IF YOU are having a baby and are contemplating whether to have Junior in a private or public hospital, new figures released by the Ministry of Health (MOH) might help.
The figures show that if you want to have your baby delivered normally in an A-class single-bed or B1-class four-bed ward, the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is the cheapest.
SGH is also the cheapest if your baby has to be delivered by caesarean section and you opt for an A-class ward.
Among private hospitals, Thomson Medical Centre charges the least for both normal and caesarean-section deliveries in its four-bed wards.
The charges, released yesterday by MOH, are part of an ongoing exercise to post prices for 70 of the most common health procedures on its website. The figures are posted to increase transparency, improve efficiency and empower consumers.
They show that mothers who had their babies normally at SGH pay $1,982 for staying in a single-bed room and $1,454 for a four-bed room.
At the other end of the scale: $4,197 for a single-bed room at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, and $2,532 for a four-bed room at National University Hospital (NUH).
But do not think that public hospitals are always cheaper than private ones when it comes to having a child.
At the National University Hospital, for example, new mums pay $2,532 for a normal delivery in a B1-class ward.
At the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), the cost is $1,941. This compares to between $1,801 and $1,846 at the East Shore and Mount Alvernia hospitals and Thomson Medical Centre.
Only Raffles Hospital is more expensive than NUH and KKH in this regard: It charges $2,136 for a normal delivery and a stay in a four-bed room.
NUH also costs more than several private hospitals if you choose an A-class ward. It costs $3,552 there, compared to between $2,756 and $3,331 at East Shore, Mount Alvernia, Raffles and Thomson.
Only Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles hospitals are more expensive, charging $4,197 and $3,859 respectively.
For delivery by caesarean section, NUH is also the costliest among public hospitals and three private hospitals for both A- and B1-class wards.
An NUH spokesman said its A-class charges could be high because they include optional private services, such as having a paediatrician on stand-by during the delivery, or getting daily updates on the baby's progress.
She explained that up to 40 per cent of its A-class patients opt to have a paediatrician on standby, which costs $100, while more than 85 per cent choose to have a paediatrician update them every day, at a cost of $200.
The spokesman added that NUH's priority as a public hospital was to provide cost-effective care, especially for subsidised patients, and pointed out that its B2- and C-class normal and caesarean delivery services were the cheapest.
A spokesman for Parkway Group Healthcare, which runs the two most expensive hospitals for delivery services - Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles - explained that value-added and personalised service and minimal waiting time pushed its charges up.
Gynaecologist Lee Keen Whye, who practises at Gleneagles, said: 'Having a baby is not one of those things that you do every other month, so couples can afford to splurge on it.
'Most of our patients feel that the doctor and medical care are the most important factors, so as long as they are good, they don't mind paying more.'