Aside from the cost incurred during pregnancy and delivery, another area which could potentially chalk up quite a bit during the first few months with your newborn is bringing them for their respective vaccinations. During the first year, there are a few which are compulsory, though there are other vaccinations that are optional but parents may chose to opt in.
The good news for Singapore citizens is that – a lot of these vacinnations are either free, payable by medisave, or requires little out of pocket payment (payment by CDA account is also possible). This is only so if you bring them to the local polyclinics for the vaccinations. Some parents however, might choose to bring their little ones to the private clinics for the jabs. However, these are not free and for various reasons, I understand that quite a few parents choose to bring their babies to the pediatricians (private clinics) for the jabs rather than to the polyclinics for the free ones.
Dave and I did a calculation back then when we had Ally on the potential savings that we could reap by bringing her to the polyclinic for the jabs rather than the private clinics. I don’t remember the exact amount but I recalled that it was more than a $1k plus of savings.
This time round with Ashton, we thought we would do a comparison of the outlay should one choose to bring their babies to the private clinics for the vacinnations instead.
Note:
- The cost incurred at the private clinic is based on the cost we understand from one of the private pediatricians that was assigned to Ashton at birth. Other clinics might have a different cost schedule.
- The 5-in-1 jab and the 6-in-1 jab are essentially the same, with the exception that the 6-in-1 jab is inclusive of hepatitis B. For the purpose of this exercise, since the 5-in-1 jab at the local poly clinic and heptatis B jab is free, I have not opted to compare it with the 6-in-1 jab.
- The above table is only intended as a guide and there might be further changes as these are 2017 figures based on my understanding. For more information, please refer to Ministry of Health and Singhealth.
For starters, based on the schedule above, taking the jabs at the private clinic already cost more than $1000. However, do bear in mind that when you bring your kid to the private clinic for their jabs, you do not only pay for the jabs, you will need to pay for consultation as well. And multiple it by the number of trips that you will need to make to the clinic for the jabs, I will leave it to your imagination how much this would cost eventually.
A friend of mine once commented that she prefers to bring the child to the private clinic for his jabs because the jabs are administered by the doctors, whereas those at the polyclinics are administered by the nurses.
I told Dave about it and his reply was “Do you think the nurses actually administer less jabs than the doctors? I don’t think they are anywhere less experience”.
Well, there are different schools of thoughts around this. The above chart is a guide for parents who are considering whether to bring their little ones to the polyclinics or private ones.
What do you think?
Getting vaccinations done at the polyclinic isn’t that bad. The nurses are skilled enough to administer the jabs. The waiting time is quite ok with an appointment made. Some may say that going to a private clinic will have less waiting time. I don’t necessarily think that is true. Those really popular private clinics can be just as packed. Worse still, the doctor may be more curt due to the increased number of patients waiting to be seen. The only down side to going to a polyclinic is if you miss your appointment for whatever reason (e.g. kid is ill and cannot take the vaccination) and wish to rebook, the next available slot might be a long time away.
Yes agree. Ally had her vaccinations at the polyclinic as well. The waiting time even with appointment could be quite a while as well, depending on situation. I recalled there was once we had to wait almost an hour, and we were not late. There was a separate occassion where we were served within 15 mins so I guess it all depends. But like what you said, it might the same at the private clinics also.
I struggled with this too and eventually decided to just head to the Pediatrician to have a pediatrician assess my baby whilst having his vaccinations done. My first round of vaccination at the polyclinic was pleasant however the doctor was a general doctor and asked me to refer to a pediatrician when I expressed some concerns over my son. Thought might as well reduce the trips to the doctor and have a pediatrician do everything.
Perhaps I can alternative – 1 trip to the pediatrician & 1 trip to the polyclinic 😀
Totally understand where you are coming from! Polyclinics normally ask you the standard “SOP” questions and won’t be able to provide much details if you have anything further and in that instance, a pediatrician will be able to fill in those blanks. Dave and I have discussed and we decided to take the vaccines at the polyclinic and make separate trips to the pediatrician if required.