Kelpiegirl

Hi everyone,

I would like to know what happens when you are pregnant in Oz and only have Medicare, no private health insurance.

Can you choose your own gynaecologist? Will the same doctor monitor your entire pregnancy and deliver the baby?

Do you have to pay a lot of the cost of examinations, hospital stay,... or does Medicare pay for this?

Thanks for any replies!

Kelpiegirl

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that reminds me, is the pill free like it is here?

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cherry6

Badge, i think i paid for the pill when I was there previously

LondonNurse

You have to pay for the pill in Oz so I'd stock up. There have been some previous posts about it so if u do a search should come up with some pricing info. From what I can remember it's a cpl of quid a packet.

Midwives are the lead healthcare provider in Oz unless you have complications/high risk pregnancy , e.g you've had a previous c-section, gynae problems... If you want an obstetrician to deliver your baby i assume youd have to cough up with it and it wouldnt be the same one all the way thru.

id go with a midwife. less fuss and much cheaper if not free.

ABCDiamond

The Pill does cost !! $19 for 4 months supply.
I suggest you bring some extras

or, $62 (after medicare rebate) for the snip, my wife reckons it will be worth it in the long run, i just have to get the courage !

Medicare covers most costs, but you do not get to choose a doctor etc.

You may be able to get a
Baby Bonus from the tax office
"Many families will be entitled to an annual amount of $500 for up to five years. Some families may be entitled to more money. "
Does anyone else know who gets this bonus, as I read two things on the ATO site:
1: The baby bonus is paid whether or not you currently get any other family benefits–for example, maternity allowance–and is not income tested., but then:
2: If your taxable income is more than $25,000 when you claim you will only get the baby bonus if your income has reduced.

MrsDagboy

KG, in Qld (which is where you are coming to if I remember correctly), if you dont have private health insurance you can attend a clinic at the hospital. These are usually staffed by midwives & doctors & all the associated things (eg ultrasound antenatal classes etc) are all usually organised through the hospital. As long as you are a public patient medicare covers the costs involved. You dont get a choice of doctors unfortunately.

When I had my twins I went through Logan Hospital, I have to say I thought they were excellent. Appointments were at least close to being on-time (most of the time there was only a 10-15 min wait at most) & being a high risk pregnancy, I had a large amount of extra tests which were all well organised & efficiently done. Perhaps everyones situations will differ, but I do have to admit I was extremely pleasantly surprised by the good experience I had.

ABC, perhaps you are mixing up 2 different things - a baby bonus from the ATO & a maternity bonus payment from centrelink?

ABCDiamond

Hi Mrs Dagboy,
The info I looked at was all on one page from the ATO.
Its left me scratching my head

Baby bonus
What is the baby bonus?

The baby bonus is a refundable tax offset, but even if you do not pay tax, do not have any income or do not have to lodge a tax return you can still claim it. The baby bonus is paid whether or not you currently get any other family benefits–for example, maternity allowance–and is not income tested.

Who is it for?

If you had a baby or you gained legal responsibility of a child aged under five (for example, through adoption), after 30 June 2001–whether or not you already have other children–you could receive the baby bonus.

The baby bonus will usually be claimed each year until the child turns five. It is usually paid to the mother of the child.

How much will you get?

How much baby bonus you get depends on your own taxable income each year. If your taxable income is $25,000 or less you will be entitled to an annual amount of $500. You may get less in the first year, as the baby bonus is calculated from the baby's date of birth (or the date you gained legal responsibility).

If your taxable income is more than $25,000 when you claim you will only get the baby bonus if your income has reduced. You may get more than $500 if there is a significant reduction in your taxable income.

ABCDiamond

This info from the Centrelink site may be useful also.

How much Maternity Allowance do I get?
This payment rate is effective from 1 January 2004. Maternity Allowance is paid as a non-taxable lump sum payment of $833.52 per child. It is usually paid with the first instalment of Family Tax Benefit for the baby, where Family Tax Benefit is paid fortnightly and not through the tax system.

For multiple births, maternity allowance is paid for each child. For example, twins attract two payments of Maternity Allowance ($1667.04), triplets attracts three payments ($2500.56), and so on.

This payment is subject to an income test.
This payment is not subject to an assets test.

MrsDagboy

ABC, yep the maternity allowance from Centrelink was the one I was referring to .

I dont know anything about the baby bonus from the ATO, but agree, it sounds confusing!

ABCDiamond

I am now more worried than confused, I just asked my wife about it, she works for Centrelink, and she didn't know about the ATO Baby bonus either.

PS: A wise word for those dealing with Centrelink, if you think they have got something wrong, you may be right. I feel that there training leaves a bit to be desired. But be careful how you tell them that they may be wrong, they do get so many agro customers that they do end up VERY stressed !

Kelpiegirl

Hi!

Thanks for your reply. I pay for the pill here in Belgium too, so that won't be any different in Oz. Here I pay something like $8 per month.

As far as being pregnant is concerned, I suppose you would go to your GP when you find out you're pregnant. If I understand what you're saying, he then refers you to a midwife, who will do regular checkups and monitor you and your baby during pregnancy. Or, if you're willing to pay for it, he'll send you to an obstetrician.

And when it's time to deliver the baby you just show up at the hospital and any gynaecologist who is available at that moment will deliver the baby. So it will be someone who doesn't know you and has never seen you before, who doesn't know your medical situation?

What about having an epidural then? Is that common in Oz? I can't imagine having to deliver a baby without one LOL.

Also, how many days would they keep you in hospital in Oz for a first pregnancy?

Thanks for the replies!

Kelpiegirl

NickyC

It's been a while since I had a baby, but what I think still happens is you go to a GP. They refer you to an obstetrician if you want them to (you can see an obstetrician without having private health insurance - you just have to pay their whopping bill yourself) - or they'll refer you to the ante-natal clinic at your nearest hospital.

If you go to the ante-natal clinic, you're seen by midwives mainly but there will be obstetricians there. When the time comes for the birth, you're attended by whoever is on duty at that time. It may well be people you've seen before at the clinic - or it may not. The midwives can always call an obstetrician if problems arise and they'll have your notes because you've been attending the clinic throughout the pregnancy.

If you're referred to an obstetrician at the start, you visit them for ante-natal care. During the birth, they should be called to attend to you. However, if you're a low-risk patient they can be very slow to turn up - particularly if it's during the night. In which case you get the midwives who are on duty at the hospital attending to you - just the same as if you were a public patient anyway!

NickyC

Forgot to mention - epidurals (and caesarians) are as common here as anywhere else. Caesarians are supposedly too common. You're normally in hospital for 4-5 days but sometimes can go home after a couple of days if everything's OK and you have help there.

Kelpiegirl

Hi Nickyc,

thanks for your message. It doesn't sound too scary, I have to say. I suppose midwives are trained for all this. It's just very different from Belgium: here you choose your obstetrician, and you go and see him/her regularly for check-ups and they are always present during the birth. So, it's the other way round: the obstetrician monitors your pregnancy and you never see any midwives until the birth!

Kelpiegirl

Kelpiegirl

Hi Nickyc,

thanks for reassuring me on the epidurals! I asked because apparently in The Netherlands and some other countries most doctors and midwives are against them and you hardly ever get one. I got worried for a moment thinking things might be the same in Oz. LOL

Kelpiegirl