Phipsons

I'm planning to get pregnant then move with my OH to Sydney when my maternity leave starts at 27 weeks. Everything I've read says it's safe to fly, so I think it will just be the hormones to contend with...

Does anyone know how easy it will be to find a public maternity hospital at that stage of pregnancy (assuming I bring all my records etc across in my hand luggage). We assuming (!?) at this stage that as we are on the 136 visa and my hubby will start work pretty much immediately that we'll be covered for medicare.

My OH will fly a month or so before to sort out a house and car etc.

Does anybody have any other general advice about moving when pregnant, how to make the move easier (if at all possible!) or any good advice for maternity hospitals around Sydney?

Thanks!!!

moocow

you need to sooner rather than later. I was going to go home to Aus for the birth but found I had major placenta preavia at 20 weeks. it never moved and i was not allowed to fly. nice to plan but it does not always work that way.

you will be fine finding a hospital. do a bit of research and find some good aussie forums on pregnacy and childbirth and ask advice.

JAJ

Have you already done your medical exams for the 136 visa?

Fly Away

Hope you don't mind me saying this - but why don't you wait a few months and wait until after you have moved to try for a baby? It is a very stressful experince moving to the other side of the World, let alone doing it whilst preggers. As a previous poster said, things don't always go to plan, you might end up not being able to fly.

Wishing you well - I'm not knocking you, as you have your own reasons and timescales which are personal to you! Good luck!

SonicBird

Blimey you're well organised aren't you?
I'm not sure I'd want to be emigrating whilst pregnant.. It's stressful enough moving let alone whilst being pregnant.. I have done/am doing both in the last 12 months.. moved to Oz a year ago.. expecting a baby in March.. doing them together is a tough call..

Like the previous poster said, why not wait until you get here before you try for a baby? What happens if it takes a while to get pregnant, will you wait until you do get pregnant before moving to Oz? Or do you have children anyway and know that everything is ok?

Can't help on the sydney hospitals i'm afraid.. you will be covered by Medicare on a 136 visa...

good luck
Sonic x

comet555

Don't see any big problems aside from possible medical issues, and you never know when they might happen. You wouldn't want him to be in Australia and then find out that you can't leave the UK for medical reasons. What would you both do then?

I had preeclampsia from about 24 weeks so I would not have been able to fly either.

If I were you I would wait until you were in Oz to get pregnant, if it's possible. Even though you can fly at 27 weeks you might find you're not particularly comfortable on a long flight.

Either way you go I wish you all the best.

Bunna_Wabbit

I moved over to Melbourne when I was 21 weeks pregnant. Flight was fine. Emotionally though it was pretty traumatic - not only pregnancy hormones but not knowing the medicare system and not knowing how the hospitals and Doctors work here was stress that I could really have done without. The good thing is that I now know pretty much all there is to do about Doc's and Hospitals!

Ozzidoc

And therein lies the issue. The placenta is naturally low-lying at this stage, and many women have a high-grade previa at this gestation, only for the placenta to "move" as the weeks progress. (Part of the placenta dies as new parts develop - all related to blood supply.) It is nearly always too soon to tell at the 20 week anomaly scan. ie you cant predict exactly where the placenta's lower edge will be ultimately.

If I were in your shoes, I'd keep planning the way you are, with a little back-up plan that may mean you are unfit to fly at 26 weeks..but that is unlikely as the majority of pregnancies are uncomplicated.

About 1% of pregnancies have placenta previa (ie one out of every 200 babies born), of which there are several levels of severity. It sounds like the poster above had the most "severe" form, which is life-threatening to baby and can also be to the mum.

Phipsons

Ha, ha, ha. We are scarily organised - but also not naive enough to think that everything will go to plan and there won't be upsets or changes.

The idea is that I leave work to start my maternity leave, but then my maternity pay continues whilst we set up in Oz. Basically, it means I don't need to work for at least the first year maybe two - which is really tempting as an option.

The other alternatives are moving to Oz, then either starting a family on one income or my getting a job then working for a year or so. The truth is I'm the wrong side of 30, so waiting may not be the most sensible decision.

So some interesting choices...!!! But I guess we're in a really fortunate position to be able to make choices.

kazza1

Just out of interest, do you know if you can definitely get maternity pay from the UK even though you have emigrated to Oz? I am looking to do the same thing but our baby will be a couple of months old, would be good to have a small income coming in for a few months afterwards!

Phipsons

There are no restrictions on where you have your baby, so maternity pay will continue as long as you are still employed in the UK...

egghead4

I dont get this, if living in oz, you can still get maternity from uk if still employed. how can this happen, as surely you would have had to hand in your notice before moving to oz
bec

Ozzidoc

You are still an employee when you are on mat leave.

The rules must have changed however, it used to be that you had to be physically within the European union to receive statutory mat pay.....I haven't worked in Human Resources for over five years now, and the laws were always changing so presumably this one has too.

comet555

Not sure how that works either.

When I left Canada I had to give up mine too. I was getting maternity leave from the government and still had about 2 months left. I talked to them before hand and if I was going to be taking a trip out of the country for a month that was ok. But if I was going to be moving out of the country they would stop my maternity benefits immediately.

Not too sure how it works with the UK but I would be very careful with that. Since you are in fact going on a permanent visa, it would be hard to argue you are only away temporarily if they see you arrived on a 136.

comet555

I understand that you'd still be employed while on maternity leave. But isn't there some sort of obligation that you return to work after your year is up? Would you still get it if you were permanent residents in another country and would not be going back?

I'm not knocking you, if you can get it then definitely go for it. I just don't want to see you get the money and then have to pay it back.