Why Should You Invest in a Maternity Insurance Plan?

Pregnancy and childbirth are very important stages of life. One needs to take utmost care and caution of the pregnant mother during this time. As you are dealing with the nurturing of human life, there is no space for any errors. The health and safety of the mother and child as well as to be taken care of at all times. If you are a parent expecting a child, keep reading to know how maternity insurance is important and its role is in protecting lives.

Things to Take Care During Pregnancy

Childbirth is the miracle of life and the continuation of creation. Every child is a blessing to a family, and their birth is dealt with the maximum possible care. Families leave no stone unturned to ensure that the mother and child are safe throughout childbirth and after that. They take these extreme measures because of the numerous health and safety risks involved during and after pregnancy. Given below are some of the things that you need to consider during childbirth.

Safety of Mother and Child

The safety of the mother and the child is always a priority. There have been several occurrences where the neglect in performing activities or surrounding people or things create serious outcomes. The mother should always make sure not to do any stress causing activity during these days. The family members and the ones around her must also make sure she does not encounter any harmful situations or things.

Regular Check-Ups, Tests, and Scans

Take care that you follow the list of regular check-ups, tests, and scans without delays. These tests are important to verify the current health of the mother and the child. You can know of any health complications of mother and child from these tests. So, it is always good to follow these plans for good health.

Health Complications

Health complications are common in childbirth. It adversely affects only when they are left unattended. One should always consult the doctor and no one else in any matter relating to pregnancy. People should also take care that all medicine and food intake should be as per the recommendation of the consulting doctor.

Timely Medications and Procedures

All the medicines and procedures that the doctor recommends need carrying out without delays. Nothing should come in between following these guidelines laid down by the doctor. If the doctor recommends any procedures as precautions or correction of any complication, you should follow those without any fail.

Grave Consequences of Incorrect Diagnosis

People should understand that even small mistakes have very severe results when it comes to childbirth. It would be best if you always verify the credibility of the OB/GYN doctor and the success rate of their procedures. And after verifying, you must only take their advice. You can take a second opinion from another reputed doctor in case of doubt. It would also help if you did not fall for any incorrect diagnosis from hearsay, home remedies, folklore, blind superstitions, etc. These can have complex reactions.

Funds for Maternity Expenses

The greatest factor that ensures the successful undergoing of all the above tests, medications, and procedures is the monetary fund. Only if you have necessary savings or other sources can you provide these facilities to the pregnant woman. People rely on several sources to meet these expenses. But among them, maternity insurance is a source that can solve all your money-related troubles and give you peace of mind.

Expenses Involved Around Childbirth

There are several expenses before, during, and after childbirth. To understand how much funds you will require during pregnancy and childbirth, you must first know all these expenses. Only after knowing these expenses can, you start preparing to save or arrange the money. Given below is the list of the three stages of childbirth and their respective expenses.

Prenatal

The prenatal phase includes all the things before childbirth. This begins from the day you realize that the woman is pregnant up until the child’s birth. Some of the common expenses of this stage are :

• Check-ups
• OB/GYN Consultations
• Tests
• Scans (Ultrasound)
• Health Supplements

Childbirth

The Childbirth stage is the one during the process of childbirth or delivery. This is a very crucial stage as delays and errors can even cost lives. Some expenses of childbirth are :

• Ambulance
• Pre-Hospitalization
• Surgeons
• Optional C-Section
• Medicines and Blood Pints
• Complication Remedies

Postnatal

Postnatal is a rather long stage similar to prenatal. It covers the duration from childbirth till the child is weaned or reaches 5 or 6 years. These expenses include :

• Hospitalization
• Baby care/Incubator/NICU
• Bystanders
• Medications
• Post-partum surgeries
• Baby-care / Mother-care products

With the help of a rough figure of these expenses, you can know the estimated cost of childbirth. As discussed earlier, arranging enough funds for these expenses in advance will help your financial stability in the long run. And maternity insurance is a way to go for it.

What is a Maternity Insurance Plan?

A Maternity Insurance Plan is an insurance policy that gives prenatal, delivery, and postnatal cover. With the help of an effective maternity insurance plan, you will not have to worry about any of the expenses related to childbirth. The major goal of maternity insurance is to cover the expenses of delivery. Normal or C-section, both types of deliveries have high costs, especially in private and corporate hospitals. With maternity insurance, you don’t have to worry about the charges of these high-prices procedures. You can also give the mother and child the best possible treatment, which reduces any chances of complications.

Most insurance providers have such plans that provide for most of the expenses in and outside the hospital during pregnancy. Joining a Maternity Insurance Plan is easy. Such plans come as standalone plans or addons with the common health insurance. In both cases, you will get the full benefits from the plan. You can even join a plan after knowing about the pregnancy. All maternity insurance plans have very low premium amounts compared to general insurance. Nationalized insurance schemes, in particular, give very extensive coverage for a very nominal rate or sometimes free-of-cost.

There are several national schemes in India through which the government gives direct funds to meet childbirth expenses. Through these schemes, pregnant women can get free check-ups, free delivery in a government hospital, pregnancy aid in the form of money transferred directly to the bank account, etc. These are extremely useful for the people living in rural areas as they don’t have the necessary aides to meet childbirth expenses. With the help of such schemes, the number of childbirth-related mortality of mothers and children has come down extremely. Several state governments, local bodies, charity hospitals, and NGOs also give such assistance to women from weak financial backgrounds.

Top 5 Reasons Why Should Invest in a Maternity Insurance Plan

After understanding how many risks and expenses surround childbirth, you must have a rough idea of maternity insurance’s importance. Understanding its importance will inspire you more to get a policy. Given below are the top five reasons why you should invest in a maternity insurance plan.

To Create a Financial Backup

Having maternity insurance is a good backup for the funds required during maternity. Even if you have other savings kept aside for the sole purpose of maternity, there can be some unexpected requirements that deplete your funds. You cannot be a cent percent sure of anything, especially things related to money. So, when your savings deplete, you can use the cover from the maternity plan.

To Cover the Delivery Expenses

Delivery of the child is the most expensive procedure of childbirth. It is because of the medications administered to the mother, the number of surgeons, hospital facility charges, and the gravity of the surgery. If you have a maternity insurance plan, you can cover these costs through the policy. It is sometimes seen that people forego or delay important procedures in surgery due to the lack of funds. These can have ill effects on the mother and child’s health. Large funds from policies can prevent such difficulties.

To Cover Hospitalization, Medicine, and Treatment Charges

As previously discussed, there are several other expenses after childbirth. Sound maternity insurance will cover the expenses of all these procedures.

To Cover for Extra Charges

Usually, the mother and child get discharged from the hospital within a week after delivery. But if the child or mother requires extra neonatal or post-partum, respectively, they will require longer hospitalization. Maternity insurance policies not only cover the charges of hospitalization but also cover the charges of this extra care.

To Avoid Any Economic Burden on Family

Childbirth marks the beginning of family life. With Maternity Insurance, you can ensure that the high hospitalization costs prevalent in most private hospitals do not hinder the beginning of this family life. It is because, during the early days of a nuclear family, there can be some limitations to the funds available. And if they depend on loans or borrowings, they can bring imbalance to the finances. They can always opt for maternity plans that normally have a low premium within the nine months pregnancy time. By doing so, they can reduce all the money-related worries.