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having a baby in OZ

having a baby in OZ

Old Jun 21st 2006, 1:17 pm
  #1  
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Default having a baby in OZ

We hope to be traveling to Oz within the next 3 months and we have just found out my wife is pregnant, i would like to hear about peoples experiences with having babies Australian Hospitals, and is it worth going private.
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 1:41 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by mr&mrsjames
We hope to be traveling to Oz within the next 3 months and we have just found out my wife is pregnant, i would like to hear about peoples experiences with having babies Australian Hospitals, and is it worth going private.
Hi, We were in the same situation and I'm sorry but I don't have time to re-type all my posts on the subject but here are a few of my posts in no particular order of our experiences having a baby here. In summary if we had to do it all over again it would be in the UK in a NHS hospital.


POST 1
I'll give you bad service, how about when we were told by the medical experts we were having a down syndrome baby and should consider our options? Wife goes for the Amnio test which in itself has a 1% chance of causing an abort. The needle is about to go in and the amnio test doctor notices the numbers on the previous test don’t look right. She aborts the test and re works out the numbers. The new result says the baby is more than likely fine with odds of down syndrome greater than 350 to 1! Had she had the test it would have been a 1 in 100 chance of an abort. We went through a couple of weeks of hell because an Australian imaging expert added the numbers up wrong, in fact we were told they were added up so wrong they couldn't possibly have been right and should have been noticed on day 1.

POST 2
I'm probably not the best person to ask as I think the entire way the health system works and is paid for out here is utter tosh.

To try and answer, I'm not really sure. If you go to a doctor that doesn't bulk bill for a consultation for example he will ask for anywhere from $50 to $200 for the visit which you pay on the spot. Go next door to a doctor with a bulk bill sign and for the exact same consultation just show you Medicare card and you might not have to pay anything.

The reason I'm being vague is as the wife was pregnant when we arrived we had a whole gamult of experiences when it came to paying for doctors and scans.

We had one doctor who didn't bulk bill charged us $70 to confirm the pregnancy. Another doctor who did bulk bill charged us $50 but we could claim $30 back from Medicare. We got some scans for free and others cost us $170 with $50 back from Medicare. We had a post natal check cost us at the reception $180 and we were told we would get some of it back in the form of a cheque from Medicare:- it gets daft here, we were then asked that when we got the cheque sent to our house it will be made out to the doctor so we have to post it to them when we get it.

So all in all a complete mess. BUT it does seem cheaper and you might not even end up paying anything if you go to a bulk biller.

POST 3
PS. My cousin had a baby out here using only Medicare and bulk billing and it cost her only $10 for the baby. We on the other hand still using Medicare have forked out about $700 so far and I'm still waiting for the bill to come in.

POST 4
Just a small piece of info we found out the hard way via a cousin who also had a baby a few weeks ago, they don't do episiotomies out here, they let you tear and tear bad! This was a particular concern for my wife as my cousin was left very badly damaged after her 1st Sydney born baby, so much so that she had no choice but to have a c-section for the 2nd.
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 2:36 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by arkon
POST 4
Just a small piece of info we found out the hard way via a cousin who also had a baby a few weeks ago, they don't do episiotomies out here, they let you tear and tear bad! This was a particular concern for my wife as my cousin was left very badly damaged after her 1st Sydney born baby, so much so that she had no choice but to have a c-section for the 2nd.
I won't comment on all of arkon's points as everyone has a different personal experience, and there are differences between doctors bulk billing practices, but point 4 is not correct - doctors *will* do episiotomies and any other medical intervention that may be required (ventouse, forceps, emergency ceasar etc). Like the UK, you should put a birth plan together and discuss your preferences with the medical staff when you arrive at hospital. Your wife's birth partner (presumably you!) needs to talk to the staff during the birth and make decisions as things progress as to whether the birth should be allowed to continue naturally or whether to intervene with medical treatment.

