Pregnany and childbirth

[Adelaide_bound]

Hello all :D

First post, please be gentle! :) Have done a search on this topic, but most of the things i have found have been a couple of years old, so wondered if anyone could give an update, or if things haven't changed at all?

I have been researching and have read the following, so wondered if people could confirm/deny/add further info at all pretty please?

a) The father is not allowed at the birth in Australia at the moment (ie like in the UK x years ago)?
b) Are all 'normal' pregnancy/birth costs still covered by Medicare? Including stay in hospital whilst actually giving birth etc
c) How are births in regards to water births/not having epidural etc? Allowed if a 'normal/low risk' pregnany, or not available over there unless you pay for private (or not even then)?

Sorry for all the questions - I am totally ignorant about giving birth full stop tbh, my total experience would be watching one born every minute on tv here, but we are hoping to start a family soonish after getting to Australia (fingers crossed!) and having read up on this from books and internet sites, am confused/bemused etc

Thank you if you can help :)

[ShaunWilson]

Father ARE allowed at births, well i certainly was for our one 3 years ago, and i will be for our one due in a couple of months.

All expenses are covered under medicare if public hospital is used, some GAP payments need to be paid for your regular check ups at the doctors.

Rest is as per UK.

Only our experience, maybe someone else can give some different opinions

[guest3462]

Hi there, I am 36 weeks pregnant and looking forward to having my little one at Flinders in the next few weeks (days would also be good at this stage lol!!)
Here are some answers to your questions:

1) Fathers and birthing partners are very welcome during the antenatal, labour and birthing process, whether you are low risk, high risk and even c-section!!!!

2) Most costs are covered by medicare in the public sector. I have had to pay only for my initial GP consultation to confirm the pregnancy ($34) and 2 ultrasound scans. One 6 week dating scan and a 12 week scan at a total cost of $178 but we got about $70 back from medicare. All of my blood work was free. You will have your first booking appointment some time after your 12 week scan at the hospital and from then on all care is free including your antenatal, labour and delivery and any postnatal care you and baby needs.

You can opt for private healthcare if you have the cover, (or money to burn) but there is almost always a gap of about $1000 on top of the cover you receive, so we asked ourselves is it worth it? and the answer was no for us. I have a small family already and do not want to "recouperate" in the Hilton hotel for a week after the birth!!!

3) There are birthing centres which encourage all aspects of natural childbirth if that is what you want. You do have to "qualify" for this by being low risk and you have to make yourself heard early on in your pregnancy that you would like to opt for the birth centre rather than hospital care as places are limited. I am classed as high risk for this pregnancy so I have to go to the labour and delivery suite in hospital, but I still intend to go for a natural and drug free labour as best I can. Believe me though i'm no martyr and if I need medicinal help i'll be taking it!! (i've had 2 pregnancies, 1 epidural and one with nothing and preferred the one with nothing, but it was very quick to be honest!)

My antenatal care has been great, due to being high risk though I haven't seen a midwife only medics and due to that I think i have missed out on vital info such as post natal community care - what happens and if there are any mother and baby groups locally to me (stuff that generally drs have no interest or knowledge of, but your midwife would be telling you about from day one. My next appt is friday and im going to collar one of the midwives in the clinic to get her to fill me in!!! Good job I have a big mouth!

Hope this helps a bit, don't worry, medical care in Australia is world class and try to remember that even though we are a country in the back of beyond we are pretty civilised when it comes to medicine!! LOL!
Julia x

[Weez]

yep i agree with the above. all my costs were covered by medicare (9 scans in total!!) tho i had to pay a $10 gap fee whenever i went to my GP, i had my bub in a midwife run birthing centre at the local hospital, due to being induced i couldnt have exactly the birth i wanted tho it was close to it, the midwives let me do everything i wanted that was possible, i had my eldest 14 years ago in the uk and i was a awful experience this time around it was fantastic, the care was amazing:D

good luck
xx

[Sallyh]

Having had babies here and there I'd say that at low risk level there are differences between UK and Australia, but it depends what your priorities are. The culture is different - far more obstetrician led here. But you pays your money and takes your choice! There is potentially more choice here (unless you want your baby at home!) so need to make sure you look for what suits you and your priorities. I'd say in general medical practice here is far more anti-homebirth here than the UK which is a shame because it is a valid choice, just not for everyone. But PLEASE let's not debate that.

