Planning For A Baby After Marriage

Once the excitement of your wedding becomes a happy memory and you are busily enjoying married life, your thoughts may naturally turn to starting a family. In Dubai, it’s common for married couples to plan on starting a family within the first two years of their marriage.

Of course, no couple is the same and some may begin trying for a baby immediately, whilst others may not place having children high on the agenda, if at all. Each couple is entitled to their own thoughts and opinions when it comes to starting a family, but if you are considering having children in the near future, this feature from BCME expert panel member and wealth and wellness coach, Rasheda Khatun Khan , will help you to prepare financially and physically. Read on for Rasheda’s top tips.

Getting to grips with your financial situation as a couple as quickly possible benefits you not only for planning the wedding but for planning your whole lives together, especially if you want to have a family.

Not to scare you before conception, but it’s important to know how to get prepared. The more financial decisions you make ahead of time the easier everything else is for you both.

According to recent figures from the U.S, a baby born now will cost a middle-class family $249,180 to raise through to age 17. That’s not counting fertility treatments if needed, adoption costs, private schools, after-school lessons, or college, which can add $100,000-300,000 to the bill.

Starting to nurture your baby’s nest egg from now helps you to do things slowly and at ease. After the stress and expense of wedding preparations and then settling into being married, your pregnancy may be just around the corner. Here are some things to help you prepare.

Above: Image by Natalie Cocks Photography

♡  Maximise your medical insurance benefit

Check your maternity cover in particular. Some insurances do not let you claim on maternity within the first year so make sure yours will be valid. Also check how much maternity coverage you have. On average, a normal birth here in Dubai costs at least AED30,000 – try to get an unlimited package.

♡  Understand your employee benefits

Start with maternity and paternity leave – if it’s not what you want you have time to start negotiating. Also check your school fees and housing benefit. What’s your company policy? Again, always remember you can negotiate.

♡  Consider life insurance

Life insurance premiums are based on age, sex and medical history, so as today is the youngest you will ever be, today will be the cheapest life cover will ever be. A financial planner can help you figure out how much you need to be covered for and if cost is an issue there are different variables and options to create something that fits you. Here is a link to a free life insurance calculator to help you get started:

How much life insurance do we need?

♡  Start a little nest egg

Starting this now means you can put as little as AED500 per month, or an amount you can afford to forget about, helping you to spread the costs. It will also create an excellent saving habit which will need to continue throughout your baby’s dependent life.

♡  Get a Will in place

A Will is not only there to protect your assets, but also states who the guardians of your children would be. Start enquiring and shop around to find a good lawyer. Build up funds slowly to pay for it 

And here are a few non-financial tips:

♡  Get into shape

Your body’s general wellness is key to having a baby and not only for Mum, but for Daddy too. Look at what you eat and make changes if necessary. Start or maintain a good balanced weekly exercise routine. If you’re a smoker think about the benefits of stopping now.

♡  Start on your vitamins and mineral supplements

Begin researching and find a combination of supplements right for you.

♡  Consider when to stop taking contraception

It can often take some time for your body to ease out and resume to ‘normal’.

♡  Talk about ‘working after the birth’

Iron out some of these decisions now. Will you go back to work? Can you afford not to? Will you change your hours? What about childcare or home help? Healthy discussions with your partner now relieves some of the unnecessary misunderstandings later. It is also a great way to get to know what each other thinks.

Planning to have a family requires a lot of changes and new commitments for you and your relationship. Before you take the plunge have thorough discussions about all the above, thus setting yourselves up to simply enjoy mother nature at her best.

xX Rasheda Xx

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