I have friends who have gone through public and private systems in both the UK and OZ, and my sister is a midwife who has worked in both the UK and Oz systems, so if you would like more anecdotal evidnce from their experiences (both good and bad on both sides of the pond) pm me - I'm not sure veryone wants all the gory details in a public post!
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 2:46 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by ridds
I'm not sure veryone wants all the gory details in a public post!

...oh go on!!!!
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 2:50 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by Ozzidoc
...oh go on!!!!
LOL
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 2:51 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by ridds
I won't comment on all of arkon's points as everyone has a different personal experience, and there are differences between doctors bulk billing practices, but point 4 is not correct - doctors *will* do episiotomies and any other medical intervention that may be required (ventouse, forceps, emergency ceasar etc). Like the UK, you should put a birth plan together and discuss your preferences with the medical staff when you arrive at hospital. Your wife's birth partner (presumably you!) needs to talk to the staff during the birth and make decisions as things progress as to whether the birth should be allowed to continue naturally or whether to intervene with medical treatment.

I have friends who have gone through public and private systems in both the UK and OZ, and my sister is a midwife who has worked in both the UK and Oz systems, so if you would like more anecdotal evidnce from their experiences (both good and bad on both sides of the pond) pm me - I'm not sure veryone wants all the gory details in a public post!
I was recently told of a horrific experience here in the UK from the grandmother of the newly born child. The irony was that this particular baby was born at the same hospital as our own baby, which was Swindon. Our only major gripe with regards to the birth of our son is that the nurses did NOTHING to help my wife throughout her first night, post-delivery. Basically, our boy was left starving hungry for over 12 hours and cried all night. My wife was new to the whole experience and the nurses knew this so they should have come to her aid, given that our boy cried in a traumatic fashion all night long.

Also, I digress a little but my wife needed to visit St. Marks (the same place that they film "Green Wing") in Harrow for a minor operation about 2 years ago and on this particular occasion I visited her all day, every day of her stay. In that time I saw some astonishing things which you would only expect to see in a seriously third world hospital.

So, I think that I concur with the previous poster who mentioned that there is probably good and bad experiences in both countries. My mother now lives in France and the quality of the care she receives there is vastly superior to the quality of care that she received in the UK.

Balance in this discussion is the key to understanding the respective situations definitively.
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 4:42 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by mr&mrsjames
We hope to be traveling to Oz within the next 3 months and we have just found out my wife is pregnant, i would like to hear about peoples experiences with having babies Australian Hospitals, and is it worth going private.
Apparently, and I myself was quite surprised by this, they have babies in Australia!
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 5:36 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by benny the ball
Apparently, and I myself was quite surprised by this, they have babies in Australia!


No way You're kidding aren't you
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 7:24 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by WendyC
No way You're kidding aren't you
Exactly!

Well, my experience in a UK hospital wasn't too brilliant, but that's a really long story.

I'd always go for a home birth but I get the impression they aren't too popular in Aus? To be honest, I don't think your average GP is too keen on them here either!
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 9:14 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

POST 4
Just a small piece of info we found out the hard way via a cousin who also had a baby a few weeks ago, they don't do episiotomies out here, they let you tear and tear bad! This was a particular concern for my wife as my cousin was left very badly damaged after her 1st Sydney born baby, so much so that she had no choice but to have a c-section for the 2nd.[/QUOTE]

Just for your information. Episiotomies create a greater risk of a bad tear than not doing one (the cut extends). Therefore any Dr or midwife would not do an episiotomy to prevent a tear unless they want to get sued. Women either tear or don't - risk factors include: size of baby, postion of baby, anatomy of woman, nutrition/health of woman, position at birth.

As for the OP. Do a search because this has been asked before and lots of good info and advice resulted. As a UK midwife in Aus my personal preference if it were me = NHS in UK, Medicare in Aus, and never never private in Aus.

Good luck!

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Old Jun 21st 2006, 9:19 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by baglady
Exactly!

