Private or public health system for your baby?

When push comes to shove.

Congrats! You are having a baby - a life changing experience that will be fraught with a host of seemingly overwhelming decisions. There is no rulebook on parenting, so you’ll need to trust your instincts and try not to beat yourself up if you make the wrong decisions, as long as you learn from your mistakes.

One of the first decisions you will have to make before your child even comes into the world is whether to birth with the public or private hospital system.

While the public system is a favourable choice for pregnant Australians, let’s delve into the workings of private heath insurance and demystify the pros and cons.

Why go private?
Most mothers-to-be opt to go private so they can choose their obstetrician. It also gives you the option of scoring a private room in a hospital of your choice. It’s worth noting that most of the care you’ll receive from the obstetrician is pre natal (before the birth), and if they are busy with a more critical birth when you go into labour, or off duty at a conference or private holiday, you’ll end up birthing with an intern or different doctor anyway.

On the big day
Come the day of the birth you will find that your midwives do the majority of the work anyway. Australia is blessed with extremely talented midwifes in both the public and private sectors.

The time you will really benefit from private health is if you run into complications – this is when the obstetrician and anesthetist’s bills can become hideously expensive if you don’t have private cover, and even then the reach of your private health policy only goes so far.

There are plenty of horror stories of new families presuming they’re covered no matter what the complication, only to be presented with their new baby and a hospital bill in excess of $6,000.

If you’re going private you better get moving
Almost all private health insurance policies enforce a 6 to 12 month waiting period before you are eligible to receive benefits: a rule that may not coincide with your baby’s due date. Obstetrics is also not included automatically in all private health funds and it is quite common to omit this portion to save on premiums. If you insist on private health, sign up before you plan on getting pregnant and make sure your policy covers everything you need.

Related: 17 ways to financially prepare for baby

Do your research
The best avenue as with all aspects of childbirth and parenting is to speak to people in similar situations. Research all the hospitals in your area and try and book into the one most aligned to your values. If you want to go private, check your policy and adjust your hospital choice accordingly if need be.

Moneyhound has partnered with comparethemarket.com.au to help our users compare health insurance policies from a range of leading Australian health insurance providers. Use our free online comparison service to compare prices online or call our specialist consultants on 1800 008 082.

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