Angelique There is no absolute yes or no in this matter. The core depends on the project you are doing, the nature of the institution where you are seeking treatment, and the local medical insurance policy requirements.
Last year, I accompanied my best friend for a 42-day postpartum review at a public maternity and child care center in Hangzhou. It was found that her pelvic floor muscle strength was only level 2, and she would leak urine after coughing twice or holding the baby for a long time. The doctor prescribed 12 sessions of pelvic floor muscle electrical stimulation + biofeedback treatment. The total cost was about 1,800 yuan. The outpatient service reimbursed nearly 80% of the cost. In the end, I only paid more than 300 yuan. But another mother in the same community ordered a postpartum recovery package worth more than RMB 30,000 at a confinement center, including pelvic correction, rectus abdominis massage, and body shaping. She wanted to be reimbursed by medical insurance but was rejected. There was also a minor misunderstanding.
This is what many people are confused about. The "postpartum recovery" that everyone talks about is actually not the same thing at all. Most of the packages that cost tens of thousands of dollars promoted by postpartum care centers and beauty institutions on the market belong to the category of daily beauty or medical beauty. Things like manual vaginal reduction, hip bone inversion, and postpartum slimming and shaping are essentially "improvement consumption" for ordinary healthy mothers. After all, medical insurance is like a basic medical backpack that focuses on just needs. The priority is to cover the expenses needed for medical treatment. Improvement consumption such as beauty and health care is not within its scope, so it is normal not to be reimbursed.
However, if there are pathological problems after childbirth, such as rectus abdominis separation of more than 3 fingers, severe uterine prolapse, stress urinary incontinence, poor postpartum uterine involution, etc., go to the gynecology or postpartum rehabilitation department of a regular medical institution. Most of the treatment items prescribed by the doctor based on the condition and included in the local medical insurance catalog can be reimbursed on a proportional basis. Of course, policies vary from place to place. A while ago, I consulted with my cousin from my hometown in Shandong. Their urban and rural residents’ medical insurance has not yet included outpatient postpartum rehabilitation projects in the overall plan. Even pelvic floor muscle treatment prescribed in public hospitals can only be charged to the individual account of the employee medical insurance, and cannot be reimbursed through overall planning. However, if severe pelvic organ prolapse requires inpatient surgery, both employee and resident medical insurance can be reimbursed normally. There are also some areas that are currently conducting pilot projects. For example, Shenzhen last year included pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation that meets the indications into the scope of maternity insurance reimbursement. Qualified mothers basically do not have to pay any money out of their own pocket.
If you really want to avoid spending money in vain, don't listen to the nonsense from outside agencies that "all postpartum recovery can be covered by medical insurance." Go to a regular hospital for evaluation first. If you really need treatment, ask the hospital's medical insurance office in advance about the local reimbursement rules to save yourself a wasted trip.
