There’s lots to consider when you’re thinking about having a baby. For new parents, it can be particularly overwhelming – but it’s never too soon to start planning for your little one.
In fact, when it comes to selecting your maternity healthcare plan, you may need to start sooner than you think.
There are a plethora of options available to expectant mothers in
Ireland and many services can only be accessed through private healthcare. If you don’t start planning early, with the right insurance to cover your personal maternity needs, you may find yourself either unable to access the care you’d like, or facing a huge bill for the treatment.
Typically, maternity cover under your health insurance will be subject to a 52 week waiting period for hospital treatment. Essentially, this means you must have been insured for one year prior to the birth of your baby if you want to access private or semi-private hospital maternity treatment – so you can’t wait until you fall pregnant to start thinking about getting covered.
Of course, you may choose to use public healthcare services throughout your pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. However, it’s important you understand what’s included, what additional treatments and services are available privately, and how your insurance provider can support you – before making your decision.
Ultimately, it all comes down to your own personal preferences and needs – there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to maternity. Every woman, and every pregnancy, is different. So, let’s make a plan that works for you.
Public Healthcare - What's Included?
The first decision you’ll need to make is whether you’d like access to any private services, or if you’d like to exclusively use public healthcare.
In Ireland, every woman who is ‘ordinarily resident’ is entitled to free public maternity care – covering antenatal care, the birth itself, postnatal care, and hospital accommodation on a public ward for you and your baby.
Public healthcare covers all of your essential needs when having a baby. You can access GP, midwife and obstetrician appointments, ultrasound scans, and medical care during labour – as well as postnatal check-ups for you and your baby.
We explore the key milestones for maternity scans, tests and other treatments you can expect through both public and private healthcare in our recent blog.
What Are the Benefits of Private Maternity Care?
You can access a number of benefits to support you from pregnancy to post-natal check-ups through your insurance provider – depending on your plan and level of cover.
There are also many supports available if you're considering fertility treatment, which we discuss in detail here.
Hospital Accommodation
Through your health insurance, you can usually choose between a private and semi-private room for your time in hospital. While private maternity care is available in all of Ireland’s hospitals, semi-private is only available in Dublin.
The hospital accommodation and treatment available to you is defined under your health insurance’s Maternity Benefits, rather than your policy’s standard cover. So if, for example, you’re covered for private accommodation under your Maternity Benefit, but for semi-private under your main policy, the private cover will apply. Your Maternity Benefit is subject to the 52 week waiting period, so you will need to have been on the plan for 52 weeks at the time of delivery to cover any in-patient expenses.
Most maternity cover is for three days’ accommodation. However, if you need to stay in hospital for longer due to any complications or if you have a caesarean section, you will be covered by your policy’s standard in-patient benefits.
Alternatively, your policy may offer a set contribution towards your hospital fees, rather than a pre-determined numbers of days’ accommodation.
One Obstetrician
Generally, with private treatment you will see the same consultant throughout your pregnancy at each antenatal appointment, and will usually benefit from easier contact with the obstetrician if you have any questions. This is rarely the case with public healthcare, and is often a huge reason why women choose to go private.
Although there are no guarantees, the likelihood is that your obstetrician will also be present at the birth, so seeing the same consultant throughout can give you confidence that they are familiar with your pregnancy, your health, and your plans for the birth.
If you opt for semi-private care in a Dublin hospital, you will have a dedicated consultant with a team of medical staff. You will see either the consultant themselves or one of their team at every appointment.
While your insurance will usually cover the majority of your hospital fees, you’ll need to fund your consultant’s fees. You will usually be able to claim a small contribution towards these fees from your insurer, but the amount you can claim back will vary from policy to policy, so you should check your entitlement with your provider before arranging your first antenatal appointment to avoid any additional fees.
Wait Times and Additional Scans
This is another popular reason why women choose private maternity care. Wait times for public antenatal appointments can often be very long, with fewer scans available. Private care can significantly reduce these wait times for antenatal and postnatal appointments, as well as offer the option of extra scans.
What Additional Benefits Are Available from Different Insurance Providers?
In Ireland, all health insurance policies must include maternity cover, irrespective of your age or gender. However, some plans offer fairly limited cover, so it’s important you review your existing policy and what alternatives are available to ensure you get the level of treatment you’d like.
There are a number of out-patient benefits available through all insurance providers, which usually are not subject to the 52 week waiting period.
Irish Life Health, for example, have a ‘Maternity Extra’ plan, which can be added onto a selection of plans for free. The package includes contributions for:
- Early pregnancy scans
- Antenatal Classes
- Zika Screening
- Flu Vaccination
- Breastfeeding Consultancy
- Domestic supporter to help with cleaning, ironing preparing meals and shopping
- Food Hamper by Gourmet Fuel
- Breastfeeding consultancy
- Maternity Mental Health Support
- Pre/Postnatal Yoga & Pilates
- Partner Expenses – contribution towards travel, accommodation and child minding expenses
- Baby Massage course
- First Aid Course for Moms and Dads
- Doula Support
- Postnatal Home Support
Likewise, Laya and VHI Healthcare also offer a range of additional benefits to support you through maternity, including:
Laya
- Foetal Screening
- Car Parking Expenses
- New Parent’s Food Allowance
- Paediatric First Aid Course
- Postnatal Home Support
- Mid Wife Support Programme
- Pregnancy & Early Childhood Nutrition
- Maternity Yoga/Pilates
VHI
- Postnatal Home Support
- Maternity Yoga and Pilates
- Maternity Scan
- Breast-feeding Consultancy
- Baby Massage Course
- Baby Swim Classes
- Antenatal Course
Choose a Plan that Works for You
When choosing your healthcare for maternity, it all comes down to personal preference. The priority is ensuring you feel comfortable and supported throughout your pregnancy, birth and antenatal treatment.
Whether you choose to go public or private, each insurer offers excellent maternity benefits to support you along the way.
At HCC, our experts can help you find a maternity package that truly works for you – taking your priorities, preferences, and budget into consideration. Our advisers will work with you directly to ensure all of your needs are met and answer any questions about the benefits on offer.
Get started by entering your details below, and we'll be in touch. You can also contact us over the phone or via email to discuss your options, get advice and ask any questions.
Call: 01 498 0515
Email: support@hcc.ie