7 weeks pregnant and on the 457 visa! Help
 

Hello... Myself and my partner recently found out that I am 7 weeks pregnant... We only moved here 7weeks ago and are both working here as nurses on the 457 visa... I told my employers today and they said becuase I wont have worked there for 12 months when the babys is due ( I will have worked there 11) I am not entitled to any maternity leave and therefor have to save up all my Holiday entitlement!
We worked so hard getting here that we are not ready to pack it in to go back to the u.k as we are now settled and enjoying our lifes here... However I am very unfamiliar with the pregnancy process here... I do have a medicare card but as far as I know it only covers so much of the bills...
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to confirm the pregnancy and that alone is costing $70...
Has anyone been through this before?
Is there a good way to do it?
Any advice would be amazing!
Thanks

Re: 7 weeks pregnant and on the 457 visa! Help
 

Here is a little info that I have at Reciprocal Health Care in Australia for Visitors

Maternity Services for Short Stay Visitor (ie: under 9 months)

• Routine antenatal care is covered
• Confinements are not covered unless
• Emergencies or complications arise (eg: premature births)
• Special cases (eg: where a patient’s visit to Australia is primarily for her, or her partner’s work, and the patient has no choice other than to have the baby in Australia)

Maternity Services for Long Stay Visitor (ie: over 9 months)

• Confinements and antenatal care are covered, including routine ultrasound Tests such as chromosome sampling where medically indicated (eg: where the mother is in an at risk age group or there is a family history of deformities)

Re: 7 weeks pregnant and on the 457 visa! Help
 

Hi there - I feel for you.
We came over on the 457 and I was 6 months pregnant. I found out I was pregnant the day my OH got the job so went through months of stress and worry. I had private health care which would have carried over here up to the amount it would have cost in our previous country however it worked out cheaper to go public here.
I found the health care and hospital fantastic. We used the reciprocal agreement through medicare and as far as I can remember we didn't pay anything (I had had all the major scans and blood tests done before we arrived in Australia though).
It stinks about not getting maternity leave especially as you are so close - I thought Australia was crying out for nurses - is there anywhere you could appeal to?
PM me if you want to ask more specific questions.
Good luck - it will be alright - might be difficult but it will be ok.
x

Re: 7 weeks pregnant and on the 457 visa! Help
 

So are they saying they don't even need to give you the year off unpaid?

Re: 7 weeks pregnant and on the 457 visa! Help
 

I dont think there is a maternity pay scheme here full stop. If there is I missed that somewhere :) I was self employed anyway but I know lots of women who have gone back to owrk because they just cant afford to be off unpaid.

public health cover is great - fantastic no need to go private. I went private baby number 1 (and your insurance only cover some you still have to pay 3k to obstetrician) - week 26 everything went wrong and they had be out of the private system and into the public more quickly than you can guess.

I would never go private in a non public hospital as if there is a problem they have to get you to a public hospital anyway and sometimes you can end up in different places than your baby. Obviously they try not to but for me that woudl have been the way. No private hospital has the same funding as the large teaching hospitals - try to pick one with great special care wards because with those wards also go great obstetricians,

While you are pregnant you will not get anything you dont need, hand holding etc but you do get every care to make sure everything goes to plan.

Find a GP that bulkbills or tell your hospital that you cant afford the gp and ask for all in hospital appointments. where are you living? I had one in sydney 2 in Brisbane.

I coudl spend all day raving about how fantastic the midwives and staff were to me in 3 very troublesome, high risk pregnancies.

Also you know that of that $70 you get some back from medicare? I think thats the same for 457? someone help....

Vivienne

Re: 7 weeks pregnant and on the 457 visa! Help
 

In case you're not already aware, you should know that unless you get permanent resident status before the child is born, the child will not be an Australian citizen by birth. Also, you will not be entitled to any social benefits.