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Having a baby in Australia

Having a baby in Australia

Old Feb 27th 2012, 8:57 am
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Default Having a baby in Australia

I've checked over a few threads re having children in Aus but thought I'd start a new one to get a few views on specific topics

Is there anyone on here has a had a baby and used the public system? In particular those on 457's? What was your experience of this?

Has anyone gone private? Without prior insurance cover - i.e. paid full costs. What were the costs and what did it give you over public care?

Also what about shared care that we have heard of? Anyone got any experiences of that?

Thanks for any insights.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 4:13 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by steen1976
I've checked over a few threads re having children in Aus but thought I'd start a new one to get a few views on specific topics

Is there anyone on here has a had a baby and used the public system? In particular those on 457's? What was your experience of this?

Has anyone gone private? Without prior insurance cover - i.e. paid full costs. What were the costs and what did it give you over public care?

Also what about shared care that we have heard of? Anyone got any experiences of that?

Thanks for any insights.
Can't help you on having a baby on a 457 visa as we're permanent. However, I had no problem having a baby on the public system. Found it was similar care to what I had in UK. TBH, I wouldn't have gone private. Was happy with my local public hospital and as it was my third baby, knew what I was doing I believe the costs will be considerable if you haven't got health cover and looking to go private. Also I understand private care to be more obstetrician led while I wanted midwife led care.

Hope this helps.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 4:21 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Even amongst those who have private health insurance, private birthing is becoming less common.

Failure of PHI companies to cover large percentages of obstetric fees measn that a private birth WILL cost you $5K-10K out of pocket, despite being insured.

Mater Hospital in Brisbane is struggling at the moment with the public birthsuite very busy and private wards strugling to have patients. It seems after spending all that money building a new 'mothers' hospital they might need to 'reconfigure' some of the 3 floors of private wards to add to the 1 floor of public space!

(Many midwives and patients agree - the birthing experience in public is superior to private. Theres less obstetric involvement, less change of intervention and associated complications. HOWEVER, turning up for public pre-natal appointments can be a hassle and a lottery in terms of how long its going to take before you get seen....)
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 4:57 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Thanks for your replies folks.

If we were having a child in the UK we would have no hesitation in using the public system but recalled posts on here where folk had said they went private. I've since read a thread on another forum with many people saying much as above and that the public system was great for them so there seems every reason to have confidence in it.

I am interested to find out if anyone has used shared care. That seems like it could be the best option so as to have some level of continuity throughout the pregnancy.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 4:58 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by steen1976
I've checked over a few threads re having children in Aus but thought I'd start a new one to get a few views on specific topics

Is there anyone on here has a had a baby and used the public system? In particular those on 457's? What was your experience of this?

Has anyone gone private? Without prior insurance cover - i.e. paid full costs. What were the costs and what did it give you over public care?

Also what about shared care that we have heard of? Anyone got any experiences of that?

Thanks for any insights.
I think Elice_in_Oz has had babies using public and private. It might be worth dropping her a pm.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 5:25 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by steen1976
Thanks for your replies folks.

If we were having a child in the UK we would have no hesitation in using the public system but recalled posts on here where folk had said they went private. I've since read a thread on another forum with many people saying much as above and that the public system was great for them so there seems every reason to have confidence in it.

I am interested to find out if anyone has used shared care. That seems like it could be the best option so as to have some level of continuity throughout the pregnancy.
I was under shared care when pregnant with the Gorilla. He was born at the RPA; I was a public patient. I found shared care useful - most of the early appointments were with the same GP at my local medical practice, with the odd appointment at the hospital. Most of the later appointments were with the hospital midwives - I think I met every one at the RPA! The only downside of shared care was the cost - my GP didn't bulk bill, so it got expensive towards the end! Whereas the appointments at the hospital were free. (Not sure how this applies on a 457 - I'm an Aus citizen.) I opted for public, rather than private, as I wanted a midwife-led delivery in a birth centre, rather than my baby's birth having to fit into an obstetrician's golf schedule. I think private practice has higher figures for things like intervention, c-sections and so on, which I really wanted to avoid.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 8:07 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by Geordie George
I was under shared care when pregnant with the Gorilla. He was born at the RPA; I was a public patient. I found shared care useful - most of the early appointments were with the same GP at my local medical practice, with the odd appointment at the hospital. Most of the later appointments were with the hospital midwives - I think I met every one at the RPA! The only downside of shared care was the cost - my GP didn't bulk bill, so it got expensive towards the end! Whereas the appointments at the hospital were free. (Not sure how this applies on a 457 - I'm an Aus citizen.) I opted for public, rather than private, as I wanted a midwife-led delivery in a birth centre, rather than my baby's birth having to fit into an obstetrician's golf schedule. I think private practice has higher figures for things like intervention, c-sections and so on, which I really wanted to avoid.
Thanks GG. My wife has found a GP she likes so we'll be using him. He doesn't bulk bill either mind but rather that than take chances elsewhere.