Well, my experience in a UK hospital wasn't too brilliant, but that's a really long story.

I'd always go for a home birth but I get the impression they aren't too popular in Aus? To be honest, I don't think your average GP is too keen on them here either!

I would go for a home birth too. But in the UK. Over here homebirth is not supported by medicare. Private midwives cannot get insurance, therefore the only midwives available are the few who are prepared to practice without insurance or 'lay midwives' who do not have official qualifications therefore cannot get sued. There are no real choices regarding birth in Australia.
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 10:21 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Wife had a baby via a caesar in a public hospital in the outer east suburbs of Melbourne 6 months ago - the hospital was very clean, parking easy (& free) and my wife had her own room.

Prenatal care was fine - cost around $15 a visit to see the obstetrician.

Midwives & nurses were very clinical & efficient although my wife said although the hospital in Oz was much more modern, better staffed & less chaotic than the one she'd used twice before in west London, she preferred the West Indian birthing staff (100% white faces in outer east Melbourne) in the UK as they seemed warmer & friendlier and were genuinely excited by the fact a new life had been created
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Old Jun 21st 2006, 11:50 pm
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Like people here have said, you can have wildly varying experiences even in the same hospital.

Having said that we had #1 in UK (Huntingdon) and #2 the other day in Sydney. Both were on the NHS/Medicare systems respectively and did not cost us anything (other than the scan at 12 weeks here in Aus).

Generally we much preferred the facilities here in Sydney, far more staff were present, newer facilities, easier parking etc.

Pre-birth meetings with midwives here were more regular and relaxed, very beneficial to Michelle.

Post birth (although early days) seems better here too. Michelle was overnight in a 2 person room, so far more private than the 10 person ward in the UK...
The midwife spent 2 hours here yesterday - whereas in the UK Michelle and the baby got 30 mins and she was not very interested in trying to answer our questions...

Can't really comment about private here, but if you do not have health cover here already then you are v unlikely to get private cover for this baby unless you pay through the nose for it. If you are new to the insurance co, then you will likely have a 12 month wait before childbirth aspects are covered. If you have BUPA in the UK then there are affiliated companies that will waive the waiting periods when you arrive here...

HTH
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Old Jun 22nd 2006, 12:01 am
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by mr&mrsjames
We hope to be traveling to Oz within the next 3 months and we have just found out my wife is pregnant, i would like to hear about peoples experiences with having babies Australian Hospitals, and is it worth going private.
Got a bit more time now, Ignore most of what I just wrote as clearly your going to get good and bad care here probably just as much in the UK but our experience was neither pleasurable nor necessary. To the muppet who suggested that Oz has babies too, I’m glad you noticed but the question is if you have a choice as to where to have it then all I would say is one system (the UK) you know intimately (the NHS) and the other (here) is a totally alien system from what you or your friends and family are going to be used to. Don’t rely on the Australians to give you either the correct advice or the best advice.

As I said if we had to do it again then we would definitely go home for it where you at least wouldn’t always have a part of your mind on the cost of it all. MOST of our troubles with the pregnancy stemmed from the 3rd trip to the hospital in the 1st 4 weeks of pregnancy, we had no idea what the timeline and procedures were to have a baby here so on the 3rd trip which was also the 1st one to get ‘booked in’ to the system we asked what happens next, we were shown a booklet that explained it all but the woman wouldn’t let us have one as it was her only copy, try as we might we couldn’t get another one. So we had to rely on what we were told by the ‘professional staff’. We were told to come back in XX weeks time (can’t remember exact timescale now).

When we went back we were asked in no uncertain terms ‘exactly why have we come back in now as it was too late for the test that is done at that stage. We explained that she had told us to come back on that date and she denied it and said it was now too late and due to the wifes age would now have to carry any defect to term. We had 3 days left to the deadline to terminate, but were now told that due to her age she was at high risk and really should have had the test. We booked into a private clinic in Sydney to get the test done and results as fast as possible, ie/ within a day so that we would not have to go to term if there was something badly wrong. We now had to do 3 trips to Sydney over 3 days and on the last day the mistake with the tests were discovered just as the conclusive and risky test was about to be performed.

