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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Expat -- Want to give birth in UK

31 replies

buzylizzie92 · 18/02/2018 11:17

Good morning beautiful ladies,

I am British married to an Egyptian and living in his home town. Me and DH are thinking of babies at the moment and we are looking at our options. I'd really like to travel to the UK for the birth to be near friends and family who matter. I knw tht the NHS will not cover the expenses since I am not a resident. But i wanted to knw if was ok following up with a Dr here but actually having the birth over there. Like how the NHS looks at it and whether i need to be registered with a GP and what procedures might be

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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VandelayIndustries · 18/02/2018 11:27

I don’t know what you mean by ‘following up with a doctor here but actually having the birth over there’

You would have to be here for a while anyway because of the journey. Obviously people do come to the uk to give birth from other countries.

I had to take my dd to the doctor in the uk when I was living abroad and there were no facilities for paying. Same with her prescription. I wanted to pay but I couldn’t .

I didn’t have another child while I lived out of the uk as I didn’t want to do it abroad or without my family. I have to say I didn’t think of coming back here and having it. It sounds overly complicated and it’s not right either. It’s health tourism.

RandomMess · 18/02/2018 11:38

I know the estimated bill for friends was £2k 10 years ago for a straightforward vaginal birth! They got married instead!!

Realistically it would mean being over here 4-6 months, you can't fly heavily pregnant. Would you be able to live with family and how much would that exclude your DH?

Doesn't sound like the best start to family life tbh

MillieTant2018 · 18/02/2018 11:44

You could come and pay privately in the UK.

MillieTant2018 · 18/02/2018 11:47

Glad to hear you aren’t just thinking of giving birth here for free though! That wouldn’t be ethical seen as you contribute nothing into the UK NHS 😊

Original poster

buzylizzie92 · 18/02/2018 12:00

Thanks for your replies!
Just to clarify, I was born abroad. So my understanding is, if my baby is too, he/she might not be eligible for a UK citizenship. Which is really important to me.

VandelayIndustries I meant by that statement, Is there a OBGYN practice or a midwife that would deliver my baby even though if they didn’t provide care throughout the pregnancy?
Maybe if I registered or agreed with them somehow.
And its my understanding that it's not health tourism if i intend on paying.

RandomMess WOW! 2K 10 years ago! That is a pretty sum.
I would be able to live with family and as explained earlier, we both think its necessary to maintain our little one's UK citizenship.
Do you happen to know someone who did the same recently?

OP posts:

MillieTant2018 · 18/02/2018 12:03

If you don’t live in the UK why are you bothered about your child having a UK citizenship?

Chifi · 18/02/2018 12:03

I don't see why you couldn't. A friend of mine lives in South Africa and she's come home (to Ireland) 3 times in 3 years to have her babies. UK couldn't be much different.

RandomMess · 18/02/2018 12:06

How much could you afford to pay? Unless you had I'm not sure £6k in the bank I wouldn't consider it! What if you need a csection, are seriously ill etc?

I would get quotes for the costs privately if you can't establish what the NHS charged. I believe late last year they've introduced that you have to pay up front?

ziggzagg · 18/02/2018 12:08

Your baby won't automatically gain UK citizenship by being born here, only through descent of one parent etc.

PerfectlyDone · 18/02/2018 12:09

You have to be resident in the UK to be eligible for NHS care.

Particularly for perinatal care rule and checks have been tightened up.

If it is important to you to deliver in the Uk, find out how much the private options would cost.

ClumsyPickle · 18/02/2018 12:10

I was in a similar position about two years ago...it was seriously expensive (but worth every penny!). We came back to UK when I was 34 weeks and whilst I had been overseen by a Doc and midwife outside of the UK, the NHS trust wanted to do full checks on everything again as they are then taking responsibility for you. I ended up having an emergency CSection and a medical bill for about £10k! That excludes living costs etc. Make sure you fully research the costs beforehand!

Todayissunny · 18/02/2018 12:11

I don't think rights to British citizenship will change if your baby is born in the UK. It will depend on you and your parentage (unless it has changed).

Millietante - she is British, family are British and in the UK. Why wouldn't she want her child to be British?

VandelayIndustries · 18/02/2018 12:12

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983

You don’t automatically get British citizenship if you were born in the UK.

