Hello!
I'm sure you'll get lots of different information, but here are some answers to your questions from my experience.
- I think generally you have to have been covered for 12 months before you eligible to claim for pregnancy related care. There is a website called iselect.com.au (advertised on the tv alot by ditsy, botoxed blonde ), where you can input the type of cover that you're after and it brings up a range of options.
I wasn't covered by private healthcare for my pregnancy. I'm not sure if this applies all over Australia, but in Sydney you either receive pre-natal care from the midwives at the hospital where you choose to give birth, or you register with a shared-care gp. These gp's have a special interest in neonatal care, and will have more experience than normal gp's. You go to them for all your routine check-ups. In the early stages of your pregnancy these are every 8 weeks. Later on they are every four weeks, then 2 weekly, then weekly for about the last 4 weeks of pregnancy, iirc. Things like ultrasounds are done at the hospital, fees can be partially recovered through medicare. You have a routine appt with an obstetrician later on in your pregnancy or as required if there are any concerns with your progress/health.
Friends who have chosen to go privately ended up paying $3-5k. The only advantage I could really see to this was there is a slight lack of continuity when you are having some check ups witha gp and some at the hospital.
- You can have your baby where ever you choose. You can go to a private hospital, or you can be a private patient in a public hospital. Some public hostpitals will have better, more dedicated maternity units than private hospitals so you may be better off as a private patient in a public hospital, but you just have to research your local area.
There are also birthing centres, where you can choose to go if you are going for an active/natural birth. These are run by midwives, so if there are any complications requiring medical intervention you'll be transferred to hospital.
- You can see a doctor as soon as you think you are pregnant and they will confirm the pregnancy. In my case I was a bit unprepared, so my initial visits were with an ordinary gp, I then obtained a list of share care gp's from the hospital and went from there.
- There are doulas in australia. Not sure how to find one though. You could try googling? Or check out classifieds in pregnancy/parenting magazines.
- I guess it depends where you are in australia. But in my experience, at RPA there are either private rooms or two beds per room in the maternity ward. Each room has it's own bathroom. Everything was very efficient, there were plenty of midwives and they were generally very friendly and helpful. The delivery room was huge and really well equipped with physio balls, bathroom, even a sofa bed for dh!
The antenatal classes were excellent and they offered classes on looking after your body during pregnancy, run by a physiotherapist. Also a breastfeeding class before the birth.
During my hospital stay there were daily classes on breastfeeding and various other areas. I got a lot of support from the midwives. As I was in good health I was able to elect to be discharged early and have a midwife visit me at home instead everyday for 5 days.
- I really recommend Up The Duff, by Kaz Cooke. She covers everything you need to know, it's light hearted and funny but very informative.
Good luck! I'm happy to answer any other questions you have, but I have to be honest it all gets a bit foggy after a while