Desperate for advice: Ob costs - Temporary resident

[Lindi Leach]

I hope there is some one out there that can help me. I arived in Australia 3 weeks ago and I'm now 28 weeks pregnant. I had all my blood test done, 20 wk scans and obs visits up to 24 wks in South Africa. I now need an Obs just for the last few weeks and delivery. Even though this is the case the obstetrician that I was refered to is still charing $4200 (excl initial consultation fee). I obviously want the best for my baby but this seems a bit extreme. We don't have health insurance and I just want to make sure that we are not being ripped-off.

[Izy]

Lindi- that sounds about right. Sorry. For some ob's it would even be considered a conservative figure.

Do be aware that some women choose to go through the whole process without a specific Ob depending on the quality of care they can get through thier support team at thier local public hospital through medicare.

Do you have medicare?

[Lindi Leach]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. I actually phone around after doing the post on Bub Hub and most of the obs charge aprox the same. I'm usually a bit paranoid when it comes to these thing - time to chill, hey?

[Izy]

Is it possible to chill during pregnancy??? :p

Good luck with all. So much going through your head all the time! Don't forget to keep yourself a little list that you can add questions too, so that when you see your ob you get your money's worth, and a bit of reassurance each time.

[Cades]

If you and your baby are healthy there may be no need for a private obstetrician - using the community midwives clinic would be a lot less expensive and meet your needs (free if you can access medicare).

Private obstetric care is really only used by those with private health insurance in Australia, and midwifery care is the norm.

[MelissafromSyd]

Private obstetric care is really only used by those with private health insurance in Australia, and midwifery care is the norm.

You took the words right out of my mouth!!!

I've been lead to understand that the system is a bit different in SA with obstetric care being the norm - is this right?

[kimberlee]

Problem is residency status as I understand it.

When I had just arrived in Australia - about three weeks I had to go to emergency with a kidney infection - public hospital. They admitted me for 4 days and since my status was temporary residency I did not qualify for medicare and they even charged more per day ($1000) because I was from outside of the country - they wouldn't let me leave until I paid it.

But temporary residency does have the requirement that you hold some travel insurance while you are residing in Australia so I did get refunded by my travel insurance.

So you could go public - or try a birth centre as well but I would guess you'd have to speak to them to find out the costs without medicare.

Good luck and congrats!!

[Lindi Leach]

HI Girls

Thank you so much for the replies. It has really helped me to make sense of things.
Another question - In Oz, does private care mean you have to have an obstetrician or can I go to a private hospital without an obs (midwife only).

In SA you do have the option of using either a midwive or an obst. Most people make use of private care as the care in public hospitals are terrible - (3rd world country) The private hospitals and birth units are fabulous in SA - it's actually difficult to see the difference between the hospitals and hotels :) :)

The reason I decided to use an obs is because I was with one in SA due to the fact that I originally had difficulty falling pregnant. I thought it would be best to continue with the care that I'm familiar with.

I've never been this confused and indecisive in my life and I don't have much time to play around with - I'm 30 weeks now.

Thanks again for the advice

:wave:

[MelissafromSyd]

Hi there,

In Oz, private care means that if you go to a private hospital, you have to have an obstetrician. If you have a private midwife, you can have a homebirth, or you can have a hospital birth with the midwife as a support person (she can do some of your antenatal and postnatal care though).

You choose an OB because you had problems falling pregnant, but now that the "danger zone" is over, there's no reason not to have midwifery care. But if you would like to continue with this care, then go for it. You need to know that intervention rates are a lot higher amongst women who have obstetric care as opposed to midwife care. This is ok for some women, and not ok for others. It's up to you what you want for this pregnancy and birth.