These are the medical costs during your pregnancy

Ultrasounds, obstetric care and home birth

The basic insurance covers the costs of obstetric care. This includes appointments with the midwife during your pregnancy, assistance with the delivery and maternity care. The basic insurance also reimburses the general term ultrasound (twelve-week ultrasound), the structural ultrasound examination (twenty-week ultrasound) and the home birth.

The reimbursement of maternity care

The basic insurance reimburses a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 80 hours of maternity care from birth, spread over ten days. The number of hours that you will be reimbursed depends on your situation. To give you an idea: if you are breastfeeding, you are entitled to 49 hours of maternity care as standard. With bottle feeding this is 45 hours. You do pay a personal contribution for maternity care. In 2021 this will be € 4.70 per hour for maternity care at home. Are you staying in an institution such as a birth hotel or clinic without a medical necessity? Then you pay a personal contribution of € 38 per day for maternity care. Are you going to a slightly more expensive institution? Then you may also pay some extra costs for this yourself.

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Which costs are not covered by the basic insurance?

Some costs are not reimbursed under the basic insurance. You can often take out additional insurance for this.

• Hospital birth (without medical indication) – Would you rather give birth in hospital without a medical necessity? Then you will receive a compensation of € 230. You pay the rest of the costs yourself.
• NIPT test (without medical indication) – The NIPT shows whether your unborn baby may have Down, Edwards or Patau syndrome. In the event of a medical indication or a positive combination test, the NIPT is reimbursed from the basic package. Pregnant women without a medical indication pay €175.
• Pregnancy Course – There are many different pregnancy courses. For example, about childbirth or breastfeeding. With supplementary insurance you can sometimes be reimbursed for such a course. Good to know: there is usually a maximum reimbursement per pregnancy or per year.
• Maternity kit – This is a box with medical items that are needed during childbirth and for care after the birth, such as a bottle of alcohol, a mattress protector, cotton wool and gauze. Even if you want to give birth in hospital, you must have this package at home. Cost? About €30. But if you have additional insurance, you will usually receive a maternity package free of charge.

Plans for family expansion? Check your health insurance

Have you recently found out that you are pregnant or do you have plans to expand your family? Then take a look at how you are currently insured. Much care during pregnancy is reimbursed from your basic insurance. You do need additional insurance for a number of costs. Are you already additionally insured? Then check what exactly is covered by your package. Good to know: normally you can only switch health insurance once a year. If you are pregnant, a number of health insurers allow you to change your policy once. Do you want to know what the best health insurance is for you? Independer has a handy tool for this.

Source: Independer