costs to give birth without medical aid

hi

I totally agree with DieSwartkat, my cousin was in a similar situation bt she never had medical aid and wanted to go the private hospital route, i advised her not to as it is really expensive and she can use the money for other things. she ended up giving birth at a public hospital to a beautiful baby girl in February this year. just find a good public hospital, they are not all bad

GOOD LUCK

Hi Bronwen,

I can imagine how stressful this must be for you. When I look back at medical bills we had in 2012 there's just no way that we could've managed a birth in a private hospital without a medical aid.

I understand your concern about government hospitals, but just keep in mind that most moms in our country has to follow this route. I firmly believe that you get better & worse government hospitals, I'd look into the major government hospital in your closest city. The old Joburg Gen (Carlotte Maxeke hospital now) for instance, for long had the reputation of the best cardiac unit in Gauteng, despite being a government facility.

Remember that, apart from the R21k for the hospital, there will be costs for the delivery that gets paid to the gynae or doctor doing the actual delivery, this will easily be R10k. In a private hospital you can probably work on at least R35k for everything. Ask yourself if you are in a position to afford and/or repay this. If you're going to be exceeding your budget or stressing yourself by too much, then perhaps you'll have to walk the government route.

Alternatively, consider a home birth with a private midwife if your budget is really tight or you're not near Jo'burg. I can copy you a list of midwives from the expectant mothers/fathers guide if you want it.

Hi Bronwen,

If you're near Jo'burg, check out Genesis Clinic -http://www.genesisclinic.co.za/schedule-of-cost-2012.html

Their rates are clearly outlined and pretty affordable. From 10 000 for natural birth to R30 000 if you have an emergency cesarean with all additional costs. It's a midwife led facility, but with a theatre in case needed. If you go with their upstairs unit you can also see their in-house midwife for check ups - R160 per visit (as opposed to gynae which is R800-R1200). Scans are R450 extra ,but at 27 weeks you may only need one scan and you'll still need to have a backup gynae and see him/her 1-2 times. They have a great list of gynaes - getting an appointment with one is a first priority.

Thanks soo much for ur reply. Did speak to them & they referred me to femina & my quote is R21 000. But will definantly ask again. Did ask medical aid if I could catch up my payments and they declined me cos it was longer than 3 months so I have to re apply.

Hi Bronwen

Most medical aids allow you to settle the back dated payments and remove the suspension so you can continue as normal, perhaps speak to them about this.

I think you should speak to your gynae, they have cash prices and can offer discounts to deliver in their private hospitals.

All the best.

Does anyone know what hospital has the cheapest rates to give birth if I don't have a medical aid, and am to scared to go to a goverment hospital. Or is there any medical aid that will accept me now if I'm almost 7 months pregnant? My medical aid was suspended. Found out a week ago that I'm 27 weeks pregnant & I'm stressing a lot now.