Maternity insurance in Singapore is a short, single-premium term policy you buy while pregnant. It pays a cash lump sum if your pregnancy runs into a defined complication, or if your baby is born with one of a listed set of congenital conditions, plus a daily hospital cash benefit for either of you. It is not a hospital bill payer, that job belongs to MediShield Life and your Integrated Shield Plan. As of June 2026 the main plans are Great Eastern GREAT Maternity Care 2, Singlife Maternity Care, Income Maternity 360, Manulife ReadyMummy and Prudential PRUMum, with single premiums roughly S$320 to S$400 for a S$5,000 sum assured. The honest take most agents skip: the payout is small relative to what a serious congenital condition actually costs, so treat this as cheap peace of mind for three years, not as your child's long-term cover. This guide compares what each plan pays, what it costs, when you can buy it, and who should bother.
A maternity insurance plan is a standalone term policy with a coverage window of about three years, bought with one upfront premium during your pregnancy. The mother is the policyholder and life assured. The unborn child, and then the newborn, is the insured party for congenital conditions and newborn hospital stays. When a covered event happens, the insurer pays a fixed cash sum, not a reimbursement of your bills.
That distinction matters. Your MediShield Life and any Integrated Shield Plan reimburse hospital bills for severe, insurer-defined pregnancy emergencies and for a newborn's medically necessary treatment, subject to deductibles and co-insurance. Maternity insurance sits on top of that and hands you cash you can spend on anything: lost income, a confinement nanny, follow-up therapy, or the deductible itself.
Two benefit types do the heavy lifting. The first is a lump sum, paid at 100% of the sum assured if the mother dies, and at a set percentage for listed pregnancy complications or congenital illnesses. The second is a daily hospital cash benefit, usually 1% to 2% of the sum assured per day, capped at a number of days or a slice of the sum assured.
Before paying for a separate maternity policy, know what you already have. MediShield Life covers Singapore Citizens and PRs for life and, since the 2020 enhancements, includes coverage for serious pre-delivery and delivery complications such as ectopic pregnancy and pre-eclampsia, plus inpatient care for a newborn with a covered congenital condition. Routine prenatal checks and a normal delivery are not claimable.
An Integrated Shield Plan widens the hospital ward you can claim for and lifts claim limits, but it follows the same logic: it pays bills for complications and newborn treatment, not for an uneventful pregnancy. If you are weighing how the two layers fit together, our Integrated Shield vs MediShield Life comparison breaks down the gap.
The real hole maternity insurance fills is twofold. One, cash on top of reimbursed bills, because a difficult birth can keep a parent off work for weeks. Two, a payout for congenital conditions that need long-term, often non-hospital, care that Shield plans do not fund. That is the case for buying it, and also the reason to keep your expectations realistic about the payout size.
Every plan below is a single-premium term plan covering the mother and the baby. Counts of pregnancy complications and congenital illnesses come from each insurer's own product page or brochure as of June 2026. Premiums shown are illustrative single premiums for a S$5,000 sum assured at age 30, drawn from public reviews and provider illustrations, so treat them as 'around' figures and confirm your own quote, since pricing depends on your age, the pregnancy and the sum assured chosen.
Great Eastern leads on breadth of covered conditions. Income and Singlife sit at the leaner, cheaper end. Prudential PRUMum stretches the coverage term to four years rather than three. None of these payouts is large, which is the point: it is a low premium for defined cash, not a substitute for your child's future health and life cover.
| Plan | Single premium (from) | Pregnancy complications | Congenital illnesses | Daily hospital cash | Buy-by week | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Eastern GREAT Maternity Care 2 | ~S$398 | 18 | 26 | Up to S$200/day | From 13 weeks | 3 years |
| Manulife ReadyMummy | ~S$399 | 14 | 24 | 1%/day, up to 30 days | 13 to 36 weeks | 3 years |
| Income Maternity 360 | S$390.55 | 10 | 21 | 1%/day, up to 30 days | 13 to 35 weeks | 3 years |
| Singlife Maternity Care | ~S$326 | 10 | 23 | 1%/day, up to 30% of SA | 13 to 36 weeks | 3 years |
| Prudential PRUMum | ~S$390 | 13 | 25 | 1%/day, up to 50 days | 13 to 36 weeks | 4 years |
GREAT Maternity Care 2 covers 18 pregnancy and childbirth complications and 26 congenital conditions, the widest list of the group, and you can apply from as early as 13 weeks of pregnancy. It comes as Essential (S$5,000 sum assured) or Enhanced (S$10,000), pays a daily hospital cash benefit of up to S$200 for the mother and child, and a 100% sum assured death benefit. A Guaranteed Insurability Benefit lets you take out an eligible life or wealth plan on yourself or the child without medical underwriting within 90 days of birth, which is the standout feature if your baby is born healthy but you want locked-in future cover.
