Hi Corr,

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I'm not pregnant yet, we start ttc in June/July for our second baby. When I had my son Liam 4.5yrs ago all I paid was my obs fee for each visit and I claimed back from medicare what I could. I didn't pay anything at the hospital except for the anaethetist and paediatrician for Liam and that's it.

Now, it's all changed with the obstetrician's fees and out of pocket expenses. I've found out my ob's fees, who is currently my gynaecologist, and we're trying to work out if we can afford it or not.

The first visit is $125, second, third, fourth and fifth is $480 each and the sixth is $65, all adding up to $2100. We will get a minimum of $1100 back, maybe more as we just went past our safety net with Medicare. On top of this, our excess for the hospital which is fine and any other expenses I have while having the baby as I will be having a c/s.

It's very confusing isn't it?. I'm wondering if I'm better off going public and doing a shared care with my gp, dr and midwife team at the hospital?. Any suggestions girls?. It is so expensive to have a baby these days.