doc, there are a quite a few available here. I am sure at least some of our ILs would give you names and references. As for me my second pregnancy was here and i found a good doc at raffles hospital, he was a chinese doc.

2) What is the expected approximate cost for delivery and related expense ?

If you do not have any insurance cover it might work up to be a bit expensive and also if situation warrants c-section, the cost will go up a lot. You can discuss this with the doc once to locate one. I don't know about taking insurance cover dear. Lets see if someone has any insights on this. I went back to have my delivery back in india, so not sure about insurance or hospitalization pricing exactly.

Hope this helps.

Nivee · Oct 27, 2011

Thanks Akila.... got convinced about the doctor. But still thinking whether to come back to India in 7th month or have the pregnancy there ....

If anybody has info about insurance cover, please share...

g3veda · Nov 25, 2011

I don't think insurance covers maternity expenses unless there are complications during delivery. If you are a foreigner and intend to deliver in SG I better warn you that expenses can be sky rocketing. If you are a SG permanent resident or SG citizen expenses would still be manageable. But if you would still like to deliver in SG, there are good gynaes (indian females) around and here are a couple of names for you to keep in mind.
Annapoorna (NUH)
Sadhana (KKH)
Mariamma George (KKH)
All the best!

Chandrika82 · Dec 14, 2011

There are a lot of great doctors in Singapore, and the facilities provided by the hospitals here are among the best in the world. The care with which the nurses treat you, will come almost as a shock, after being used to Indian hospitals.

That being said, managing on one salary without insurance will work out to be very costly.
For a private hospital, the costs for a normal / assisted delivery would be around S$10,000. If its a C-Section, it will go up higher.

Also, there is no option to take insurance to cover maternity expenses when you are already pregnant! These type of insurances usually have a waiting period for 3- 9 months. If you conceive before that, then there will be no cover.

If you feel the expense is manageable, then without doubt Singapore is the best place to have a baby.
I am 7 months now, expecting in Feb 2012 and will be having my baby at Mt Elizabeth hospital, singapore.