What is the cost of giving birth in Singapore?

Dear ministry of health, SGH, KKH and NUH,

I am currently under the NHS system as I'm a Human Rights Fellow at the University of York in England.
My doctor, dietician, gynaecologist and midwife have checked on me.
As a Singaporean couple, we would like to give birth in our home country and I will be flying back to Singapore this weekend.

International news published that giving birth in Singapore will result in "a Singaporean medical bill estimated at £140,000"
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-47541801
Is this the reason why "Singapore marks its sixth straight year at the top of the rankings" as the world’s most expensive cities?
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/03/19/the-worlds-most-expensive-cities

According to Singapore government's website https://www.areyouready.sg/YourInfoHub/Pages/Views-What-is-the-cost-of-giving-birth-in-Singapore-hospitals-TheHeartlandBoy.aspx

1. MEDISAVE MATERNITY PACKAGE
"To help to lighten the cash outlay required for giving birth in Singapore, government has approved the use of MediSave under the “MediSave Maternity Package” scheme."

Is it possible to know how the breakdown of cost to deliver in Singapore so that we will be able to know what items are being charged into our hospital bills?

2. BABY BONUS GRANT
"Basically, a total of $8,000 cash will be dispensed over various tranches into your nominated bank account."

Are couples allowed to make payment after receiving their baby bonus ("dispensed over various tranches") and will that incur any interest because the hospital bill was not paid immediately?

3. CHOOSE THE PUBLIC ROUTE FOR DELIVERY
"To qualify for the public route, the patient should first go to a polyclinic and get a referral to a public hospital of her choice. Once the patient is on the public route, she gets to enjoy subsidized rates from the government."

As I'm already in my third trimester, do I still have to go to the polyclinic or will I be admitted to give birth directly when labour begins?

4. CHOOSE A LOWER CLASS WARD
"The class of the ward will affect the cost of the delivery quite significantly. Therefore, to reduce the cost of giving birth in Singapore, a couple may decide on a lower-class ward."

"Although globally hailed as one of the world’s most efficient healthcare systems, public hospitals in Singapore also face high congestion levels adding to the growing evidence suggesting that the medical infrastructure in the Lion City is failing to keep up pace with booming medical demand" moreover "The supply of medical beds is also unable to keep up with the number of sick Singaporeans with the annual number of acute hospital patients per bed edging up from 51 patients per bed in 2015 to 55 in a mere two years time"
https://sbr.com.sg/healthcare/news/singapore-public-hospitals-cave-under-pressure-overcrowding-0

Is a bedspace in the C ward guaranteed or do couples have to top up more money to get a bedspace in the upper class ward due to hospital bed crunch?
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hospitals-facing-severe-bed-crunch-take-unusual-steps

5. LIMIT YOUR PRENATAL CONSULTATIONS
"If Heartland Boy and Heartland Girl had not been kan-cheong spiders, they could even push the first visit to Week 13. Not sure if this would be going against professional medical advice but their gynaecologist did comment that there was nothing much."

Is it possible to know the price breakdown of the consultations since we will not be including the first two trimesters?

Also, will there be additional cost if we would like to have at least one hour of skin-to-skin contact with the baby right after delivery?
https://extranet.who.int/rhl/topics/newborn-health/care-newborn-infant/who-recommendation-skin-skin-contact-during-first-hour-after-birth
Is this available for free to C ward families or only to those in the upper class ward?

Regards,
Han Hui Hui

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