At Expat Insurance (we welcome dozens of babies a month to the world!) we receive plenty of questions about little bundles and the insurance needed to cover them. Can you get medical insurance coverage for your baby from birth?

No, you can’t get a stand-alone cover for your baby from birth unless you take out medical insurance for yourself. Insurers recognize that the vulnerability of newborns is typically highest within their first month and, therefore, newborn babies represent a much higher risk. If you want coverage to respond in the early days, you yourself need to be insured first to receive the benefit of a policy responding immediately following the birth of your little one.

Of course, the fact that a lot of babes need a little extra care and paediatric attention, or need to spend time in neo-natal ICU for even minor matters, such as jaundice, drives an insurer’s concerns when it comes to the risk. You may have daily visits back to the doctor to check jaundice levels in the early days, and after two weeks you could still be going back up to three times per week until jaundice levels return to normal … talk about the expense of those ongoing visits!

Doctors and new parents are ultra-conservative, which drives the cost of care for newborns very high. The best way to protect against this is to insure yourself now and then add your baby once he or she has arrived. Of course, you need to weigh the risks and rewards given the added cost to insure you.

We have seen bills exceed S$180,000 in the first 30 days for extreme cases. Even with a normal delivery, the bills for the baby will typically exceed S$2,000 just for the routine care immediately following the birth while you are in hospital for three to four days. If we can help you and your husband welcome your baby to the world with a policy that responds, just let us know. We are here for you.

Having evaluated the numerous products available in the Singapore market, Expat Insurance has identified those that offer the broadest coverage, catering to the unique needs of expatriates.

We work directly for our clients, so we focus on your needs and understanding your family’s needs before recommending appropriate products and solutions in the market. Our job is to take great care of you and your family to ensure you get the best value for money coverage available.

Visit  Expat Insurance Pte Ltd to find out more about Danielle's  work.

_{This post was originally published on Expat Insurance News March 2016 and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.
Edited by Nedda Chaplin} 

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