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You can't put a value on the joy of parenthood. But rocketing school fees and the high cost of maternity care means any child born in the UAE comes with a pretty hefty price tag.

Expats are in for a quite a shock when it comes to calculating just how hard raising a family in the UAE will hit their bank balances - particularly those from countries where education and healthcare are free.

With the cost of schooling for expatriate youngsters starting at no less than around AED 8,000 a year, parents are advised to start saving for their children's education from the day they are born.

And even before that happens most parents will fork out thousands of dirhams to pay for antenatal and maternity packages at the emirates' private hospitals.

We look at the true cost of raising a child in Dubai - from maternity to school fees.

Maternity

Giving birth in Dubai can be a very costly business - particularly for those who have an abnormal or premature delivery.

Few insurance companies provide cover for antenatal or maternity care and for those who would prefer to give birth in one of the emirates' private hospitals, the price is high.

Antenatal consultations with an obstetrician at a private hospital cost around AED 350 per visit.

The price for an individual consultation does not usually include the cost of the blood tests or scans that can cost up to AED 1,000 according to Dubai based midwife Elizabeth Driver who is based at the General Medical Centre in Jumeirah.

She says there is a tendency for mothers in Dubai to be encouraged to see obstetricians for all their antenatal check-ups - rather than just for scans as is the practice in many countries.

However she says visiting a midwife instead is far cheaper and just as good an option.

"As a midwife if you come and see me for an ant-enatal check-up I do exactly the same as an obstetrician does but the price of coming to me is between AED 150 and AED 180 per visit. With an obstetrician the price starts at AED 350 just for the consultancy fee. Routine antenatal care is quite simple and mums don't have to pay extortionate prices. But it's obviously big bucks for some obstetricians to do all the basic care themselves and many out here will scan a mum every time she goes for an appointment which is totally unnecessary in most cases," she claims.

Maternity packages provided by the private hospitals start at around AED 5,000 for a normal delivery and differ in price according to whether the mother requests a hospital employed physician or a community physician to attend the birth - the latter usually being more expensive.

"Most of the hospitals offer two different kinds of delivery package - one with a consultant based at the hospital if you are having care with that doctor and one with a consultant based outside the hospital, a community physician who will just take the mum into the hospital for the delivery," says Driver.

"Generally speaking the two types of packages work out roughly the same but a delivery with a community physician could be a little more expensive."

The cost for a normal delivery in a private hospital can rise to as high as AED 7,000 for mothers who want a single room.

Private hospitals include up to two nights stay in the price of a normal delivery package and there are extra charges for epidural anesthesia, which is charged at between AED 1,000 to AED 2,000.

"Generally the delivery package for a normal birth includes admission in labour, care during labour, the actual delivery, then the suturing afterwards," explains Driver.

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