2024 Guide to Maternity Insurance in Hong Kong

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In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn all about maternity insurance in Hong Kong. You’ll get an idea of the costs of having a baby and why pregnancy insurance is so important. You’ll also have a thorough comparison of top maternity insurance plans, recommended by Alea’s team of experts.

What is maternity insurance?

Maternity insurance is a special insurance benefit that is added to a standard medical insurance plan. In other words, you cannot just buy maternity coverage. It is always bundled with inpatient coverage or inpatient & outpatient coverage. Pregnancy coverage aims at protecting women from the costs associated with childbirth, as well as prenatal and postnatal care.

Pregnancy insurance usually covers:

• Prenatal/postnatal care
• Vaginal delivery
• Medically prescribed C-section
• Elective C-section (not all plans)
• Delivery with complications
• Pain management fees (anesthetist fees + medicine)
• In-hospital pediatrician fees

Some more comprehensive plans may also include:

• Fertility treatments
• Congenital birth deficiency and special care for newborns in case of unexpected problems
• Prenatal vitamins
• Childbirth classes
• Extra midwifery services

Costs of having a baby in Hong Kong

Cost of prenatal and postnatal care

Public sector: Free of charge

If you hold an HKID, prenatal and postnatal care are entirely subsidized in Hong Kong’s public sector. Most of the time, they are directly provided by the Maternal and Child Health Centre.

Private sector: HK$ 20,000 - HK$ 40,000 in total

Fees are based on your obstetrician’s fees (for example, obstetricians in Kowloon are often less expensive than those based in Central) and whether your pregnancy is high-risk and requires more follow-ups.

Pregnant patients usually have appointments every 4 weeks from 6-32 weeks; every 2 weeks from 32-36 weeks; and every week from 36 weeks until birth. Most doctors do an ultrasound at every appointment and charge for it (unless it is included in the consultation fee). Consultations cost HK$ 600 - HK$ 2,000 and ultrasounds cost HK$ 200 - HK$ 1,000. On top of these consultations, you will be charged for additional testing, such as routine urine and blood tests, OSCAR/Nuchal test, NIFTY, swab, etc.

Reduce costs with the “shared-care” or “half-half” route

It is possible to combine public and private services during your pregnancy, whereby you access some private prenatal services and give birth in a public hospital. But beware that not all private obstetricians accept patients who wish to deliver in a public hospital. This matter should be discussed in advance with your doctor.

That said, some providers in Hong Kong offer specific packages for this so-called half-half route; medical fees are usually HK$ 20,000 - HK$ 60,000.

Cost of childbirth in Hong Kong

If you have a valid HKID and choose to give birth in a public hospital, it will only be HK$ 120 per day with a HK$ 75 one-time administration fee. You can even pay by Octopus card. Most importantly, these nominal costs will also apply in case of childbirth complications.

The private sector is much more expensive. According to research by Healthy Matters, costs for childbirth in Hong Kong (standard room level) vary between HK$ 70,000 and HK$ 100,000 for an uncomplicated vaginal childbirth, and can easily go up to HK$ 250,000 for an emergency C-section. Uncertainty during childbirth means additional intervention may be needed, making it difficult to predict the total costs, especially in case of serious complications. In the past five years, Alea’s team of maternity insurance experts have seen rare cases of highly complicated childbirths reach the amount of HK$ 500,000.

Further reading

For a detailed breakdown of the costs for prenatal and postnatal care and delivery, check out Alea’s comprehensive guide to pregnancy and childbirth costs in Hong Kong.

If you’re looking for a thorough guide to having a baby in Hong Kong, don’t miss The Hong Kong Maternity & Baby Book: The Ultimate Guide from Pre-pregnancy to Baby’s First Year from Healthy Matters.

Should I get maternity insurance in Hong Kong?

Because private medical treatments associated with pregnancy and childbirth are extremely expensive in Hong Kong, it is recommended to get pregnancy insurance.

Protecting yourself with a Hong Kong maternity plan not only minimizes the cost of treatments, but enables you to choose between private services and the public healthcare system, which suffers from long waiting times. Coverage for postnatal treatment also ensures optimal recovery for the mother and the best quality of care for the infant.

Important things to know about maternity insurance in Hong Kong

There is currently no standalone product with maternity-only coverage

Options for maternity coverage are either bundled with an inpatient plan or with an inpatient & outpatient plan.

Maternity coverage has a cap (aka sub-limit)

The cap or sub-limit is applied per year or per pregnancy. Coverage limits vary based on the type of policy purchased. A local policy might cover up to HK$ 16,000, whereas a premium international plan might cover up to HK$ 155,000. The most comprehensive maternity plans cover complications of pregnancy up to 100%.

