thoughts please =)

My sister is pregnant and is having a bit of a stress about maybe losing baby. She has been bleeding, not a lot she says, and has a bit of pain, like the stitch, in her right side. Should she be worried too much? I have told her to just go to a&e and they can check her out rather than Doc cos then she won't have to pay anything   All thoughts appreciated

they probably wont keep her waiting at A&E. I walked into A&E several times when I had my bleeding and they saw me straight away. Anything like that they make 1st priority.

The pain she is feeling is probably just typical stretching pains IMO. As for the bleeding, sometimes it's a matter of waiting to see if the bleeding settles or not, which can obviously get quite stressful . Does she or did she have a 6wk scan booked?

you dont pay if your pregs no matter where you go and i have had bleeding and pain the whole 9mths some being very intence and went on to have a 9p baby :) my friend is currently 4mnths and she had alot of bleeding buteverything is fine but they kept her in hospital to be sure......if in doubt check it out.

if she goes to waikato she should be put through straight away obviously depending on emergency level but due to the nature we have only waited for 30mins............good luck to her.........i know how scary it is.

Nerfertiti..............honey im a bit confused as i have been to 4 different docs around hamilton including te awamutu and have NOT been charged neither has anyone else i know...but it is up to YOU to say the it is a preg issue when you first enter.........if they decide on exam that it is not related then you will get billed..............but having said that i do know some that are getting cockie and trying it on..........but its about knowledge and i guess working in health industry helps .........

on another note..........henna get her to push for scan even if they say nothing about it......they werent gonna do tests on me until i demanded them and then found out i had ovarian cancer so dont be afraid to push :)

well an update for you lovely ladies she is staying in overnight. Apparently baby is fine and shouldn't be the cause of the pain cos they can't see a reason why he/she would be, anyway her heart rate is under 50 and she has high blood pressure so they are trying to figure out what is wrong. They are thinking appendix due to the pain so may be cutting her open to see if thats the issue so yeah rather scary re the heart rate and bp so hopefully she gets sorted.

Tysmummy they did do a scan in the end.

hmm maybe it's different from GP to GP but I was of the understanding that it was all supposed to be free too. When I was pregnant I had to see the doc for a couple of pregnancy related things (hyperemesis), and when I left I said it was pregnancy related, and each time they had to confirm with the doc I saw that it was, and especially ask me for my permission to release my details to MoH so they could get 'paid' that way, and I said ok and that was that.

The generic MoH "Your Pregnancy" booklet says "Maternity care is free for New Zealand citizens, women with permanent residency, and those who have a permit for a stay of two or more years." and goes on to add "GP care - if you need to see your doctor during pregnancy for a problem that is unrelated to your pregnancy or for an existing medical problem that has become worse because of your pregnancy, you will be charged that doctor’s usual consultation fee".

Push the point next time Nefertiti!

ETA: and if you can be bothered, you can complain to the Health and Disability Commissioner - 0800 112 233

Edited by weegee

Interesting about the GP visits. In Wellington, I was advised they were free until 12 weeks as that is when they expect you to have your specialist or doctor. When they figured out I'd been seeing them relating to pregnancy, and was in my first trimester, they refunded me what I had paid for the visits...nice bonus!

You so have to rely on then telling you things like this....there is no way I would have known