Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

We're making the move in January/February next year. We're having a cycle of IVF in October so fingers crossed I'll be pregnant when we get there. I was just wondering if this would cause any problems with medical care? We have permanent residency through the skilled migration visa (hubbie's an electrician).

Will I be able to get insurance if I'm pregnant and is it very expensive? I'm not sure what the situation is in Oz with healthcare - so used to having the NHS!!

Any advice would be greatfully received.

Ems

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Hi,

I know of people that fell pregnant very soon after arriving in Australia. They didn't have private medical insurance and had their babies in a Public hospital. I think you have to pay for scans etc. but you can claim a large proportion on the cost back from Medicare. The ladies I know were happy with the public hospital system.

Private Medical Insurance policies generally have waiting periods. My policy has a one year waiting period before you are covered for birth therefore you are covered if you conceived after approx 3 months after commencement of the policy.

The government are far more generous with their contributions to Fertility Treatment so if your IVF continues here Medicare will refund you for many of your outpatient treatments but not hospital treatment, eg. EPU etc.

Here's a government site about PMI http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/ Also The Bub Hub parenting forum may assist you with other queries you may have.

Good luck and hope you are UTD very soon :)

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Thanks Caroline - that's really helpful.

Emma

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Emma

I am moving in August and will be 31wks and 6 days pregnant when I fly. I already have medicare as previously lived in Oz but went public with my first child and it was so much better experience than I have got so far from the NHS.

If you search posts by me I have posted more on giving birth over there.

You will be fine just get into a GP as soon as you land and they will give you your options as they may be more than one public hospital in your area. I had my own room with en suite in public so it is not big wards with lots of babies (I guess that may be the case in some hospitals)

Jo

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

I have three kids, one born in UK, two here. I was five months pregnant when we emigrated which was interesting! All three births were very different, in the UK our child was induced and suction delivery, our second was at a birth centre (midwife led, low intervention) in Melbourne, our third at home (as planned). All ultrasound scans, blood tests and birth centre care was covered by Medicare (equivalent to NHS I guess) but we did have to pay for our independant midwives for the home birth,which are increasingly hard to find due to insurance problems. Generally I find the public health system here in Aus just fine, just be prepared to keep asking questions if you need more information. Hope all goes well, good luck!

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Thanks for your responses - very reasurring. Although I'm probably putting the cart before the horse as I'm not actually pregnant yet!!

Is Medicare hard to get? Is it something I should apply for before I go and could you let me know how much it costs? Is it the same as insurance?

Questions questions lol

Thanks again.

Emma

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Just looked up what medicare actually is! Is this something you can apply for before you leave - or do you need to wait until you actually arrive in Australia?

Ems

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Sorry, I have no idea if you have to apply before you get here; as my hubby is Australian he was entitled to access medicare (and I think the health professionals may have done a bit of paper shuffling to enable me to access the services). Medicare is the public health system, when visiting GPs and public hospitals there is either no charge or a small charge of perhaps up to $20 or $30.(I guess for Australian citizens/residents but no one has ever asked me questions about my status, I was here for 18 months before my residency was approved) My parents have accessed health services without charge using medicare when they were visiting so I'm sure you could do the same. There used to be a government department called DIMA (dept. of Immigration & Migratory Affairs.......or something like that) though I think they have a different name now... maybe try googling that and find out if they can give info about all this stuff.:huh: good luck

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

If on a permanent residency visa you apply once you get there. Dont know about other visas as this was what we had.

Jo

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

emma, i just wanted to wish you luck with your IVF and your new life in oz:thumbsup:
bec

Re: Any one emigrated whilst pregnant?
 

Thanks Bec, we've got our fingers crossed! We've tried once before but failed, but I'm hoping this time we'll be lucky. :)