Pregnancy, 8 December 2023.
Hidden pregnancy costs
(What your gynae probably won’t tell you unless you ask)
By Daniella Kilpatrick
Here’s a few hidden pregnancy costs that caught most of us off guard (including me)!
Let’s chat about the gynae.
When I was pregnant, my gynae insisted I have check-ups with her every four weeks from the first eight-week scan. This included the usual scans and two thorough checkups with a sonographer at 12 weeks and at 20 weeks. The appointments added up to about R15k – R20k, (in 2022) but here’s the kicker – my gynae asked for a payment in cash before each appointment, and then I had to claim back from Discovery (my medical aid) afterwards. This is how most gynaes seem to work, but looking back, I just wonder if I really needed all those appointments.
Discovery paid for some of it through the maternity benefit (which I had to activate on their app as soon as I found out I was pregnant), but it still meant I was left covering most of the costs. When I paid R1500 for an appointment, they only covered about R500 of the bill, leaving me with the rest. Having appointments every four weeks meant it got quite pricey, especially since I hadn’t budgeted for having to pay them in full upfront (because I didn’t know any better), I was also lucky my medical aid savings weren’t already depleted for the year.
And then there are the blood tests, which in my case weren’t fully covered by my medical aid either. They barely paid for half of the mandatory blood tests my gynae sent me for.
But here’s something that took me even more by surprise – some gynaes require you to pay their birth fee in cash upfront before you even have your baby, even if you’re on medical aid. I’ve heard from many women who have had to pay anything between R10k – R30k in advance! And their gynaes started asking them for the money as early as 30 weeks.
Other women only had to pay after birth, and they had two weeks after birth to settle the bill, and the odd few never had to pay anything because it was all submitted to medical aid while they were at the hospital.
Now, my gynae didn’t ask me for her birth fee before birth, but it makes me wonder if she might have asked later if I hadn’t had an emergency c-section at 35 weeks.
Let’s chat about the hospital.
I had an emergency c-section at a Life Private hospital, I was there for three days, I didn’t have my own room, and my baby was in NICU for eighteen days. Because of Annabella’s NICU stay, our shared hospital bill was over R180k! Our entire bill was covered by Discovery, and we didn’t have to submit any shortfalls to our Gap cover either. I was on a Discovery Classic Saver Plan at the time.
I thought Gap cover was going to be absolutely necessary for the birth co-payments and shortfalls, because some women had said that they had to pay the difference and were so grateful for their Gap cover. But I guess we were just lucky, because we never had to use our cover at all.
Also remember, if you want to get Gap cover, there is normally quite a long waiting period before you can claim, and if you join after falling pregnant, it probably won’t take effect before you give birth. So just check before you waste your time and money.
I’m sharing all of this because it truly caught me off guard, and I want you to be better prepared if you’re on this journey or planning to start soon.
Here’s how you can prepare.
Let your medical aid know you’re pregnant as soon as you find out, that way they can start paying for some of the blood tests and appointments sooner rather than later.
Before you start with a gynae, rather have a chat to them about the frequency of their appointments, if they are all 100% necessary, the costs involved, about their birth fee and when they’ll need payment from you, so you have one less financial stress to worry about.
Find out from your medical aid what birth costs, co-payments, and other fees you’re in for (if any), also find out how much of your gynae appointments and associated fees are covered in full, and how much is for your own account. That way you can budget each month for these costs.
Looking for more answers, less questions?
Maybe you feel like you’re on a wild research goose chase, left with more questions than answers about pregnancy and everything you need to get sorted before your baby arrives.
Or you feel completely overwhelmed going through the baby aisles trying to figure out what you’ll actually need or not.
Or maybe you just wonder if what’s happening to your body is normal, and how to navigate it all.
I was extremely overwhelmed by all of these things, and I felt so alone through my entire pregnancy trying to navigate it all on my own.
So I wrote a bunch of digital guides to share all the things moms know, but that no one really tells you.
The stuff Google won’t know, the best mom tips, tricks, and hacks. Local products to look at, real-life budgets, checklists and more! I don’t want you to stress, feel overwhelmed or not know what to do, and I definitely don’t want you to do this alone.
If you’re looking for more answers, less questions. The Hello Ma guides can be your big sister through it all.
This bundle includes my pregnancy guide (trimester-by-trimester) and my breastfeeding & pumping guide.
This bundle includes my baby essentials checklist, shopping and budgeting plan, and step-by-step walkthrough of every single product you need to buy before baby arrives.
This bundle includes my new parent budget, hospital to home guide, mom’s recovery guide, everything about babies guide and baby to toddler milestone guide.
Hello! I'm Daniella Kilpatrick
The mom behind Hello Ma, let’s connect!