jackattack

I think that you can find plenty of examples of non intrusive delivery in US hospitals and intrusive delivery in UK hospitals. I have delivered twice in the US (California). Never delivered in the UK.
First time = no drugs, no intervention, quick, simple, easy. Cost $200.
Second time = lots of drugs, lots of doctors (16 people in the room!), twins, c-section, $75,000. Yikes.

The one thing about delivering a baby that you can guarantee is that it won't go exactly the way you planned.

Weeze

In the Uk I had a lot less choice in my delivery (it was what was avaliable rather than what I wanted). I shared a room with 7 other mothers after giving birth. The doctors were few and far between and when one did appear he asked my how my c-scar was doing. That was a little awkward as I hadn't had a c-section. Mr Weeze had to argue with the pediatrician as they had failed at basic maths.

In the USA I had a choice of hospital and delivery options. I had a private room with room service and it was a wonderful experience. There are more natural midwife led options here, my friend just used tone.

For me there was no comparison. I have excellent Heath insurance.

bewildering

That is the truth!

Sally Redux

Probably a good reason to be in familiar surroundings.

Bob

That is key.

As is location. Some states don't allow home births and midwives while some do and it's usually somewhere in the middle of what the options are.

Big difference we've noticed is the level of pre/post natal care including anti-natal classes.

Not much option down our way, first birth, great insurance, but didn't cover much in the classes or post natal care and asking for a home visit from the doctor would have been a grand just for the call out. Other friends, have had decent cover for classes.

Then friends in the UK, have had both, great choice and quality to not much choice, but the big difference was it costing them nothing but the cost of parking which was a couple quid a time and they even moaned about that.

Oh and if there are complications, that can be a big factor. We're still paying off Bobette #2 and she turned 3 earlier this year, after spending 3 weeks in NICU as a preamie. With "good" insurance.

BritInParis

Canada.

Your child will then have Canadian and British citizenship at birth and will gain US citizenship when you naturalised at a later date.

Sally Redux

so typical.

Bob

Yeah, after the $20 a day parking we paid at the first hospital

kins

Based on my experience of giving birth 3 times in the UK, I would say just stay in the US.

MarylandNed

Actually visitors are allowed to use the NHS. The issue is whether they have to pay for services or not. Some services are free even to overseas visitors. Other services incur a charge.

MarylandNed

Yeah but what about the cost? Does the mother have health coverage in Canada?

MarylandNed

My wife would agree with you! We have 4 kids of which 2 were born in Canada, 1 in the UK and 1 in the US. The scariest birth by far was the one in the UK in terms of facilities and service. The hospital was dilapidated. I went to use the bathroom and the door was hanging off its hinges. I won't go into details here but the birth itself was just scary. The staff were fine but my wife (who is also a nurse) could tell that they were completely overwhelmed and lacking modern equipment. Even good people can give crappy service if they are operating under less than ideal circumstances. Years later we read a report that cited the hospital's maternity unit as having one of the highest death rates in the UK.

MarylandNed

So why on earth would you consider going to the UK to have the baby? Have the baby where you live.

brit_usa2014

Yes, I am considering that- just in case if you see my initial OP, I wasn't able to pass on my citizenship to my (future) child. But as long as I was born & brought up there and am a British Citizen (not by descent) I think there should be no problem?

brit_usa2014

When you mean by "not a resident", what exactly are you saying? I still have my own home, bank account (paying taxes of course) etc as I only moved to the States just 2 years ago.