This is how much it costs to have a baby in South Africa, according to Discovery
Discovery Health has published the results of its latest claims tracker, focusing on the costs of having a baby in South Africa.
The tracker is based on all claims made within the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) – the largest, open medical scheme in South Africa with a membership of 2.8 million people as at the end of 2018.
The data shows that around 100 babies were born on the DHMS every day in South Africa over the last decade.
“The total number of deliveries increased by 24% from 2008 to 2014, following which the number of deliveries has decreased marginally to 38 194 in 2018,” said Chris Jones, head of technical marketing for Discovery Health.
“The increase over the period is primarily due to the 42% growth in the number of members on the scheme.”
Costs
The data shows that:
- The average cost of a natural birth in 2018 was R24,866 with an average of 2.7 days hospital stay;
- Caesarean delivery cost R43,726 on average, with an average length of stay of 3.8 days;
- 9,641 members (25%) had natural births costing R241 million in total;
- By contrast, 28,553 (75%) members had Caesarean deliveries, costing R1.3 billion.
Jones said the baby name trends reveal that Mia has consistently been the most popular female baby name among DHMS members from 2008 to 2018.
Liam has increased in popularity over the past decade, and was the most popular male baby’s name in 2018, he said.
“The most popular female names in each of the provinces include Emily, Lethabo, Miané, Olivia and Tshegofatso. Daniel, Johannes, Kgosi, Liam, Muhammad and Pieter were the most popular male names in the various provinces.”
Read: Discovery on the NHI and future role of medical schemes
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