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, you’ll be a British citizen if your mother or father was either:

a British citizen when you were born
‘settled’ in the UK when you were born
‘Settled’ means you can stay in the UK without any time restrictions. This includes people who have one of the following:

‘right of abode’
‘indefinite leave to remain’
permanent residence as an European Economic Area (EEA) national
In most cases you’ll be a British citizen if your mother or father was born in the UK or naturalised there at the time of your birth.

JassyRadlett · 18/02/2018 12:15

Being in the country at birth comes into play because OP is a citizen who wasn’t born here.

Soundsettings · 18/02/2018 12:35

You can pass your citizenship to your child even if the child isn’t born in the uk and you weren’t born in the uk as well. It’s your child who won’t be able to pass their citizenship to their child if that child ( your grandchild ) isn’t born in the uk. I know this because I looked into it myself as I am a british citizen who wasn’t born in the uk

MillieTant2018 · 18/02/2018 12:36

Todayissunny I was just curious, it just seems like a lot of hassle to go to at such a stressful time anyway 😊

Marcine · 18/02/2018 12:41

I know a UK citizen who came back here to have an NHS birth - it was expensive but cheaper than going completely private I think.

Original poster

buzylizzie92 · 18/02/2018 12:48

Thanks ClumsyPickle, Todayissunny and JassyRadlett for making me fell like I'm not a complete nutcase!

Would love to know a bit more of the experience @ClusmyPickle and Marcine, if you have any details.

OP posts:

ClumsyPickle · 18/02/2018 13:08

For me it was more about the standard of care and being near family rather than citizenship concerns. We contacted the relevant NHS trust before returning to the UK although couldn't arrange anything until we registered with a GP and had a booking in appointment. From there it was a whirlwind of scans, consultants and tests! They were not impressed with the care I'd had until that point and wanted to repeat everything! Each procedure had a fixed cost which individually didn't seem too bad but it really mounted up! Going privately would have been much more expensive, we checked! Overall I'm very pleased we went back to the UK as being near family and familiarity after the birth was invaluable x

PrimeraVez · 18/02/2018 13:47

I’m a British expat in and delivered my son in the Middle East (and will have DC2 here this summer as well)

Different situation but when were in the UK visiting family last summer, my toddler had to be admitted to the local hospital after he had a nasty asthma attack. We were upfront about the fact that we aren’t UK residents (even though we are all UK passport holders)

Six months later we received an email from the NHS with a bill for nearly 1k!

Do you have any medical insurance where you are? We simply put our insurer in touch with the Nhs collections department and they worked it out between themselves.

SandLand · 18/02/2018 14:05

Yes, its possible to give birth in the uk. I know several people who gave done it.
I know of some who have gone privately for the birth. I don't know if the otherscwere MGS with billing or private.

I'd contact the hospital near your family and ask. I'd also see if there are any private hospitals who have ante and post natal facilities.

You are unlikely to have the passport before discharge from midwife care, so can't see how follow up would be an issue.

Good luck.

Also consider what will happen if you aren't fit to fly back to the UK.

AnneElliott · 18/02/2018 14:09

I think you're right op about the nationality issue of your child. As your DH isn't British I think there is an issue passing on nationality of you and your child are not born here. Worth taking specialist advice though on that.

Original poster

buzylizzie92 · 18/02/2018 14:12

Thanks for sharing your experience, ClusmyPickle! Ofc the quality of care is a big part of it for us all.

Primavez, unfortunately my DH insurer doesn't cover maternity at all :(

Just realized I forgot to tag @Marcine. Do you know any details about your friend's experience?

OP posts:

HeadDreamer · 18/02/2018 14:23

Her child born in the U.K. will definitely have UK citizenship if she is a British citizen. You need one British parent. I think what she meant was she is a citizen by descent. It means her child to have citizenship in the U.K. would need to be British born. It is a pretty common scenario. I would imagine to quality for NHS care she needs to be here for the 12 week scan and on wards? The criteria is to be living here. There isn’t actually a waiting time needed before you are qualified if you are a British citizen. The moment you settle back you are qualified. Google how you register for a NHS GP and go from there.

ClumsyPickle · 18/02/2018 14:30

@HeadDreamer the rules changed in about April 2016 and you no longer automatically qualify if you've lived out of the uk. You now have to be ordinarily resident and that takes six months from you're arrival back in the UK, hence why I had to pay even though both my husband and I are British born British citizens x

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