Having a baby in Australia - A review
September 7, 2007
Ok, so it’s not quite like a book review but I thought I should write down a few first impressions following the birth of our beautiful, gorgeous, gushingly perfect daughter yesterday 
Two words :- Dogs bollocks!
Ok, that may not mean to much to our Amercian visitors but let me just say this, the quality of the care and facilities we have found in Australia compared to those experienced in the United Kingdom has been fantastic!
Sure, the Joondalup Health Campus is still a pretty new hospital but the people who work there have been fantastic.
Ironically, I’d say there were more English people working at the hospital in Joondalup then there was in Halifax in the Uk which is the hospital where Junior number one was born.
Speaking to a few of the midwives, they were drawn to Australia after attending a number of seminars and similar sessions held in the UK.
Sessions which I assume were held with the sole purpose of poaching all of our very well, and expensively trained paediatrics staff . Clever people these Aussies!
I’m not sure if it’s a result of the more laid back lifestyle or simply down to the fact that the hospital is adequately staffed but the quality of the care has been great!
None of the staff have been in a rush to see to their next patient.
Each of the midwives has taken the time to ensure that every single need of junior number 2 and the missus was taken care of.
The food has been good, the quality of the rooms has been excellent and generally we’ve been very happy with the service (although we haven’t seen the bill yet)….
Our little girl was born at 8:17 am yesterday. Since this time baby and mum have received the absolute best care available
If you are reading this and are wannabe or soon to be new parents living down under then all I can say is don’t worry.
You will be very well looked after!
Cheers
Mark
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That’s great and congratulations! (belated I know)
Can I ask if this was a private or public hospital?
Hey lori and thanks
The hospital is actually both Public and Private (it has a private wing and facilities).
Although we had private medical insurance from the week we arrived in Aus there was a 12 month qualifying period before we could use this insurance in relation to pregnancy related claims.
As such we ended going the public route.
I guess for anyone reading this then this is good news. I can only imagine what the private care might have been like
Cheers
Mark
Hi Mark, Many congratulations on the birth of your daughter! I was very encouraged to read about the fantastic care in Australia, as I am expecting a baby in February 2008. We are due to emigrate from the UK in November, if our visa applications are successful, but I am a bit confused about the health insurance situation at the moment. Like you, private healthcare would not cover us for the pregnancy as there is a 12 month waiting period. However, I understood that you were not entitled to public healthcare (Medicare) until you have been in Australia for 2 years. Is this not the case or will you have to pay for the care that you received yourself? If this is the case, do you know how much (roughly) it will be? Any help you can give would be most gratefully received as I’m feeling very stressed about this at the moment. Best wishes to your wife and daughter - hope that they are both doing well. Many thanks in advance, Roz
Hiya Roz
As a permanent resident of Australia I’m pleased to say you qualify for Medicare from day one. (I think you may be mixing this up with things such as housing benefits/social payments etc which can’t be claimed until you’ve been a resident for over two years).
Even with Medicare you will still need to pay for some stuff although Medicare should cover in the region of 80 - 100% of the costs depending on what it is you need to have done.
At time of typing we’ve not seen any form of bill and we ended up going the major surgery / c-section route although we did have to pay for some of the earlier treatment such as Ultra sounds which cost us approx $80 AUS (33 UK Pounds).
Either way, don’t worry. You won’t be left to out of pocket and any bills you get should be covered by the $3000 New baby bonus you’ll receive from the Aussie government.
All the best and let me know how you get on
Cheers
Mark
Hi Mark
Thank you very much for your very fast reply. I guess I should have mentioned that my husband is being sponsored for a temporary long term business 457 visa, not permanent residency.
The immigration consultant working for his future employer has now told me that we will have to pay for the birth, unless we can get cover under some reciprocal agreement. I called the DSS and found out that the reciprocal agreement with the NHS ended in 2001, so that is not an option. The immigration consultant said that we might get a reciprocal arrangement under private healthcare, if we had that in the UK, but as we have relied on the good old NHS so far, that is also not an option.
I found some info on a website that seemed to suggest that the employer was responsible for healthcare costs on the temporary visa. However, it only mentioned that the employer was responsible for covering the costs of the person being employed - it did not say anything about dependents, so it’s possible that I would not be covered anyway.
The baby bonus sounds good - but, again, I’m not sure if we will be entitled to it with our residence status. It sounds like you are in a much better position, having permanent residency. Did you find an employer willing to sponsor you for that from the outset?
I will certainly keep you posted on my progress…
Best wishes,
Roz
Hi again Roz
Hmmm, could be a little more complicated. I suggest you look at posting in our forums Click Here as we have a few qualified migration agents who post to these forums and they might be able to give you a little more info.
As for us, we came in on the skilled sponsored category but we were sponsored by family who were also recent Aussie residents.
A little more background to our journey can be read in one of my first posts made Here
It certainly has been a very interesting journey for us and I hope you find your journey suitably stress free
All the best and please let us know how you get on.
Regards
Mark
Hi Mark
Thank you for pointing me in the direction of your forums - I have posted a question there, so fingers crossed!
I was interested to read some of your previous blog posts about your move to Australia. It makes me realise just how much we have still to do in the next 4-6 weeks!
It’s not the first time we have moved abroad - we lived in the Netherlands for over 5 years and have now been back in the UK for 3 years. Moving to NL wasn’t so complicated before we left as there were no visas required, but some things were difficult/complicated/ridiculously bureaucratic once we got there! Hopefully, it will be the other way round with Australia!
Anyway, we’ve been focussing on the positives today and looking forward to all the great things we can do once we’re in Sydney (we’ve visited once before and so know a bit about the place)…
Will keep you posted on our progress,
Roz
Thanks Roz, best wishes and Good luck!
HI Roz/Mark,
I am sailing on the same boat, could you please pass on me if you have more details on the same.
Again, what could be the citizenship of my baby born in Australia and i am in 457 visa.
thanks
Pravin
Pravin, irrespective of your visa class, if your baby was born in Australia it will be recognised as an Australian citizen.
Congratulations
Regards
Mark
HI Mark,
That’s really good news, could you also tell me if i can avail the public hospital facilities for my wifes devilery. i am in surfers paradise and looking for public hospital.
thanks
Pravin