Its all so different here. Can anyone help!?

[2tob3!]

I moved here from the UK nearly 3 years ago. I am an older Mum (to old at 37! :eek: LOL)and have just been given a massive surprise of baby number 3! I'm not due till January and my other two will be 12 and 9:eek:

In the UK you would go to your GP and get the pregnancy confirmed then they would book you in for a hospital appointment around the 18 week mark. All blood tests etc would be done from the surgery.

Every 3 weeks you would go see a midwife to get weighed and hear the heart beat then nip next door to see the Dr. No dramas.

Here i keep getting "you need a referal to see an obstetricain". Why:confused:

Due to an acute condition my husband isn't working for the next 12 months so money, unfortunately, IS a problem.

Can anyone help me get my head around this stuff and tell me what the care above is called over here, if its availiable that is......

Thanks so much :)

[rynosmum]

All you need to do to use the public hospital is the same as the UK. Go to the GP and confirm your pregnancy, they will then guide you through the public system where you will meet your midwives etc.

You would only need an obstetrician if you were going private or wanted to pay the big bucks for one.

Congratulations on your pregnancy !!!:smiliedance:

[bigglet]

Basically to see an OB is to have private care and needs a referral from a doctor.

First things first - decide which hospital you want to have your baby at and go from there. Also consider whether you prefer to go public (free), private or have mid wife care (rather than have an OB - but not every hospital offers this kind of care).

Once you decide ring the hospital and they will help you from there - with public they sort out all your appointments etc, with private you'll have all your appointments with your OB.

If $$ is a problem then I would advise you to go public and ring up a public maternity hospital.

All the very best and congratulations!! :D

[PhAnToM]

Hi and welcome to Aus, Bubhub and congratulations on your pregnancy.

There are also obts that will see you using Medicare (i believe he is a dying breed!)

I am also from Vic... if you want his contact details, just PM me and I can tell you where his rooms are etc and if they are convenient and you prefer to go obst, you can give him a go.
Otherwise like rynosmum said, when you go to a Dr to get a confirmation of your pregnancy, they will lead you and give you a referral.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

[2tob3!]

Thanks for all your help. I have managed to sort out some first trimester screening an i think i would like to go to the Monash so i'm off to the GP for a referal tomorrow. Anyone got any comments about the monash Clayton?

I'm feeling a whole lot more confident now, so thanks again :)

[Funkychicken]

we had one of those surprises last year. Two children at 7 and 5 and a baby on the way! And me at 35! I noticed from your postcode you are in the same suburb as me. Have you looked at Casey Hospital? I had Hamish there last December and they were fantastic.:yelclap:

[2tob3!]

we had one of those surprises last year. Two children at 7 and 5 and a baby on the way! And me at 35! I noticed from your postcode you are in the same suburb as me. Have you looked at Casey Hospital? I had Hamish there last December and they were fantastic.:yelclap:
Yes. Its a great hospital but i was told by my GP only good for straight forward virginal deliveries, neither of mine were anywhere near that and that was 9 years ago:eek::eek: So would rather not risk it. Thanks though :)

[*Sal*]

Firstly, congrats on your pregnancy and welcome to bubhub.

I had my first baby at Monash Clayton, and found the midwives very good, always happy to answer any questions etc throughout the pregnancy. As a first time mum, I thought it was a pretty good hospital.

I was put into a shared room after delivery, but if you have a c-section they will put you in a private room if there is one available. You don't get the continuity of care that you get with an OB as it's different staff all the time, but I was lucky and got a really good midwife for DD's delivery - she spent her whole shift looking after me!

We are talking about 6 years ago now, so things may be different....

Feel free to send me a PM if you want to know more.

[2tob3!]

Thanks for all of your replies.

I am booked in at the monash and feel happy with it. My hubby spent 6 weeks in ther in march having lots of horrible brain surgery and is still recovering.

My son is also spending a lot of time there with a couple of things so its like a home from home:thumbsup: We even went up to the delivery bit last friday as we had to be in the hospital for a series of timed blood tests and the poor lad was getting bored, he thought it was great.

I'm not to bothered about seeing different people as thats what happenend in England. Both mine were delivered by fab midwives who, to me, are tops!

I have also done my 12 week nuchual translucancy test and i went from a one in 80 risk to a one in 4150! We were stoked!

I just need to stop feeling pukey 24/7 and then its all good:smiliedance: