Sally Redux

How many days a year do you live in the UK? I think it goes by that.

MarylandNed

A UK resident, by definition, is someone who normally resides in the UK. If you've been living in the US for 2 years, you're not a resident of the UK. Owning property and having a bank account in the UK does not make you a UK resident.

If you returned to the UK just to use NHS services, there is probably no way for them to know that you are not a UK resident (unless they ask you and you answer truthfully) since you have UK citizenship and can provide what looks like a permanent UK address. However, if you show up to have a baby, they'd probably want to know who your GP is and the medical history of the pregnancy.

hungryhorace

Not sure it does.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...rom_abroad.htm

hungryhorace

For NHS treatment purposes, this is simply incorrect. If you have returned with the intention of staying in the UK then you are absolutely 100% entitled to free NHS treatment.

From: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...rom_abroad.htm

You can receive free NHS hospital treatment if you:-

• Have come to the UK to take up permanent residence, for example, if you are a former UK resident who has returned from abroad, or if you have been granted leave to enter or remain as a spouse

I could have received free NHS treatment as well (whilst I was in L-1 status) via this qualifying statement:

• Normally work in the UK, but are temporarily working abroad for less than five years. You also need to have lived in the UK continuously for at least ten years before going overseas.

Sally Redux

Yes, I would have thought it means where you actually live - "You can get free NHS hospital treatment if you are lawfully entitled to be in the UK and usually live here. This is called being ordinarily resident." - but thought I had seen something about the number of days. Maybe that is for just for taxation. OP seemed to be saying she pays UK tax.

Sally Redux

Oh right, maybe she can then.

Bob

Don't live there though. Paying taxes and owning a home is irrelevant.

Jerseygirl

Which means you are not a UK resident.

hungryhorace

...yet could still qualify for free NHS treatment depending on their intentions / circumstance.

MarylandNed

Regardless of whether they are entitled to free NHS treatment, the point I was making is that the OP is not a UK resident. There may be exceptions that the OP (and other non-UK residents) can take advantage of but that does not change the fact that the OP is not a UK resident. Of course, if you have returned to the UK permanently then you are a UK resident - that's stating the obvious.

hungryhorace

Sure. I was just gently making the point (not at you) that being a UK resident is not the only qualifying criteria for free NHS treatment.

Rose tea

Now that the citizenship question has been answered, definitely stay in the US, where you already are. I cannot imagine upheaving myself and starting over with a new midwife, different clinics, a hospital I'm not familiar with, let alone the horrific idea of sitting on a long haul flight and dealing with all that swelling. Even sitting in a car for 3 hours was awful. And then flying back to the US with a newborn...no way. And that's if everything goes well, which it might not. You might be stuck in the UK for a while if baby ends up in NICU.

As others have said, you have far more options in the US. If you want to choose a c-section or an induction that's not medically necessary, you can (though it's becoming rarer, thankfully). If you want midwife led care that emphasises minimal intervention, you can have that instead. Where I live, home births and doulas are very common, so that's an option too in many parts of the US. Also, with great insurance, you're getting better care in the US for much less money: my copay for maternity care is $0. Hospital stay will be a lot more than $0, but that's all right, wouldn't go anywhere else for my care.

MoshiMoshi

They'd help if you turned up in labour, but you might have trouble getting proper antenatal care. I wasn't allowed to have an ultrasound until I had proved I was resident. That was a London hospital, though.

If you returned to your old GP at a fairly early stage of the pregnancy, I expect they wouldn't even think to ask about residency.

But if you were returning to another area of the UK, you'd have to register with a new GP and go through the usual residency checks (ours require a tenancy agreement or council tax bill, plus passport and photo ID).

Also, the NHS antenatal care system is very standardized, and whenever you see a healthcare provider the first thing they ask you for is your NHS pregnancy notes. You're supposed to have them on you at all times, as they're a kind of diary of your pregnancy, test results, medical appointments etc. Nearly everyone has a 'booking in' appointment at 8-12 weeks, and follows a regular schedule of midwife/GP appointments, with everything dutifully recorded and signed in your notes. They even have little barcode stickers.

As I said, I was already 6+ months pregnant when I made it onto the NHS system, and all I ever heard about was these bloody notes! First it was 'where are your notes? You don't HAVE ANY NOTES?' 'Why are you just booking in now? Did you not know you were pregnant?'. Then, when I did have notes, everyone asked me why they only started at 6+ months, and I had to explain over and over America yadda yadda moved back yadda yadda yes it's very different there.

Oh, and although I'd already had all the usual 0-6 month tests in the States, and had the OB-GYN records with me, I had to do most of them again in the UK. Apparently it's a liability issue; the NHS wants to make sure all your info is correct.

So there is really no way of subtly entering the NHS system when you're already visibly pregnant. Unless you want to look like a complete idiot and claim you've only just noticed.

Absolutely.

I actually wouldn't mind if I gave birth in the UK or the US-with-good-insurance. Yes, there are big differences, but if you're informed and able to advocate for yourself then I think you can aim for the birth experience you want in either country. (The key words being aim for.)

veryfunny

I would go for the UK, based on schooling etc.

Gillymonkey

I second this, I live in San Diego too and used Kaiser to deliver my baby. (I was under UCSD care until 24 weeks then our group insurance changes). Neither UCSD or Kaiser made me feel forced into anything. When the time came to deliver my OBGYN was happy to allow me to wait it out rather than force an induction (with the caveat of extra monitoring whihc made sense). I went into labour myself and had zero meds for pain or anything until the point I requested it (laboured with nothing, had been pushing for 2 hours and even I could tell baby was just not coming and a c-section was inevitable). I told the nurses/docs on arrival of my plan and they stuck to it to the letter. Turns out my baby was OP presentation and that combined with him being a 10lber meant their was no way he was coming the regular route.

At my post partum check my OB fully supported a VBAC for next time. So I guess I am saying don't tar all doctors out here with the same brush.

To the OP - if baby is born in the US, it will autmoatically get US citizenship. If you were born in the UK and have citizewnship other than by descent then baby has the right to UK citizenship too.