{"id":378433,"date":"2020-03-08T11:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=378433"},"modified":"2020-03-06T15:49:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T13:49:02","slug":"this-is-how-much-it-costs-to-have-a-baby-in-south-africa-according-to-medical-aids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/378433\/this-is-how-much-it-costs-to-have-a-baby-in-south-africa-according-to-medical-aids\/","title":{"rendered":"This is how much it costs to have a baby in South Africa – according to medical aids"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Council for Medical Schemes has published a new report on caesarean and natural birth deliveries in South Africa.<\/p>\n

The report<\/a> <\/strong>shows that a growing number of women are opting to have caesareans (CS) despite possible health risks such as increased risk of infection, surgical and anaesthetic complications, reduced likelihood of breastfeeding, and risks for the baby.<\/p>\n

The data shows that the median CS rate for private hospitals was at 78.57% compared to 44.10% for public hospitals.<\/p>\n

Also of concern to the CMS is the high costs of having a caesarean birth as the median hospital expenditure by medical schemes for natural births and CS was R16,290.69 and R27,086.14, respectively.<\/p>\n

The average hospital costs were also significantly higher (67.36%) for CS births, while expenditure on hospital-based specialists and other professionals\u2019 fees also increased.<\/p>\n

The below table shows the current costs of having a CS vs a natural birth for women on medical schemes:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This research aligns with 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.<\/p>\n

Discovery said that around 100 babies were born on the DHMS<\/a> <\/strong>every day in South Africa over the last decade<\/p>\n

Discovery’s data shows:<\/p>\n