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10 May 2010

Life Insurance For Pregnant Women

Many people do not think life insurance until they have a family to take care of.

Therefore, many women leave a life insurance until they are pregnant or have their first child. Often the father is covered, so in case of his death or serious illness, would the mortgage be paid and a certain level of income is maintained.

But it is also important to consider the mother and the difficulties for the rest of the family should the unthinkable happen to her. If a mother becomes seriously ill or dies, the father will usually need to continue to work to bring in enough money to support his family. He will then need to pay for childcare for her children.

If he chooses option for the care of children themselves, there's the added stress of how to pay mortgage and bills.

When planning a family, it is wise to consider taking out a life insurance before the mother is actually pregnant. Many insurers are reluctant to provide life cover for a woman who already is pregnant because of all the possible complications that could occur.

High blood pressure is a common complaint of pregnancy and can lead to hypertension and even toxaemia (pre-eclampsia). Fortunately not so ordinary, but this condition can bring on fits, strokes and death.

Pre-existing medical conditions can develop quickly during pregnancy and conditions that have not already picked up will become more dominant and detectable.

When a woman is pregnant, it is very difficult to get life insurance coverage. Often companies will advise the mother to wait until her child is three to six months old before you try to get coverage. If a pregnant woman has managed to get life insurance coverage she can expect to pay up to 50% more on her premiums.

Any complications recorded during pregnancy will increase the premiums when coverage is available. It is always important to be honest on the application forms on medical history, although many medical conditions is only apparent during pregnancy itself.

Gestational diabetes is one such condition, and it has been known for a company not to pay on a critical illness claim when gestational diabetes was not stated - even if that were not associated with critical illness.

If a first pregnancy has shown signs of complications, such insurance coverage, while the pregnancy for the second time is unlikely.

Another reason why insurers are reluctant to cover expectant mothers, the risk of postnatal depression immediately after birth. Although there are no statistics on the suicide rate among postnatal depression patients, insurance companies feel they have a higher risk. Insurance will not pay in the event of a suicide anyway, so increased premiums to cover this seem a little unfair.

An additional problem in trying to secure life insurance for women is that we now see a new generation of higher risk pregnancies made available by advances in medical technology - not always a good thing.

Pregnancy is still possible in older women with IVF treatment. They are also more vulnerable to the complications of higher blood pressure. The treatment itself involves a high risk of multiple births, again putting pressure on the woman's health.

The advice from insurers and financial advisers is to take out life insurance before getting pregnant whenever possible. After the event, always at the forefront of declaring medical history.

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