Childbirth and maternity care in Australia is available in both the private and public hospital system. Your baby will be in good hands with either option, but there are differences in the services available and cost to you.
In Australia, you can choose between a free delivery using Medicare or a private delivery. Private delivery costs extra but offer more choice, comfort and help toward your out-of-hospital treatments. Higher-tier private health insurance policies tend to include benefits for private childbirth and pregnancy, so many of these costs can be covered.
In terms of the essentials, like how many appointments you go to, what test you need to take and how you choose to deliver, you won't find much difference between the public and private systems. The big differences centre on the professionals you'll be interacting with, where you'll be staying when you deliver, how long you'll have to recover and what additional perks are available to you. Cost is also an important difference, but we'll look at that at the end.
Pregnancy cover can be found in a top (or gold tier) policy. As an example, the following table shows finder.com.au partners. They all have a 12-month waiting period. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income and living in Sydney.
Why compare health insurance with Finder?
We don't ask for your phone or email to see prices.
With 1 click, you can open your results to nearly every fund in Australia.
You pay the same price as going direct – we charge no fees.
Your prenatal care starts the day you first see a medical professional to confirm your pregnancy, all the way to the day you give birth. You’ll be in and out of appointments with GPs, obstetricians (OB), midwives, radiologists (for ultrasounds) and other clinicians for blood work and genetic testing.
However, there are a few differences you should be aware of between public and private prenatal care. These are:
Other than that, your appointment schedule will be about the same, and you’ll most likely have access to educational and fitness courses through both systems.
The big day has arrived! Regardless of whether you go public or private, you can deliver naturally, via c-section, with or without pain relief and even via waterbirth if that’s what you choose.
However, this is the stage of the pregnancy where the differences between the public and private systems start to become more clear - mostly because of how much more comfortable the accommodations are when you go private. Here are some of the major differences:
Your postnatal care refers to your immediate recovery period in the hospital, as well as a period of time post-birth when you’re nursing yourself and your baby into good health. Whether you use public or private, you’ll receive the same number of basic check-ins, where doctors and midwives will make sure everyone is healthy. The big difference is that the private system offers much more in the way of counselling, education and therapeutic services.
Here are the differences you’ll notice:
Another major difference between delivering publicly and privately is cost. A Medicare-covered public birth is generally free. With a private birth, your insurer and Medicare will team up to pay a majority of the costs, but you’ll still have some out-of-pocket expenses.
Here’s what you’ll pay for:
Deciding whether to have a public birth or a private birth isn’t always easy. On the one hand, you could have it done for free. On the other hand, you could have a much more comfortable birth for not much extra money, relatively speaking. That said, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to make the decision easier:
At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice but if you’re still unsure, it doesn’t hurt to ask around for advice. Reach out to friends and family and find out what their experiences have been like. Hop onto some online forums and FB groups to hear from women there, many of whom will be from your local area offering local advice.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2014, 307,844 women gave birth in Australia, and 98% of them had their child in hospital. Of those women giving birth, 73% of women gave birth in public hospitals while the remaining 27% gave birth in private hospitals.
In 2014, 205,927 of women (67%) had a vaginal birth and the other 33% (101,896) had a caesarean section. The majority (81%) of vaginal births were non-instrumental, but if instrumental delivery was required, vacuum extraction (11%) was used more commonly than forceps (8%).
Black Friday is now over, but you can still pick up stacks of Cyber Monday deals that are every bit as good.
Sharesies boasts 500,000 Kiwi customers - or one-tenth of the New Zealand population.
Is it worth spending more with Everyday Extra or Coles Plus?
Aussies are predicted to spend $30 billion this festive season. Here's 7 key tips on how you can save on gift-buying.
Access deals and discounts of up to 65% off laptops from Dell, Microsoft, HP and more in the 2023 Cyber Monday sale event.
Upgrade your home office this Cyber Monday with 35% off ergonomic standing desks from Omnidesk.
If you're looking for iPhone deals in this year's Cyber Monday sales, check out our roundup of the very best discounts around.
Can you get a red-hot deal for the red centre?
11% of us are putting our holiday shopping on plastic.
From cutting-edge gadgets to deluxe mattresses, these are the best Black Friday deals you can get over the weekend.
Get cover to suit your budget and lifestyle.
Great offers, promos, and deals for today.
Hospital, extras, or neither? Find out in 1 minute.
Compare visa-compliant OVHC today.
