Giving Birth in the Philippines

A lot of my friends are expecting their babies this year. And they all ask the same question. How much does it cost to give birth in the Philippines?

Here are some facts!

Government Benefits:

• If you are an SSS (Social Security System) member, they will give you Php 39,000 (maximum) Maternity Benefit if you give birth by C-Section. For normal delivery, the benefit is Php 24,000 (maximum).

• If you are a Philhealth member, they will be able to cover a fraction of the hospital bill depending on where you are giving birth. The coverage will be higher if you will be giving birth in a tertiary hospital. (e.g. Makati Medical Center, St Luke’s Medical Center and the likes).

Employed Mothers:

• Unless your employer has a maternity benefit/package, you will not be paid during the entire duration of your Maternity Leave. You are entitled to 60 Maternity leave days for Normal Delivery and 90 days for C-Section Delivery. Your husband is entitled to 7 Paternity leave days.

• Most of the time your Health care provider (HMOs such as Maxicare, Intellicare and Medicard) will not provide any Maternity coverage except for Check-ups. Even laboratories are not covered. Yes, they are heartless like that!

Hospital Costs:

• The Tertiary Hospitals always have Maternity Packages which are normally cheaper in terms of cost. Note that a package is on a “best case” scenario basis. Best Cases when giving birth is quite seldom to be honest. (These rates in 2013. It’s probably more expensive this year.)
  • Makati Medical Center  
    • Normal Delivery:
      Semi-private room – Php 57,000
      Small private room – Php 102,000
    • Caesarean Section:
      Semi-private room – Php 82,000
      Small private room – Php145,000
  • The Medical City
    • Normal Delivery, ward – Php 50,000 * Maternity package only applies for normal delivery. Regular rates apply for Caesarean procedure.
  • St. Luke’s Medical Center
    • Normal Delivery, ward – Php 50,000
    • Caesarean Section, ward – Php 94,000 * Maternity Packages offered only for 2nd birth onwards
  •  St. Lukes Medical Center (Global City)
    • Normal Delivery, ward – Php 58,000
    • Caesarean Section, ward – Php 98,000 * Maternity package offered only to 2nd birth onwards

• Laboratory Tests are also done monthly depending on your OB. There are quite a handful of routine tests to be done throughout your pregnancy. You probably need to spend Php 30,000-40,000 until you give birth.

• Monthly Checkup costs vary depending on your OB. It ranges from Php 500-1200. More often the not, the HMO provider can cover the checkup costs but the doctor has to be affiliated with them. At least may coverage ang HMO kahit papaano. They’re not totally useless in this aspect. 🙂

As you can see, the benefit that you will get from the government is not sufficient to cover all your expenses. If you are employed, you may also not earn your salary during your maternity leave and that makes it even worse!!! The only suggestion I could give you is to save. Use the numbers I have provided in this post as your reference. Always think that you will give birth by C-Section so that you will always have a buffer.

More so, do not stress yourself too much with the costs. Everything will be worth it once you see your new bundle of joy.

My baby girl (8 September 2009)

My baby boy (24 March 2013)

I gave birth at Makati Medical Center. Both by C-section. We signed up for the package but we still ended up paying almost double of the package cost due to complications with my lil girl. It was almost the best case scenario for the lil boy but we still paid 25% more than the package cost.

So yeah, there really isn’t a best case scenario. Hehe…

Reference of Hospital Rates: http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/pregnancy/labor-and-childbirth/2013-maternity-packages-from-30-metro-manila-hospitals/page/5