Meant to emigrate to Oz next year - just found out I am PG... Help!

[Tamashii]

We have permanent visas and were aiming to emigrate early/mid 2012 as soon as we get the house sold and DH's work contract ends.

Change of plans since I am now PG with DC2 (DS will be 3 soon) and DH wants to get a move on, drop the house price to try and sell so we can move to Oz before the baby is born. If we stay until next year we will have to apply for a child visa and he is worried a)it won't be granted b)it costs about £1,500 at the moment and c)we will need medicals and further police checks all of which we can't afford.

Although excited and still want to emigrate, I am terrified of heading to Oz before the baby is born not knowing the medical system or anything. It also means I will be SAHM with 2 DC's in a brand new country, no house, no car and no job on arrival for DH - he has been told he will have to be in the country before he will be considered for work (construction). Panic!

Any advice at all? Anyone else been through this? We are headed to Melbourne.

TIA

If yoy are on a pr visa you will get full medicare so your maternity care will be free. You need to get advice a little more but I am sur that is true. As for being in the country and a stay at home mum, there are millions of them out there and you will meet lots of people. It might take a little while but you will be fine.
We are heading out to Melbourne in three weeks .
Where are you planning on heading to ??

Hi lulalullabye We're not sure where is in our price range anymore due to the poung crashing against the Aus dollar. We lived in South Yarra in 2005 when the pound was really strong (£2.50 to AUD$1 back then!) and had our eye on Mordialloc/Mentone and the Glen Iris/Mount Martha areas but the prices there have rocketed for rent and to buy so we're undecided.

Where are you off to? Did you manage to get work lined up before you actually head off?

Thanks for replying :)

Yes, have work at sandy hospital. Will try and rent somewhere round there and wait for the exchange rate to improve. We lived in Hampton in 2009.

If you do have your baby in Australia you may be eligible for the baby bonus which I think is about $6000. My sister had her baby at the Royal Womens in Melbourne and thought it was great. Also I believe the HV can put you in touch with others who had babies in your area so you might be able to meet new mums and make some friends that way. I am Australian but living in the UK (going home for a visit soon but wish it was for good - we are waiting for the exchange rate to get better!). Re construction work not sure what it is like at the moment but you could try out Berwick way - a bit far out but lots of new estates. Good luck

Can't say anything useful about your DH's job, but I wouldn't be put off by the idea of having your baby here. With PR, as has already been said, you are entitled to medicare. I am quite envious here of the number of friends I have with "mothers' groups" - a fab group of friends with at least one kid the same age - basically they have the same as I had in the UK but will never have here because we just don't have that shared experience.

I really do think the younger your kids the easier it is to integrate/make friends here. When we arrived my kids were pre-school/Y3/Y9 all at the same school. My friends are all from DD's pre-school year where we had to pick up/drop off every day and got to know each other. The older kids' parents already had their groups and whilst not unfriendly, really didn't need any more friends (and most of the kids just get the school bus anyway so it is harder to connect). COME NOW

tama - you could be me (kind of). We are hoping ot move to Melbourne in next 6 months (have the visas), DH will need to find a job when there and I am actively/stupidly trying to get pregnant. Not much help I know but at least you know you're not alone.

Do you know if you are likely to have a straightforward pregnancy & birth? If so, no worries. But if there are any issues it can be pretty stressful not knowing the medical system & you won't be eligible for private care should you want it as there is a year's wait to get obstetric care. I came over when I was pregnant with issues & found the methodology here for my gynae probs is different from that in the UK so I didn't know what was going on & couldn't see the same obstetrician throughout pregnancy & delivery cos of going public. My treatment was pretty shit in retrospect but I didn't know any different at the time & in the end it was fine, but I wouldn't do it again with hindsight.

I am not 100% sure of my facts here, only going on what has happened to friends and myself since I've been here but I believe that while Medicare covers basic care, I'm pretty sure it doesn't cover things like ultrasound scans (unless they become a medical necessity).
One of my Aussie friends is pg now, and she is only on Medicare (no private health cover) and has had to pay for her ultrasound scans (around $200 each, iirc)
I, on the other hand, had a MC while I was here and needed the scan to see whether anything was still there and where it was (in case of ectopic pg) - no charge to me, all taken care of by Medicare.

You do need to find a bulk-billing GP surgery as well when you get here, after you have registered with Medicare - that way, you won't have to pay up front and then claim it back from Medicare.

As to the practicalities of emigrating while pg - if you can do it earlier rather than later, you'll probably be ok - doing too much when you're heavily pg will be difficult, although you're going to have the baby before the summer comes around again here so at least you won't have to adjust to any massive temperature difference while pg.

As others have said, having a new baby and another little one will more likely facilitate you meeting new people than otherwise, if you can get out to some baby/toddler groups. So far, they're mostly nicer here than some I've heard of in the UK via threads on MN, so it's worth doing.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

Thanks very much for all the replies. I doubt we will actually get things in order quickly enough to get to Melbourne before I am too heavily PG to fly but I am worried that OH will have another panic near my due date and rush us off at the last minute.

Nice to hear from those of you who have managed to make new Mum friends due to your LO's. I have no idea what I am doing. The thought of having to emigrate with a small baby plus all the bits n pieces you need when you have a small baby is equally as daunting at the moment.

Thanks again. I really appreciate your answers. I am off to look more into Medicare and pregnancy.

hello hello

I was very nearly in the same boat as you - but decided to wait until I had had my little one...so gearing up to move again now he is 3 months. (not trying to influence you either way I was put off moving when pregnant because I would have had to do it very very late on)

Are you absolutely sure about the cost of the child visa? I have a spouse visa and could add my dependent children for "free" i.e just the cost of the medicals.

Best of luck xx

I'm about to do it! I'll let you know how I get on

You ccan add extra dependants for free. Pr visa costs cover whole family. However I suspect being born before you move there will be Medicaid still? Oh and check how long you have to use your visa 