Pregnant abroad, home for birth? Pay for NHS?

[Kisimul]

Hi, I'm 13 weeks pregnant and I'm from Cardiff, but live in southern Africa at the moment. I really want to come home for the birth but I've heard from friends that I might not be eligible for NHS care because I've been living abroad, and that I could end up with a bill for £1000s! There isn't good health care where I live - no provision for serious complications, or looking after premature babies etc.

I just tried to book my 20 week scan back in Cardiff, as I thought it would be a good point to go home and talk to someone to work this out. I called the midwifery led unit to make the booking, but they told me a need to have an appointment with the midwife at my local GP first (I am still registered there) and that only the midwife could refer me and book the scan etc. So, that might mean going home and being there for quite a while as there's no guarantee how quickly the scan could be booked. And even then, there's still no guarantee that they'll accept me into the NHS system.

Does anyone else have any experience of this? I'm not sure what to do!

Hi @Kisimul just bumping this for you so hopefully some helpful Mumsnetters will be along soon with some useful advice.

Have you read this maternityaction.org.uk/advice/nhs-maternity-care-for-women-from-abroad-in-england it might clarify your entitlement

Can you buy insurance to cover health care in the UK?

If you go by the law, you are not entitled to NHS care because you do not live in the U.K.

If you are still registered with a GP and have an address in the U.K., you could probably get away with it. However, as you have discovered there are frequent appointments that you will need to be in the U.K. for. When do you plan to go back for the birth?

You will likely end up with a large bill. I was in a similar situation a few years ago and ended up paying around £10,000 to the NHS for prenatal cover from approx 26 weeks and an emergency C-Section. You have to be ordinarily resident in the UK to be covered: that takes six months from the time you move back. Overall it was worth every penny

I know someone who lives in Africa and had both of her children in the UK. She lied about it to get he care.

If you're not paying taxes to the UK I don't know why you think you should get care here.

Just to add, I still had an address in the UK, was registered with a GP and paid some taxes there...however it was clear from my notes from early pregnancy that I'd been out of the UK (and we were honest about it). The bill came through approx 8 months after the birth...