Buying Life Insurance While Pregnant
Pregnancy can make many day-to-day issues a bit more complicated, and life insurance is no exception. You can get a life insurance policy while pregnant, but your circumstances may make it more challenging to get the best rates from a top company.
How to Protect Your Family With Life Insurance
Parents often take out a life insurance policy to provide for their family’s ongoing financial needs if they pass away. Life insurance proceeds may provide a secure financial future for the surviving partner and children. A single parent may want to designate a guardian and make that person their life insurance beneficiary.
Choosing a life insurance policy type and amount is a big decision. You may consult a financial expert that you trust to guide you through the process of deciding which type of policy would best serve your family.
Planning Ahead
You may secure a life insurance policy before pregnancy, and it’s also possible to get the life insurance you need while pregnant.
If you are pregnant and are in your first or second trimester, with no pre-existing conditions and zero complications from previous pregnancies, getting the life insurance policy you want may be relatively straightforward.
People with pre-existing conditions can still get life insurance, even while pregnant. There are life insurance companies that issue policies to people in any health condition. For example, certain companies provide coverage for people undergoing cancer treatments or people living with diabetes.
Pregnant people with a pre-existing health condition preventing them from getting a term or whole life insurance policy could consider a guaranteed issue life insurance policy, which doesn’t require a medical or paramedical exam. This type of insurance usually offers a limited death benefit. However, the policy may exclude claims within two-to-three years of issuing the policy.1
Choosing Coverage Amount and Term Length
The best life insurance policy is one that fits your family’s current situation, while also providing for future needs. If you are on a tight budget, a term policy may better meet your immediate needs for life insurance coverage than a more expensive permanent policy.
Families that want to use life insurance as part of their complete financial plan may consider a permanent policy like universal life insurance or whole life insurance. Just keep in mind that these policies could cost more than term life insurance.
In addition to a death benefit, permanent life insurance policies have a savings component that the policy owner can eventually borrow against or use to get cash out of the policy. Permanent policies remain in force until the policy owner terminates the life insurance as long as the premiums are paid. Beneficiaries typically receive the death benefit, no matter when the insured person dies.
Life Insurance Rates
Term life insurance is an inexpensive option with a low premium and high death benefits for people who are in good health. Term policies generally provide coverage for 10-, 20- or 30-year time periods.
Applying early in pregnancy minimizes the chances of pregnancy-related health conditions that could raise red flags for insurance underwriters.
While it’s possible to get life insurance without a medical or paramedical exam, as a healthy pregnant person, you’ll pay less for a term policy if you go through full underwriting with lab results. You can get a term quote from SBLI very simply today.
Common Questions About Life Insurance During Pregnancy
Getting a life insurance policy may be on your pregnancy to-do list. Here are some common questions that can help make the process easier.
Can I Get the Best Life Insurance During Pregnancy?
Depending on your pre-pregnancy health status and whether you are experiencing complications from pregnancy, it’s possible to get a term life insurance policy with low rates. Applying in your first or second trimester minimizes the chances that pregnancy-related health conditions will affect your premium.
Do Pregnant People Have to Meet Different Standards to Get Life Insurance?
No. Pregnant people aren’t subject to a different life insurance underwriting process than those who are not pregnant. If you are in your first or second trimester, are experiencing normal weight gain and don’t have any pregnancy-related complications like gestational diabetes, hypertension or anemia,2 you may be able to qualify for a standard life insurance rate for someone your age, even though you are pregnant.
Should I Still Get Life Insurance if I’m Planning to Stay at Home?
Yes. Stay-at-home parents may not draw a paycheck from a company, but they have a significant impact on the family’s financial well-being. Salary.com reported that the value of a stay-at-home parent averages $178,201 per year. Their calculations included the market value for each role fulfilled by a stay-at-home parent. In 2019, Salary.com added network administrator, recreational therapist and social media communications to the long list of a stay-at-home parent’s responsibilities.3
Without a stay-at-home parent, it would be necessary to hire a nanny or enroll the children in a daycare. A single working parent raising children without help from a stay-at-home parent may require assistance from a housekeeping service as well.
There are many day-to-day tasks, beyond caring for children, that fall on a stay-at-home parent. Cooking, home maintenance, organizing medical appointments and coordinating appointments for home and auto repairs are just a few of the things that many stay-at-home parents handle while the other parent is at work.
Consider which tasks the surviving parent would outsource when purchasing a life insurance policy for a stay-at-home parent. Make sure the death benefit is large enough to pay someone to do the things that the surviving parent can’t handle with a full-time job. You may want to include enough money to pay off debts like the mortgage and credit card bills as well.
Can I Get Life Insurance for an Unborn Baby?
There aren’t life insurance products in the United States for unborn children at this time. You may be able to add an inexpensive child rider to your life insurance policy as soon as your baby is born. Talk with your insurer ahead of time to learn more about life insurance options for your child.
Can I Hide My Pregnancy When Applying for Life Insurance?
If you are just a few months along in your pregnancy, it may be tempting to not mention it to the insurance agent or underwriters. However, if you hide a pregnancy and get life insurance, the life insurance company may deny your beneficiaries’ claim depending upon the circumstances of the loss.
Since pregnancy (especially in the first few months) is unlikely to change the outcome of your life insurance underwriter’s decision about whether to approve your application and how to rate your policy, it’s wise to be honest about your pregnancy throughout the application process.
Should You Wait to Get Life Insurance Until After the Baby Is Born?
While pregnancy-related death is rare in the United States, many parents find the possibility concerning. According to the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), there were 17.3 deaths per 100,000 live births during 2017 in the U.S. The CDC defines a pregnancy-related death as death while pregnant or within 12 months of giving birth, so long as the cause was pregnancy-related or made worse by pregnancy.4
Healthy pregnant people without underlying health conditions may choose to move ahead and get life insurance during their pregnancy. There’s always a risk of complications during pregnancy or childbirth that could increase life insurance premiums, so many opt to look into life insurance earlier in the pregnancy.
How Will Pregnancy Affect a Life Insurance Paramedical Examination?
A pregnant person goes through the same Paramedical exam as anyone else applying for life insurance. Any changes in weight, blood pressure, or other health metrics that are considered normal in a healthy pregnancy won’t be counted against a pregnant person for the purposes of life insurance underwriting.
If your doctor considers your pregnancy high risk because of your age, pre-existing health conditions, or pregnancy-related complications, underwriters may give you a higher-risk classification, which may mean you’ll pay higher premiums.
When you are pregnant, everything can seem more difficult. It’s smart to put a life insurance policy in place as soon as possible as part of your financial plan so you can move on to the more fun and exciting aspects of parenting. Make sure to talk to one of SBLI’s life insurance professionals today!
21-4169. Policy form B-56 series. Policy form B-52, B-54 & B-40 series. Loans will reduce your net cash value and net death benefit, and may be subject to interest charges. Unpaid loans are subject to ordinary income tax and, if taken prior to age 59½, a 10% federal tax penalty.
This is designed to provide general information on the subjects covered. Pursuant to IRS Circular 230, it is not intended to provide specific legal or tax advice and cannot be used to avoid tax penalties or to promote, market or recommend any tax plan or arrangement. You are encouraged to consult your personal tax advisor or attorney.
1 Investopedia.com, Guaranteed Issue life Insurance, Amy Fontinelle, 2021, accessed 3/01/21.
2 CDC.gov, Pregnancy Complications, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, accessed 3/01/21.
3 Salary.com, How Much Is a Mother Really Worth?, Salary.com, 2019, accessed 3/01/21.
4 CDC.gov, Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System, Centers For Disease Control, 2020,</em > accessed 3/01/21.