dommod

Hi
My wife is pregnant with our 2nd child and is understandably nervous about the whole “living in Australia having a child” situation.
We are coming over on a state sponsored business visa and settling in Sydney and what worried her / me is:

Do you receive midwife care on Medicare or do you have to go private?
When she gives birth will that be covered on Medicare?
When our son was born he was in hospital for some time as he was born 3.75lbs and needed premature baby care and received 3 operations for hernias before he was 4 months old and it involved hospital stays, which in the UK are all free on the NHS but how do we stand with the Medicare system?
Also does it mean when he / she is born in Australia they get dual nationality by default?
And lastly will he /she automatically speak in an Australian accent or do we have an option? (JOKE!)

I hope it doesn't look like were looking to abuse the system and get all we can because that defiantly isn’t the case as I'm required to start up another company and put a lot into the economy which I will do but with our money fast running out over here with the present financial climate we have to be prepared for every situation.

I hope you can help and when I put my first art show on in Sydney you all more than welcome to come and drink the free bar dry (and buy some paintings)
Thanks in advance

joh117

Hi

I had both my kids in Oz but I was 32wks pregnant with my second when we returned to Oz. You do get midwife care on medicare and you will be covered for the birth. Under the public system there are no out of pocket costs. I had both mine public and compared to the NHS both were like private stays.

I can not fault the system here and really dont think you have anything to worry about but I understand its a big move when pregnant.

Your baby will I believe be a dual national (not sure about your visa type but PR is) so I have two aussies though one speaks with a Broad Yorkshire accent as we took her back to blighty for a couple of years at the age of one.)

I think you get spoilt over here when pregnant and was desperate to return for my second baby you get to stay in at least 3 nights if you want whereas had I had mine in the UK I would have been sent home hrs after the birth.

I could go on but wont if you have any more questions feel free to PM me

Jo

quoll

You wont have the option to go private unless you pay for it out of your own pocket because there is a waiting period before you can access obstetric support and you basically have to join up before you get pregnant.

Public hospitals are fine, most kids are born in them. You will just get whichever doctor is on duty - or midwife. The facilities will be OK and it will be covered by medicare although Australian medicine has a standard co-payment for many things like GP visits and some scans.

Not sure that the post natal visiting is quite as good as UK.

If the baby needs medical care then it will be pretty good and emergency care in hospitals is covered by medicare. Sydney has a pretty much state of the art childrens hospital but I am sure you wont need it.

If you are on a PR visa then your child will be Australian. If it is a 457 visa then s/he wont be.
Unfortunately, the Australian accent is mandatory - they even cry funny! They all come out looking like a cross between Dame Edna and Crocodile Dundee, but not to worry, they do begin to look normal quite quickly.

The biggest challenge is being alone away from a family support network when you have a baby and other little ones because with daddy away at work all day it can be very stressful for a mum stuck at home.

All the best, hope things go smoothly

Ryem78

Hi Quoll,

Any idea what the waiting period is usually?

Thanks

PoppetUK

Hi ya,

Congratulations. The waiting period for us with medibank was a year. So we joined in Feb 08 and the baby needed to be due after Feb 09 for us to be able to use our private insurance.

I am currently 25 weeks pregnant and although I have the option to go private I am more than happy to go public and will be. I also know that I will be having a c-section so was a bit concerned that this might cost something. We've paid for a couple of things like the 12 week scan which is deemed as optional here. I think I also paid for some early bloods but everything else has been bulk billed. The care I have received so far has been good and the midwives at the hospitals have been pretty helpful. Fingers crossed all goes smoothly.

Good luck.

Poppet

p.s the family support / parenting support locally has also been excellent (WA)

JAJ

Not unless you are a permanent resident when child is born ... you say "state sponsored business visa" which suggests temporary. What is the visa subclass?

dommod

Hi, thanks for all your replies its helpful information.
And JAJ our visa's are subclass 163 if that helps?

comet555

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/busin...visa-works.htm

It appears as though this is a temporary visa. This means that any children that are born in Australia would only have the same temporary visa status. Only permanent residents would have the children become citizens upon birth.

As far as the Medicare goes I believe if you have a UK passport then you are entitled to Medicare under the reciprocal agreement.
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/...isitors/uk.jsp

I think it's just for medically necessary treatment, although it seems like it would probably cover quite a bit. I don't know much about it so your best to find out more information.

viviennef

Definitely ring immigration re: the visa status/benefits allowed part. I know nothing about that because I was a permanent resident. I also had a prem baby though, she was 3lb.

Do you receive midwife care on Medicare or do you have to go private?
public is fine - cant get private

When she gives birth will that be covered on Medicare?
refer to above.

When our son was born he was in hospital for some time as he was born 3.75lbs and needed premature baby care and received 3 operations for hernias before he was 4 months old and it involved hospital stays, which in the UK are all free on the NHS but how do we stand with the Medicare system?
Not sure about coverage but I am guessing it will be fine. I would though say choose your hospital carefully. some may say they are booked up but you can get in if you say you live in area. My choices would be royal prince alfred, randwick, north shore. Make sure the one you pick has a fully equipped special care facility - you dont want to swap around. RPA is really outstanding for pre term babies

Also does it mean when he / she is born in Australia they get dual nationality by default?
Not if you are a temporary resident

Actually I didnt answer much there. but really hospital is a big thing, I know lots of mothers in with me had had to transfer all in a panic and its not a great thing. post birth/release too is important - when we later had problems the rpa were very supportive and treat poppy as if she was their responsibility too. saved lots of time wasting

Vivienne

foxychic

we are on 163 visa. had a baby 9 months ago. had c-section, some probs in pregnancy - all covered on medicare, not much point commenting on the care I suppose as I am in Adelaide, but it was pretty much same as UK. wouldn't pay to go private - when I enquired (no medical insurance) what put me off was the $750 per day fee if baby needs to go to special care (my previous 2 had needed it - so it really put me off)

your baby will have an aussie birth certificate but then have to get a british passport from the consulate then apply for the 163 visa, as yourselves - I had to complete the relevant parts of the full app form "in my daughters voice" and send it to Perth Business Processing, then had to send her passport there to get visa stamp in. Just speak to your local immigration dept when baby has arrived, they are very helpful

Good luck
Nothing to worry about