Planning for pregnancy and childbirth should be a joy and not a source of financial stress.

“Go forth and multiply”

If you are or have thoughts of welcoming a baby into your world, the financial aspects of pregnancy and childbirth could be tricky to wrap your head around.

It’s a blessing to have a child, but your finances could easily go haywire if you are ill-prepared. Hence, this article will provide a comprehensive guide to Malaysia’s pregnancy and childbirth costs.

#1: Doctor Appointments and Visits

Firstly, let’s talk about the doctor (Obstetrician/Gynaecologist) appointments and visits.

A full-term pregnancy typically takes about 37 weeks to 42 weeks, and is broadly divided into 3 stages:

  1. First trimester: 1st to 12th week
  2. Second trimester: 13th to 27th week
  3. Third trimester: 28th to 40th week

According to Pantai Hospital, it is recommended that the expectant mother pay a visit the doctor once every month from the 1st to 24th week, once every 2 weeks from the 24th to 36th week, and once every week till the 40th (or 42nd) week.

The cost of a doctor’s appointment will differ according to whether you go for the public or private option.

If you opt for the public (or government) option, it is free of charge at your nearest Klinik Kesihatan (KK). You will need to open a ‘pink’ book with the KK your first time going there. The downside here is that KKs are busy with each visit possibly taking up to 4 hours including taking your queue number.

A private maternity clinic will not be as busy as KK and your appointments are scheduled in advance to reduce wait times. According to data from AIA, a doctor’s appointment costs from about RM200. In total, you will at least need to see the doctor for about 16 times (until week 40), which adds up to a total of at RM3,200.

Estimated cost: RM0 (KK option) to RM3,200 (private option)

#2: Pregnancy Scans

Don’t underestimate the cost of scans. It could balloon if you are worried about the health of your baby.

Generally, if you are going to the government’s KK, it is free if you are doing a scan. However, KKs normally only give you about 2 to 3 scans during the whole term of your pregnancy.

For some of you, that might not be enough. After all, there will be times when we get anxious about the condition of the baby and would like to do more regular scans.

If you are scanning privately, you can do as much times as you want. Here is an example from one of the maternity clinics:

How many scans do you need? According to Sunway, these are their recommendations

  1. Dating scan: 8th to 14 weeks (2D Growth scan: RM28 to RM53)
  2. First trimester scan: 11th to 13th weeks (NT scan: RM80 to RM120)
  3. Anomaly scan: 20th to 24th week (Anatomy scan: RM88 to RM168)
  4. 4D or 5D scan: 25th week onwards (RM58 to RM118)
  5. Third trimester scan: 32nd to 36th weeks (2D Growth scan: RM28 to RM53)

Hence, in total, expect to spend RM0 (KK option) to RM512 (private option).

#3: Supplements and Medication

As your body is growing a little human, expectant mums need additional nutrition and quite often will be recommended to take certain supplements and sometimes medication during pregnancy.

According to Ahmad et al (2020), around 67% of women uses vitamins and supplements, followed by analgesic (painkiller) / antipyretic (fever) (25%), and aspirin (13%).

As every pregnant women’s body and health are different, it is hard to estimate the amount of medication needed. Hence, we will measure how much vitamins and supplements instead are needed.

An expectant mum will need iron, calcium and folic acid on a daily basis to ensure normal fetal development. We are not medical experts hence, we are not going to tell you when or how much dosage to take.

Please consult your doctor on this.

What we can do is just list down the rough price of these supplements online.

  1. Iron and folic acid: RM1.14 per tablet
  2. Calcium: RM0.85 per tablet

#4: Maternity Necessities

Here are some necessities that many mothers will consider getting during pregnancy. These include clothing, pillow, supportive shoes, and compression socks.

Note: Post-natal things like breast pump, milk bottles, and sterilisers are not included here.

Here are the indicative pricing for these items and the rationale for why a pregnant woman should have them

  1. Clothing: Maternity clothing and underclothing can cost from as low as RM10 per piece. A set of 7 is a good starting number. Eventually, most clothing worn in early pregnancy would be too tight in the later stages pregnancy and you will need to purchase a few more pieces then.
  2. Pregnancy pillow: from as low as RM20 to RM80 per pillow. As the pregnant mother gets further along, she will need the pillow to sleep comfortably on her side.
  3. Supportive shoes: from as low as RM8 to RM40 per pair. She will need it to walk around comfortably and to prevent backpain. Your feet may also swell during the later months so be prepared for this.
  4. Compression socks: from RM5 to RM25 per pair. This is needed to deal with the legs swelling later on in the pregnancy.

In total, this could range from RM43 to RM180, or more depending on brand.

#5: Hospital / Giving Birth Expenses

This is the biggest maternity expense if you’re delivering in a private hospital. If you choose to deliver in a government hospital, the cost is quite minimal. Also there are generally two options here – normal or caesarian delivery.

In a government, hospital a normal delivery could cost less than RM100 but should there be complications, it could cost up to RM2,000. A caeserian delivery would cost about RM100 to RM800.

Bed charges are also minimal at about RM3 per night (third class and without air-con) to about RM90 per night (first class, and single room). Also government hospitals will only admit you when you are really close to your delivery (provided there are no emergencies).

On the other hand, if you opt for private, be prepared to pay about RM3,000 to RM6,500 for a normal delivery and RM8,300 to RM14,300 for a caesarian one. Costs will also be higher if there needs to be an emergency caesarian due to complications. Meanwhile, private bed charges range from RM50 to RM100 per night (4-bedded option) or RM200 to RM300 per night (2-bedded option)

A delivery could cost you in a range of RM100 (government option) to RM7,000 (private normal delivery) to RM10,000 (private caesarian).

#6: Post-natal Care

After giving birth, post-natal care will become very important to ensure a proper recovery of the mother.

There are several options here.

  1. Confinement centres: Dedicated post-natal care centres with 5 meals a day, round-the-clock caring for your baby, and classes that you can take to learn about caring for your baby.
  2. Confinement lady: A dedicated nanny that will cook and take care of your baby. Usually lives in with you or come for a full-day.
  3. DIY: Cared for by your own family members or relatives

According to data from The Edge, a one-month stay at a confinement centre is estimated to cost from RM5,400 to RM52,000 (after accounting for inflation since 2018) depending on what you are looking for.

Meanwhile, a confinement lady is estimated to cost about RM5,000 monthly, and you will need to buy the food ingredients and book early in advance.

While DIY is mostly free, do remember to give your parents or family members funds to buy food for the baby and consider giving a gift in cash or kind for their troubles.

Total cost could be ‘Free’ to about RM52,000.

The Verdict

Around RM100 (cheapest government option and DIY confinement) to RM70,000 (most expensive private option).

It includes the 5 main spending of doctor appointments, scans, maternity necessities, giving birth and confinement centres. Supplements and medicine are not included as that is highly subjective.

Note: the above figures are an estimate. There are other factors and costs that could increase expenses. This article should give you a good ballpark figure to start planning financially for pregnancy.

 

Let us know in the comments below how you are planning your pregnancy expenses!

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