Hi There

My hubby has just accepted a civil service job in Melbourne and, all things going okay with the visa etc, we'll be there in a few months.

We're both really excited, but a little bit worried about maternity care and how things might differ from here. It's our first baby, so we have nothing to compare it to, but in the UK we have completely free healthcare for expectant mothers, nobody charges us to have our babies and we also get excellent care after the baby is born.

We're not sure whether we will be entitled to Medicare (depends on whether we get a temporary or permanent visa) and are aware that, in normal circumstances in Australia, you can often not claim on our privarte health insurance unless you've been covered for 12 months.

So, we now need to find out what we need to pay for and when!

Has anyone here been in a similar situation or do they know if it's possible to be treated in a public hospital, but paying rather than free? Is it cheaper to do this rather than go private and pay?

By the time we go, I will be coming up to full term and will have had all my scans and most of my ante-natal appointments, so I don't think I need to worry about those, but we just don't know what to expect in Australia!

Yours in excited trepidation,
K