While she is Irish she has a medicare card due to living in the UK for several years. So hospital appointments should be free too I believe.

Thanks for sharing. Just wanted a little confidence in the system which I have now.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 8:47 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

We [well, the wife] had our second baby in Sydney at RPA. It was all good - much more pleasant than Hemel Hempstead Hospital where No.1 popped out. Our friends have used the private system and I can't see what the advantage is - a motel-like room and lots of paperwork and angst about gap fees.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 9:30 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

I'm currently pregnant (yay, go me ) and beforehand spend many months researching the whole public vs private systems.

I have a top policy in terms of private health insurance (pay no excess, no out of pockets for hospital etc), however as you will soon learn, your PHI doesn't mean jack when it comes to engaging an obstretrician, which you will need to birth privately in this country.

Essentially PHI covers a lot, but the OB's then charges a 'pregnancy management fee' or a 'confinement fee'. I've researched a lot of OB's in Melbourne and found this fee can vary from $2,500 - $10,000. This is your out of pocket cost [medicare will only rebate around $400, although you can consider claiming some on your tax return (I think its 20% on costs over $2k)].

I felt this was a huge out of pocket cost, then when you factor in the cost of the anaesthetist on top of that (around another $1k+), paediatrician for when baby is born etc . . . you start looking at some serious cash. Which is fine if that's what you choose to do/budget for. Personally, we could probably manage all of that, but then when I think logically about how we have all the other initial set up costs of baby (no family hand me downs available), I'd rather use my money in other ways.

Originally Posted by steen1976
I am interested to find out if anyone has used shared care. That seems like it could be the best option so as to have some level of continuity throughout the pregnancy.
My GP spoke to me about shared care and the idea of having continuity of care through my pregnancy really appealed to me. I did some research and decided I didn't want to use my locals hospitals (we're rural and I've got good reasons for that decisions), however I did manage to find a local Dr/OB, who does shared care with a hospital in the city.

So far it's going really well. I've had a few appointments with the Dr, who also keeps my GP in the loop (which is great if I've got to visit with my regular GP, she's up to speed). I've got my first appointment with the hospital coming up soon, so I can meet the midwife team who will be assigned to my case. So all in all, it's going really well for me and I'm enjoying the experience. Sure, I won't be 'guaranteed' for a particular face to be at my actual labour, but am I really going to care when push comes to shove ?! Probably not. Plus, I've had several friends who went the private route tell me their superstar OB didn't actually make it to 'catch the baby', or barely made it in time to 'catch'. Was that $10k well spent? Again, each to their own.

The cost side of shared care also has its benefits. For some really bizarre reason, my shared care Dr/OB doesn't charge me anything - he bulk bills everything - which is awesome and rare. Which means the only out of pocket costs I'll be incurring so far will be the costs of my scans (which I can claim part of from Medicare).

Basically, the only massive difference/benefit for me was spending 4-5 nights in a private hospital (with chance being transferred to hotel) or 2-3 nights in a public hospital.

So far I'm really happy I've chosen shared care - for the cost side of things but most importantly I still feel like I've got the continuation of care side of things too.

I think I've babbled quite a bit - I blame baby brain. If I've written anything and it doesn't make sense or you have specific questions I can help with, please let me know!
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 8:24 pm
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by steen1976
Thanks GG. My wife has found a GP she likes so we'll be using him. He doesn't bulk bill either mind but rather that than take chances elsewhere.

