totterdown2005

Hey There.
I was hoping some advice on you kind people with options I have in front of me.
I moved to Aus in April 08 and am now based in Melbourne. I have been with my partner since May 08 and we found out today she is expecting our 1st.
I have Medicare and she has Medibank but because her cover only started 2 months ago so we are not covered.
Does anyone have any advice regarding our options? Anything is greatly appreciated.
If you need more information off me to help provide advice please let me know and I will respond immediately.
Thank you.

Sammy T

Congratulations!

If you have recently joined Medibank you are probably not eligible for maternity care payments, does your partner have the extended cover for pregnancy as it is not usually standard cover but extra, best thing would be to contact mebibank and ask their advice as they are the only ones who can tell you.

As far as Medicare is concerned, pretty much all pregancy and childbirth costs are covered, there are very few extra costs if any. Maternity services are really not bad in that the public system, and she should get all the appropriate services without too much difficulty. Is she eligible for Medicare??

Sam

Barbitana

My congrats!

We're n Sydney and it was like breeze so easy. IMHO, our public hospitals are usually as good as a private ones...not so luxury though - we paid almost $0 for everything
Take care

Cheers,

faf

Hi

Congratulations, how exciting. We had our first child over here also. I used shared care which involves GP who is also a registered obstetrician and midwives. I really liked the idea that the midwives also worked on the maternity unit at the hospital. So there was a slight chance that maybe one of them would end up delivering my baby. Unfortunately that was not the case but the midwife who did the antenatal class was on my ward. I had my daughter at the Angliss in Upper Ferntree Gully in 2008, via a c-section but that's a another story!

We had to pay for all doctors and midwife appointments along with all the scans we had, but we got some of that back via medicare.

If you haven't already go to your doctors and they will let you know how it all works. I was given a list of Dr's in my area who were registered at the hospital unfortunately I didn't get my first choice but overall I was happy with the level of care I received.

If you want to know anything else just let me know.

Good luck
Sara

Jan4kids

Just go to a Doctor to get the ball rolling.....all 'free' on Medicare, except for small fees for scans.

Congratulations

SydneySwede

I had our daughter in Sydney in Feb 07 in a public hospital. I went for all the appointments at the antenatal clinic and saw a combination of midwives and obsteatricians. I was very happy with the care before and after the birth as well as the birth itself.
All I had to pay for was the 12 week scan which is voluntary...didn't have to pay for any appointments or anything.

I am now 26 weeks pregnant with no 2 and have chosen to once again give birth in a public hospital. So far I am again very satisfied with the care I have received.

SydneySwede

CONGRATULATIONS!!! How could I forget....

flg03

Congratulations! We had our son in 2007 through the public system and it was great. We live in Canberra, and the Canberra Hospital runs a Canberra Midwifery Program where we saw the same midwife all the way through the pregnancy and she was there to deliver our baby.

The birth centre (which is just downstairs from the rest of maternity in the hospital) was a very relaxed, homey environment. I found it less intimidating than the ward setup, but knowing that the other maternity services were right there in case of emergency was very reassuring. Everything was free (except the ultrasounds at 13 and 20 weeks).

Maybe you could find something similar where you live? Look early though, as there was a waiting list in Canberra.

briggs

Probably a very dumb question. But would the baby be an australian citizen?, even if the parents are still on the 475 temporary visa?

Thank you

Pollyana

No, only if at least one of them is PR or a citizen.