Maternity and newborn care in South Africa
What every expectant parent needs to know
16 July 2024
JOHANNESBURG - Becoming a parent is a complex journey filled with anticipation, joy, and anxiety. Expectant parents focus on ensuring all is well with both mother and baby through routine check-ups, scans, hospital stays, and neonatal care if necessary. Without adequate cover, costs related to these services can escalate, putting financial strain on your family during a joyous occasion. Maternity and newborn care cover is crucial for ensuring the best care for both mother and baby during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum.
The current maternity statistics and environment
South Africa is making significant efforts to address maternal and neonatal mortality, an issue that many sub-Saharan African countries also face. Over the past 30 years, we have made progress in reducing maternal deaths during childbirth from 320 to 120 per 100,000 live births. Similarly, infant mortality has improved, decreasing from 29 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 25 per 1,000 in 2018. South Africa aims to halve these rates by 2030 by implementing the Maternal, Perinatal, and Neonatal Health Policy.
The Maternal, Perinatal, and Neonatal Health Policy provides a framework for delivering high-quality, integrated health services for mothers and newborns. It also emphasises the importance of individual autonomy, informed choices, and a human rights approach in healthcare.
Healthcare can be a significant financial burden on many families. While public healthcare is available, many South Africans opt for private medical aid schemes to ensure quicker access to quality care. Medshield Medical Scheme offers tailored plans that cater to different needs, including comprehensive maternity and newborn care in every plan. Knowing your options and partnering with a reputable medical scheme like Medshield can provide you with tailored quality care that you can access quickly and conveniently.
What does maternity and newborn care cover typically include?
When choosing a medical scheme, it's crucial to understand what maternity and newborn care cover typically includes. These are determined by your chosen benefit plan and the medical scheme rules, so it is important to be aware of these. Let's explore what Medshield typically provides to ensure a smooth and safe journey from pregnancy to parenthood.
- Antenatal Care: Visits to gynaecologists and obstetricians, routine ultrasounds and necessary blood tests are covered to monitor the baby's development and the mother's health. If any complications arise, consultations with specialists are included.
- Delivery Cover: Medshield covers the hospital stay, including the costs associated with the delivery room and necessary medical staff. Comfortable and private maternity wards are covered, ensuring a pleasant experience for the mother.
- Postnatal and Neonatal Care: Cover for postnatal check-ups to ensure the mother's recovery and the baby's well-being. In cases where the newborn needs special care, Medshield covers the costs of neonatal intensive care units (NICU), providing peace of mind for new parents.
To maximise your Medshield maternity coverage, it's essential to understand how to navigate the system and maximise your benefits. Different plans offer different levels of coverage, so it's crucial to know the specifics of your plan and what it covers regarding maternity and newborn care. Ensure that you keep detailed records of all medical visits, tests, and hospital stays, and submit claims promptly to ensure you receive reimbursements or direct payments without delays. Medshield offers additional maternity benefits through MedshieldMOM, which provides additional support and information throughout your pregnancy. You can get valuable nutrition, exercise, and mental health advice during pregnancy.
Live Assured as a Medshield MOM
At Medshield, we do our best to support all expectant parents. As soon as you know you're pregnant, register with Medshield's maternity programme, MedshieldMOM, to ensure you receive all the benefits and support available. Medshield's moms-to-be should review their selected benefit option's hospital network on www.medshield.co.za and their maternity benefits as per their benefit guides distributed. Benefits are offered during pregnancy, at birth, and after birth and are subject to pre-authorisation by the relevant Managed Healthcare Programme before hospital admission.
PremiumPlus, MediBonus, MediSaver, MediPlus Prime, and MediPlus Compact all offer 12 antenatal consultations per pregnancy, eight visits to antenatal classes, two 2D scans per pregnancy, 1 Amniocentesis test per pregnancy, unlimited in-hospital confinement, and eight visits to the midwife with up to 200% private rates coverage to a registered midwife only.
The MediCore, MediValue Prime, MediValue Compact, MediPhila, MediSwift, and MediCurve options offer many of the same benefits but with fewer antenatal visits and a lower premium contribution. The complete benefit guides for each Medshield plan (benefit option) are also available on the Medshield website at https://medshield.co.za/products-2024/2024-benefit-options/. Medshield continuously focuses on unlocking extra value-added services to our members to provide Medshield's expectant mommies peace of mind and ensure they receive the best possible care and support throughout their pregnancy journey, from the first visit until after their beautiful bundle of joy is born!
MedshieldMOM is an additional, free-to-join programme for Medshield members who register online to access additional benefits and support. MedshieldMOM assists women on their journey to motherhood through the various stages of pregnancy, birth and postpartum, ensuring that parents and parents-to-be are aware of the pregnancy-related benefits they enjoy as Medshield members. The website, www.medshieldmom.co.za, provides easy access to a wealth of important content related to health, fitness, nutrition, the body, motherhood, babies, toddlers and more, tailored for the pre-and postpartum phases.
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