Income Maternity 360 is the leaner option, covering 10 pregnancy complications and 21 congenital illnesses with a sum assured of S$5,000 to S$10,000 in S$1,000 steps. The illustrated single premium is S$390.55 for S$5,000 at age 30, the mother must be 17 to 44 and 13 to 35 weeks pregnant at application, and the daily hospital cash is 1% of the sum assured per day up to 30 days. A simplified-underwriting benefit lets you buy an eligible Income child or life plan within 60 days of birth using a short health declaration.
Singlife Maternity Care covers 10 pregnancy complications and 23 congenital illnesses, accepts mothers aged 18 to 45 (age next birthday) who are 13 to 36 weeks pregnant, and insures up to four babies in a single pregnancy, including IVF conceptions. It adds two useful child benefits: 50% of the sum assured if the child needs a stem cell transplant, and 10% if the child cannot walk or speak simple words by 28 months, a developmental-delay trigger most rivals do not have.
The buy-by window is the first thing to check. Most insurers accept applications between 13 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, with Income closing slightly earlier at 35 weeks. Premiums for a given plan and sum assured are generally fixed across that window, so buying at week 14 gives you months more coverage for the same money than buying at week 34. There is no advantage to waiting.
Pre-existing conditions are the usual exclusion. If a complication or congenital risk was already diagnosed or showing before you applied, a claim for it will be declined. Some plans also impose a short waiting period at the start of the policy, and a normal, uneventful delivery never triggers a payout, which is by design.
Read the congenital list carefully rather than the headline count. Two plans can both 'cover 25 conditions' but pay 100% of the sum assured on different ones, with smaller percentages on the rest. The death and total disability triggers, the daily cash cap, and any conversion-to-child-plan benefit usually matter more than the raw number of conditions listed.
For a single premium of roughly S$320 to S$400, a maternity plan buys defined cash for events that are individually unlikely but financially nasty if they happen. That is a reasonable trade for many parents, especially first-time ones, provided you go in clear-eyed: a S$5,000 payout will not fund years of therapy for a serious congenital condition. It softens the blow, it does not solve it.
Spend on the foundations first. Make sure both parents hold MediShield Life plus a suitable Integrated Shield Plan, and that the income earner has enough term life cover before adding a niche maternity policy. Run the numbers in our financial health check to see whether a maternity premium is spare cash or stretching you, and read our term life insurance guide if your base cover is thin.
After the birth, the priority shifts to the child's own long-term protection and savings. A healthy newborn can be insured easily; a child with a diagnosed condition cannot, which is exactly why a guaranteed-insurability benefit on a maternity plan is valuable. Pair that with a plan to fund the Baby Bonus and CDA so the government co-matching works for you from day one.
Your Integrated Shield Plan reimburses hospital bills for serious complications and newborn treatment, but it does not pay cash for income you lose or for long-term care of a congenital condition. Maternity insurance adds a lump sum and daily cash on top, so it complements rather than duplicates your Shield plan.
Most insurers accept applications between 13 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, and the single premium is fixed across that window. Buying early, around weeks 13 to 16, gives you the most months of coverage for the same price, so there is no reason to delay once you are past the eligibility start.
As of June 2026, a single-premium plan for a S$5,000 sum assured costs roughly S$320 to S$400 for a 30-year-old, for example around S$326 for Singlife, S$390.55 for Income and about S$398 for Great Eastern. Premiums rise with the sum assured and depend on your age and the pregnancy, so always confirm a personal quote.
No. Maternity insurance only pays for listed pregnancy complications, congenital illnesses, death and covered hospital stays. A normal, uneventful delivery and routine prenatal appointments are never claimable, the same way they fall outside MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans.
Yes, several plans accept IVF pregnancies. Singlife Maternity Care, for instance, covers up to four babies in a single pregnancy including IVF conceptions. Pre-existing conditions diagnosed before you apply are still excluded, so apply within the eligibility window before any complication is flagged.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.