Pregnancy is a happy time for most women and if you are reading this and you are currently pregnant – congratulations! There is a slightly disturbing statistic, though, related to pregnancy and that is the fact that approximately 13% of the pregnant women in the USA do not have access to pregnancy insurance and/or maternity coverage. That is 780,000 pregnant women who do not have proper prenatal care.

Here are some pregnancy insurance statistics for you to mull over:

1. Nearly 1 in every 10 American babies are born underweight.

2. 40-80 million Americans have no regular health coverage right now.

3. 12% of all American babies are born premature.

4. 13% of all American pregnancies are uninsured.

5. About 57% of all pregnant Americans don’t bother with prenatal care until the 6th month of their pregnancies if they are uninsured.

You may have current health insurance but does it cover maternity costs? Many existing policies don’t, or they carry inadequate coverage. If you are already pregnant and just now thinking of getting a pregnancy insurance policy you will probably not be able to find late term coverage and will need to check out alternative care options.

Alternative care doesn’t mean visiting a witch doctor and hoping for the best. It means finding alternative insurance options, like Medicaid, that accept pre-existing conditions (which pregnancy is) if you can qualify. Medicaid pays health providers directly for services you use and is funded by the federal government and the state government.

In order to qualify for Medicaid insurance you need to meet a low income requirement for the state you live in. Generally speaking you will need to earn less than $30,000 annually to qualify. This is generally an excellent option for maternity care.

The state of California has its own option available and it’s called Medi-Cal. This program will accept pre-existing conditions like Medicaid does. Your state may have, and likely will have, an additional program such as this – your State Health Department will have more information for you.

If you are a low income woman and/or have any infants and children under the age of 5 you may qualify for benefits through WIC (Women, Infants, and Children). WIC works by providing you with nutritional education, health care referrals, supplemental foods, and more.

Obviously, pregnancy should be a time where you don’t need to worry about money and medical bills. You can reduce your expenses, though, by spending a little time and effort in researching these alternative health options. Your new baby will thank you for it later.