[Adelaide_bound]

Wow!!

Thank you all so so much - what lovely friendly helpful people you are.

Am soooooo glad that the info I read about fathers not being welcome was obviously complete tosh, whilst I don't really want Rob at the business end, it would be nice for someone to hold my hand whilst panting lol (Hark at me, not even in Australia yet, let along trying to get pregnant or pregnant itself, but it is part of the moving plan, so important to us to get all the correct info :) )

It all sounds good, and from the other posts about medical things in general, Australia seems to be winning against the UK on that front (don't worry, I know its not perfect and has an aging population, with less people having private insurance and therefore it is due to get worse in the coming years - eyes wide open here! )

Thanks again all, very reassuring to know :D

[Taylors08]

Hi, I had my last baby here at Flinders, we moved over when I was 18 weeks pregnant on a perm visa and the only thing we have had to pay for was the first GP appointment as said above ($34). I had high risk pregnancy as with my other 2 i had preaclampsia and I did again this time. And i was induced. That said I found my care with my midwife absolutely second to none! Loved her! Having had 2 babies in the UK and never had a problem always had lovely midwifes. The midwife here just seemed to go that 1 step further making me feel comfortable. Hubby/partner can stay the night with you in Flinders for $10 a night.
Hope this helps because i know exactly what you mean about the out of date information, i found that 2 years ago when i was researching it.
Kelly x

[nirudaka]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to this but I have few questions hope you don't mind. We are expecting our VISA soon, also my wife is expecting our 3rd on Next November. i have few doubts since we are on 475 visa, and we are not eligible for Medicare,

1. What will be the cost for LSCS in Adelaide?
2. Will it worth to our baby to born in Aus rather than in Sri Lanka?
3. What are the Pro's and Con's of giving a birth to a child since we are on 475 visa?

Please can someone help me on this...............

Cheers,

Nirudaka

[Mrs & Mrs T]

If i was to have another (not that iv decided, as i have 2 already), but i had my last one at home and i would choose to do this again, why is it that home birth is discouraged? Is it still a viable option or would i/you be advised against it?

Thanks Sx

[snifter]

If i was to have another (not that iv decided, as i have 2 already), but i had my last one at home and i would choose to do this again, why is it that home birth is discouraged? Is it still a viable option or would i/you be advised against it?

Thanks Sx

I had a homebirth with my first here in the UK (it was bril) and plan to another one, all being well for our second.

I was really discouraged when reading about homebirth in Aus and the obstacles in the way for those wanting one. Not to say people can't have them, just its nowhere near as easy as it is in the UK. Our NHS midwives are covered insurance wise, its all taken care of under the NHS umbrella.

The main problem in Aus seems to be the decision (excuse wording here, its late and I can't recall the exact ins and outs) by the medical powers that be, in the public health service (ie not private) to no longer insure midwives to be covered for homebirthing. So any midwife wishing to assist homebirths has to have their own insurance. Or be self employed or some such and again, have their own insurance. And alas, the cost of this is high and many are not able to or not willing to fork out for it.

Therefore it has made it difficult for homebirthing. To say the least. Midwives have to jump through some major hoops to be able to help women give birth at home.

I did some research about homebirthing in SA and in the end felt I would rather remain in the UK to give birth to our second and ensure I could have access to the full homebirth facilities the NHS provide. I was put off considering moving to Aus before we had another child for no end of reasons, all of them outside of hospital care. Sad but true.

Anyways, some links for you :) I've more if you want them but google can turn up loads for you. Its not all doom and gloom and it can be done. Read the stuff in full as there is some really interesting reading in it all.

http://www.homebirthaustralia.org/

http://www.homebirth.net.au/2010/01/...th-report.html

http://www.homebirth.net.au/2011/05/...statement.html

http://www.homebirthsa.org.au/HBN-Midwives.htm

http://www.homebirthaustralia.org/ke...idwifery-alive

And a Facebook group for homebirthing - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-H...a/102957939870

This is from 2007 and not sure if its all still relavent. Check and see if there is a more up to date one somewhere online. - http://www.health.sa.gov.au/ppg/port..._policy_SA.pdf

Yeah, its a subject close to my heart.