I’ll stop it now as this will be pages long if I was to list the total number of incompetence’s we encountered and I’ll admit that our ignorance of the procedure, having a baby for the 1st time and a totally alien culture and health system didn’t help one bit.

Still good luck on whatever you decide to do, but in hindsight being on Medicare cost nowhere near the amount of going private and we would have had exactly the same care regardless. Where we are they use the same midwifes and doctors regardless of the option you choose so the only loser is your pocket!
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Old Jun 22nd 2006, 2:14 am
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Default Re: having a baby in OZ

Originally Posted by arkon
Got a bit more time now, Ignore most of what I just wrote as clearly your going to get good and bad care here probably just as much in the UK but our experience was neither pleasurable nor necessary. To the muppet who suggested that Oz has babies too, I’m glad you noticed but the question is if you have a choice as to where to have it then all I would say is one system (the UK) you know intimately (the NHS) and the other (here) is a totally alien system from what you or your friends and family are going to be used to. Don’t rely on the Australians to give you either the correct advice or the best advice.

As I said if we had to do it again then we would definitely go home for it where you at least wouldn’t always have a part of your mind on the cost of it all. MOST of our troubles with the pregnancy stemmed from the 3rd trip to the hospital in the 1st 4 weeks of pregnancy, we had no idea what the timeline and procedures were to have a baby here so on the 3rd trip which was also the 1st one to get ‘booked in’ to the system we asked what happens next, we were shown a booklet that explained it all but the woman wouldn’t let us have one as it was her only copy, try as we might we couldn’t get another one. So we had to rely on what we were told by the ‘professional staff’. We were told to come back in XX weeks time (can’t remember exact timescale now).

When we went back we were asked in no uncertain terms ‘exactly why have we come back in now as it was too late for the test that is done at that stage. We explained that she had told us to come back on that date and she denied it and said it was now too late and due to the wifes age would now have to carry any defect to term. We had 3 days left to the deadline to terminate, but were now told that due to her age she was at high risk and really should have had the test. We booked into a private clinic in Sydney to get the test done and results as fast as possible, ie/ within a day so that we would not have to go to term if there was something badly wrong. We now had to do 3 trips to Sydney over 3 days and on the last day the mistake with the tests were discovered just as the conclusive and risky test was about to be performed.

I’ll stop it now as this will be pages long if I was to list the total number of incompetence’s we encountered and I’ll admit that our ignorance of the procedure, having a baby for the 1st time and a totally alien culture and health system didn’t help one bit.

Still good luck on whatever you decide to do, but in hindsight being on Medicare cost nowhere near the amount of going private and we would have had exactly the same care regardless. Where we are they use the same midwifes and doctors regardless of the option you choose so the only loser is your pocket!
Sorry Arkon, but how can you compare, you have one child. In oz and a bad experience. You are not really in a position to answer this question, and scare people.
Sorry you had this experience it must have been awful, and it seems it has left scars.
But, saying you would have the next in UK . I could tell you some horror stories about Uk, wont go into too much detail, but i had 4 reasonably good experiences in Uk , 1 was ok, and 1 would be a horror story, my last pregnancy no 7, was twins, it never happened , i lost them, and that is another horror story about the UK hospital i was in.
So 4 good 1 not so bad, 1 bad, and then the twins.
So , here in Oz all i can say is the friends i have known have babies have been absolutely great experiences, great care, spotless hospitals, the one i had mine in the UK where terribly filthy.
I have not heard any horror stories here in the 18 month i have been here.
But im not saying it does not happen, of course it will.
So to the other person. wherever you are here or the UK it could be good or bad, hope its good for you, and congratulations.
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