New on forum and to NZ

Hi ladies :)

I thought i would join this forum as we are about to emmigrate to NZ, in May actually as I will be 29 weeks by then and cant fly after that. I currently post on the UK forums but thought it would be good to meet some Kiwi mums (mums to be).

We are moving to Auckland and I am due to have our first baby in August. Really nervous about going there and not knowing anyone and also having my baby there since I dont know how the medical system works. Was hoping you ladies could share some info on the subjet... I would like to have a homebirth or if that is not possible a birth centre would be an ideal compromise. We are looking to stay in the North Shore area and I was wondering if anyone knew of any birth centres, good hospitals there?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Saskia

Hi,

Im due in August aswell
Like lilfatty said, there is birthcare, I have heard good things about them, I didnt have my son there cos I live on the other side of Auckland.

Midwives are very hard to get so Im not sure how you will get on with finding one so late in pregnancy, but perhaps some people on here might have the numbers of some midwives around the north shore that you could call now and see if they would be willing to take you on when you get here?
Also, I know a lot of midwives support home births

Goodluck with the move and stuff

Hi Sassy

I am from the UK too! Moved a couple of years ago and about to move back to the North Shore!

Im due end May and planning to give birth to my first baby at Birthcare.

Yep the system is a wee bit different here ... but my expereince is its great esp. if you want to aim to have a natural birth. at home or birthcare

I'll PM you and maybe we can connect and I can share my expereinces both in terms of moving to NZ and also the health system here!

Edited by kitechick

Welcome to OhBaby!

I live on the North Shore and am having baby at North Shore Hospital. We decided that it would be more convenient for family (especially DH) to visit us there than having to trek over the bridge and I liked the idea that he could be by my side in 20 minutes if I needed him.

There are plenty of Midwives who will be happy to assit at a home birth here so I should think you would be able to do that if its your first preference.

You are entitled to free maternity care if you or your partner are NZ citizens or have permanent residency.

Hi there Saskia,

I too am originally from the UK and live here on the beautiful North Shore. Firstly congratulations on your impending move to NZ it is absollutely wonderful here and I truly cannot think of a better place to bring up children.

The other ladies are correct in saying that you do need to be a permanent resident to be entitled to free maternity care here in NZ, however I also understand that if you have a valid work permit/visa valid for a minimum of two years then this will also entitle you to free maternity care. The best thing to do is contact the District Health Board directly (in the case of North Shore Hospital this would be Waitemata DHB and check with them).

NZ leads the way for midwifery based care and it should be no problem to source a Midwife who is happy to carry out homebirths as the other ladies say there is a real shortage of midwives so I would recommend you get onto finding one asap. I am with Kate Shepperd midwifery based on the Shore and the two midwives I have assigned to me are great (one Lead Maternity Carer and her back up).

There are a number of different midwifery practises on the shore and I haven't heard anything bad about any of them, just pop North Shore Midwives into a NZ google search and you can take a look for yourself.

As for North Shore Hospital I have delivered there yet (as this is my first baby) but I have spoken/read reviews to/of lots of people that have and generally the feedback is really good. They are reasonable modern facilities and were refurbed roughly about 5/6 years ago. Again if you look at the Waitemata DHB website you should find additional info on there.

I have been attending the ante-natal group run by the hospital and have met a really nice group of other Mum's to be so I am pretty sure most of us will keep in touch after our babies have been born which will be nice as I am slowly starting to lose touch with a few of my former "young, free and single drinking buddies" now I am a married, mum to be!.

Finally, I have fouund the whole medical/maternity system here in NZ really good in comparison to what I have heard about Australia and the UK. It is pretty much all free (unless you opt to go for private scans and birth centres such as Birthcare). I had a couple of miscarriages prior to this pregnancy and my midwives were really supportive about sending me for early blood tests/scans and additional scans to reassure me that every thing was ok this time. From what I have heard from other people's experiences in the UK and Australia this hasn't been the case there.

So all in all I think you will be absolutely fine and in the meantime if you think of anything else don't hesitate to PM me.

All the best :o)