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!