Some policies will also have specific conditions in case of complications during pregnancy, with some doubling the normal limit and others covering all expenses until the overall annual limit is met. As is often the case with insurance in Hong Kong, limits are not standardized, so it’s best to speak with an expert for advice.

Maternity insurance has a waiting period

All "individual" maternity insurance benefits have a "waiting period" of 9 to 24 months, during which you cannot claim maternity-related expenses. The average waiting period is 12 months.

Note: You are free to become pregnant during the waiting period, but you will only be eligible to be reimbursed for pregnancy-related claims incurred after the waiting period has been completed. Some women who become pregnant during the waiting period pay for their prenatal care out-of-pocket and use their pregnancy benefits to cover childbirth and postnatal costs.

Some group health plans don’t have pregnancy waiting periods

Currently, no "individual" maternity insurance plans in Hong Kong waive the waiting period. However, some group health insurance policies offered to employees at larger firms do not impose waiting periods.

Buying insurance when you are pregnant is usually not advised

Generally speaking, purchasing medical insurance when pregnant is not the best option because any costs incurred during pregnancy will not be covered.

That being said, buying maternity coverage when you are pregnant has two advantages:

1. Under specific plans, a woman who is already pregnant can be covered in full for "complications of pregnancy only" – provided that the complication does not arise from a pre-existing condition.
2. Under some plans, the baby can be added to the mother’s existing policy with “medical history disregarded”. This means the baby can be covered for congenital disease and pre-existing conditions at birth – conditions that wouldn’t necessarily be covered if you were to purchase a separate stand-alone child policy.

Comparison of maternity plans in Hong Kong

The information below is provided by Alea’s team of insurance experts from policy guides and product brochures to give you an idea of the different types of maternity benefits available from different insurers. No responsibility is accepted for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. Please contact us directly to get the most up-to-date information.

If there is any particular plan you’d like to know more about, please get in touch with us at hello@alea.care and an Alea advisor will be happy to help!

All amounts in this section are listed in HKD.

Summary of benefits per insurer

Plan	Waiting period	Routine childbirth	Complications	Fertility treatment
Allianz Care	16 months for maternity and childbirth; 18 months for fertility treatments	Fully covered up to HK$ 105,325	Fully covered up to HK$ 158,000	80% covered up to HK$ 126,000 per lifetime
April France (Offshore plan)	12 months	Fully covered up to HK$ 100,300, increased to HK$ 167,160 per pregnancy for surgical delivery	Fully covered	Fully covered up to HK$ 20,900 per attempt
AssurTravel (offshore plans)	10 months	Fully covered up to HK$ 62,700, increased to HK$ 125,000 per pregnancy for surgical delivery	Fully covered up to the policy maximum of HK$ 20,890,000	Fully covered up to HK$ 12,500 (maximum 3 attempts)
AXA Global Health	18 months	Fully covered up to HK$ 150,000 per pregancy	Fully covered	Not covered
Bupa Asia	9 months for maternity and childbirth; 12 months for complications of pregancy	Fully covered up to HK$ 55,000, increased to HK$ 80,000 per pregnancy for surgical delivery and up to HK$ 30,000 per pregnancy for miscarriage (no waiting period)	Fully covered up to HK$ 230,000	Not covered
Cigna Global Health	12 months for childbirth and pre and post-natal care; 24 months for infertility investigations	Fully covered up to HK$ 109,220 for childbirth	Fully covered up to HK$ 218,000	Fully covered up to HK$ 78,000 (maximum of 4 attempts)
Henner (Offshore plan)	10 months	Fully covered up to HK$ 66,800, increased to HK$ 92,000 per pregnancy for surgical delivery	Fully covered up to the policy maximum of HK$ 12,550,000	Not covered
Morgan Price	10 months waiting period for maternity and childbirth; 12 months for fertility treatments	Fully covered up to HK$ 78,000	Fully covered	Fully covered up to HK$ 23,400
MSH (Offshore plan)	10 months	Fully covered up to HK$ 92,000 per year	Fully covered up to HK$ 183,800	Fully covered up to HK$ 12,500 per attempt (limited to HK$ 50,000 per lifetime)
Vumi	12 months waiting period for maternity and childbirth; 24 months for fertility treatments	Fully covered up to HK$ 156,000 for childbirth	Fully covered up to the policy maximum of HK$ 39,000,000	Fully covered up to HK$ 78,000 and up to HK$ 19,500 (subject to a 25% coinsurance)