SarahMay (sarahmay) : Most companies have a waiting period of 28 days for newborns as there's a high chance of infant death and other implications especially in the case of premature babies. The insurance companies will take into consideration the health of the newborn, based on information such as birth weight, size, and the reports in the health booklet, as well as parent's health, eg, whether there's any hereditary diseases etc.
Most companies offers more or less the same products and benefits. In my opinion, it's best to sit down with an adviser to go through your plans and needs before deciding on what's best for your family. The plan that suits me the best may not be the best one for another person as our needs, resources and responsibilities are different.
For a start, you can start looking for the hospitalisation plans that offers you the coverage and the premium you're willing to pay. Then when your baby is out, you can sign up after 28 days. For the rest of the plans, if your resources allows you to start early, do so asap. If not, you can always wait for a few mths to see how your household expenses is like after the new addition to the family, and from there, work out how much you can set aside for your financial planning.
See how basic Medishield works:
http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/hcfinancing.aspx?id=306
Medisave-approved Integrated Insurance Plans
http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/hcfinancing.aspx?id=342
-> please take note that some of the information on certain plans may be outdated. For eg, Prudential has additional coverage for pregnancy complications and congenital abnormalities but the document on the website is not updated, NTUC made changes to their rider.
Hope that helps!