It’s no surprise that having a child in Singapore is expensive, but it can cost even more when there are unexpected circumstances.
Recently, Taiwan-born Singaporean host Lee Teng and his wife, Gina, 32, took to their YouTube channel to share about the total costs for their newborn’s delivery.
The 41-year-old Left Profile artiste and his wife Gina last month announced that Gina had given birth in July to their baby boy, Ellison.
At that time, they revealed that they had kept the pregnancy a secret the entire time due to Gina’s previous miscarriage in 2020, the same year they got married.
“I was completely shocked when I saw the medical bills,” Lee Teng exclaimed in the video.
However, he emphasised that their expenses were based on Gina’s unique case and does not represent usual birthing costs in Singapore.
“[Our baby] was born early, and we had an emergency C-section,” he revealed, adding that they were suddenly informed by their doctor that an immediate delivery was necessary.
They had initially thought Gina was admitted to the private hospital just for bed rest to stabilise her pregnancy. But after an evaluation, the doctor decided to perform an emergency C-section the next morning.
Due to the premature delivery, Ellison had to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which cost S$65K, after he was born.
Gina also opted to stay in an A-class ward, which cost over S$700 per night. Fees also included the doctor’s surgical fees as well as the anesthesiologist’s fees.
As Gina stayed in the hospital for five days due to her special circumstances, one more day than the typical C-section procedure, the bill came up to over S$30K.
In total, their medical bill totalled to approximately S$95K.
The couple noted that the high price was due to the suddenness of their case. A standard Caesarean section in the same ward in a private hospital is usually about S$15K to S$18K, while a natural birth costs about S$10K.
Costs in public hospitals, expectedly, are much lower.
When asked if he would choose a private hospital again now that he knows how costly it is, Lee Teng stressed that he would still prioritise the doctor’s advice.
“After all, our doctor works at that hospital, so it’s more assuring to follow him. I think the most important thing is that both mother and baby are safe and healthy. We can always earn the money back,” he assured.
Including prenatal check-up costs during Gina’s pregnancy, they’ve spent a six-figure sum on the baby. Yet while the costs “sound scary,” part of the bill could be covered by Medisave and insurance.
“We hope people won’t be scared by our bill, this was just a unique case,” he explained.
“The Singapore government is quite supportive of childbirth. As long as you go to a government facility for delivery and checkups, there are many subsidies available,” added Gina.