While she is Irish she has a medicare card due to living in the UK for several years. So hospital appointments should be free too I believe.

Thanks for sharing. Just wanted a little confidence in the system which I have now.
Yay for free hospital appointments! My scans were all done at the RPA (I had the regular 12 and 20 week ones and then an extra late-term one as I was the size of an elephant and they wanted to double check Bub's size - and the Gorilla was enormous). They were all covered by Medicare, so free.

I'd definitely recommend shared care - it's a PITA going for hospital appointments (they tend to be longer with waiting times and car parking can be a nightmare at the RPA - I expect Randwick will be the same, assuming you'll be going for Randwick?). If your Mrs has found a GP she likes, stick with them. I found it handy to have built a good relationship with a doctor I trusted for after the baby was born - my GP did his first vaccinations and so on.
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Old Feb 28th 2012, 10:34 pm
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Thumbs up Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by steen1976
Is there anyone on here has a had a baby and used the public system?
Yep, and it was an absolute dream.

Our local hospital is the Lyell McEwan, and it's within walking distance. We were given a large birthing suite with all mod cons.

I was told I could sleep in the suite overnight with my wife overnight if I wanted to (I didn't, but it was nice to have the option).

The room had an external door opening into a tiny private courtyard with a table and two chairs (you can see it in the last photo):









Ensuite:



Bath/water birth facilities:



The hospital provided a midwife, who was with us from start to finish. Both she and the nurses were exceptional.

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Old Feb 29th 2012, 7:09 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by Dreamy
I think Elice_in_Oz has had babies using public and private. It might be worth dropping her a pm.
You called?

As everybody has said before, public system is great. I did private on a 457 with our first-born and whilst I can't fault it, it was expensive, even with private health insurance. My OB-GYN was there most of the time (unlike for a few of friends) but I still had unknown midwives looking after me. The pros, shorter waiting times at appointments, a couple of days extra at the hospital, one person following me throughout, did not necessarily outweigh the overall cost. I certainly would not go private without PHI though as it would be mind-numbingly expensive.

Had second-born in the public system, still on a 457 - we were a bit slack getting our PR application sorted out - and I could not fault it. Yes, waiting times are bad for appointments, but as your employer - if you are working - is obliged to make allowances for the time you need for them, it should not be a problem. As I have said in previous threads, I went to one of the major hospitals in Melbourne, one that had been recently refurbished and so has a maximum of 2 women per room and all brand spanking new equipment. I got lucky and was given my own room with double bed. The care was good, before, during and after delivery. I had gestational diabetes during that second pregnancy and they really looked after me. I would have loved to do shared care, but none of my preferred GPs in our surgery did it so it wasn't an option. I only paid for scans - got some $ back from Medicare - and a very minimal amount for my diabetes testing pack. All in all, it was a good experience.

Going private cost us around $5,000 - and I chose one of the cheaper OB-GYN -(not including the outrageous premiums we paid for a year before the delivery!) and going public cost us about $500 at the most. So it was a no-brainer for us. One thing I will stress though is that I did have a choice of public hospitals in Melbourne, most excellent. I cannot comment on other public hospitals elsewhere in Australia, where individual experiences may be very different.

Good luck!
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Old Feb 29th 2012, 7:10 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Some great posts guys! Thank you so much.

All seemed so daunting a few days ago!!!!
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Old Feb 29th 2012, 7:39 am
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Cool Re: Having a baby in Australia

Public was 100% free for us. I'm Australian and my wife is English with PR, so that might have made a difference.

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Old Feb 29th 2012, 9:15 am
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Default Re: Having a baby in Australia

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Public was 100% free for us. I'm Australian and my wife is English with PR, so that might have made a difference.

Like I said above, the $500 - was probably less, didn't keep track - included the gap fee for scans, some diabetes stuff that is not completely covered by Medicare like the kit and the insulin and a couple of non-bulkbilled visits to the GP. Being on a 457 -as long as there is a reciprocal agreement in place - did not make it more expensive. It's really just that everybody's experience and needs are different.
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