Welcoming a new bundle of joy into your growing family is truly a blessing.
However, the costs of prenatal care as well as labor and delivery can be astronomical if you don't have health insurance maternity coverage.
Often the most common way for people to get this kind of coverage is through an employer-sponsored plan.
Employers with many employees are required to offer a plan with such coverage.
However, not everyone works for such an employer.
Some people may work for smaller employers who aren't required to offer their employers such coverage.
Other people may not be eligible for the plan because they are not full-time employers, and still others may be self-employed or contract workers.
The truth is that there are a great many people today who want to have a baby but don't have health insurance maternity coverage through an employer.
For this group of people, they are forced to either pay the medical costs of prenatal care as well as labor and delivery charges themselves out of pocket, which can take years to pay off if you can arrange a monthly payment plan with the hospital.
Other people may search for an individual policy that offers such coverage.
These policies are available, but can be difficult to find.
They often come with high premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, and may even have a waiting period of up to a year before maternity coverage goes into effect.
Hassling with insurance companies to get quotes and discuss coverages before you are even pregnant can really take the excitement out of your upcoming pregnancy.
However, if you work with an insurance broker, you can quickly and easily get quotes from the companies that offer plans with the coverage that is right for you.
Brokers can walk you through the options and decide which one is the best one for you and your family.