Since we launched the private school community, we have received a lot of support from parents and friends.
Even some of the young ladies who are not yet mothers and are ready to have children want to join us.
They want to learn about the Australian education system and plan their children's education early.
I told them not to rush, let's just relax and take it easy for a while.
Young couples who are planning to get pregnant may want to find out what options are available to them for having a baby in Australia. How to choose doctors and hospitals?
Dolphin first briefly introduced the Australian healthcare system.
Like schools, hospitals in Australia are divided into public and private.
Public hospitals are supported by government funding, there is no pressure to make a profit, and they are basically general hospitals with full medical equipment.
Public hospitals have doctors on duty 24 hours a day and cover different disciplines, and public hospitals with strong general capabilities can call on a group of specialized doctors to respond to emergencies at short notice.
In Australia, all emergency patients are taken to public hospitals for treatment.
Visits to public hospitals are free if you bring your Medicare Card. But in public hospitals, patients do not get to choose their primary care doctor.
In China, you can choose your own doctor, but in Australia, public hospitals have a wide range of doctors, so it's just a matter of luck to know what kind of doctor you're going to see and how much experience you'll have.
Private hospitals in Australia are much more user-friendly than public hospitals.
Not only can patients enjoy a superior medical environment, such as comfortable private rooms and specialized care, but they can also choose doctors according to their own conditions.
In addition, the waiting time for scheduling an operation is much shorter in a private hospital.
After all, hospitals are profit-driven, and scheduling is much more efficient than in public hospitals, and there is a clear difference in the way patients are treated.
But you get what you pay for, and better service means higher prices. The cost of a visit to a private hospital far exceeds the cost of a public hospital.
We've learned the difference between public and private hospitals in Australia, so let's talk specifically about how to choose when you're having a baby.
Share your own experience, I am the kind of child who had to cry when he got an injection, and I was scared to death when I heard the sound of the electric drill when I had to fill a tooth, I was especially afraid of pain, and I was afraid to go to the hospital since I was a child.
When I decided to give birth to a child, I was really quite nervous, and I didn't know if I could resist this small body.
I heard from many experienced friends that if you want to have more choices, minimize pain, minimize uncontrollable factors, and turn the process of giving birth into a good memory, it is best to buy the right private medical insurance early and book an appointment with an experienced specialist to give birth in a private hospital.
That's why I didn't hesitate to choose the most expensive option of having a baby - an OB/GYN specialist and a private hospital.
As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I made an appointment with my family doctor (GP, general general practitioner), asked her to write a referral letter, and was referred to an OB/GYN specialist after 12 weeks.
I had more requirements, not only did I need to be experienced, but I also had to be a female doctor to avoid unnecessary embarrassment.
Ideally, they should be able to communicate in Chinese.
After all, having a baby is a big deal, and I didn't want to test my IELTS listening and speaking skills at such a dire time, in case there was some specialized vocabulary that I couldn't understand.
So my family doctor recommended a Chinese female doctor in Sydney's North End.
The specialist is responsible for the labor and delivery after that.
At the same time, I booked a private hospital room and a labor ward in advance. On the day of delivery, the specialist will be in charge of the delivery.
It is important to note that we have to choose the specialist first and then decide on the private hospital.
It depends on which private hospitals your specialist works with. Each specialist can see and deliver babies in more than one hospital.
My eldest went to Mater Hospital in North Sydney and my second went to SAN hospital in Upper North Sydney, they are both very good hospitals with similar hardware and software.
If I really want to say what the difference is, it's that the two siblings' passport birthplaces are different because of the different hospitals.
The specialist's fees are higher, and only a small portion can be reimbursed by the Medicare card, while most of the fees are paid by the specialist himself.
Ten years ago it was around 2,000-4,000, now it's double that, ranging from 4,000-8,000 Australian dollars.
The cost of a private hospital during labor is very high, on average about $2000 a day, which is several times more expensive than a five-star hotel, and this cost is not reimbursed by the public medical card.
You will have to take out additional private medical insurance (about $2000 per year) to cover the cost of hospitalization in private hospitals through your insurance company.
If you are planning to have your baby in a private hospital, it is important that you purchase the right private health insurance early in your pregnancy preparation, as every insurance company has a 12 month waiting period and you cannot wait until you are pregnant.
What was the experience of having a baby in a private hospital?
I've summarized four points:
First, the delivery and hospitalization conditions are more comfortable
The maternity wards in private hospitals are like star-rated hotels, and some of the rooms have a sea view.
The hospitals provide all the necessities for the mother and baby, including personal care items for the mother, diapers for the baby, bottles of milk powder, etc. Each room has its own bathroom. Each room has its own bathroom. The husband can accompany the bed, there is a small sofa bed, and a TV.
I remember when I went into the ward, I was so nervous as a mom-to-be that I couldn't sleep, but our dad-to-be calmly watched the whole game.
Secondly, the food in private hospitals is more abundant
Many private hospitals allow you to order food several times, which is enough for a couple to eat together, just like room service in a hotel.
Just take the menu and call to make a reservation. The hospital food is very well balanced, with protein, vegetables and fruits, healthy snacks, and desserts, which are very healthy and tasty.
But our Chinese elders will think that some foods are not suitable for women who are pregnant, there are cold, there are contraindications, yes, there is yogurt and ice cream. But my husband ate all of them.
Thirdly, the midwives in private hospitals are more patient and responsible
The nurses in private hospitals are very patient, and their job is to take care of the mothers and the babies, and teach us to change the diapers, wrap the babies, and breastfeed the babies.
There are various classes scheduled every day, such as teaching new fathers how to bathe their babies, and also teaching us the do's and don'ts of postpartum restoration, and how to take care of our babies when we go home. There are even classes to teach parents how to deal with the relationship between their first and second babies. In private hospitals, you can send your child to the nurses' station for care in the evening.
Mothers can sleep well and replenish their energy. The day before we were discharged from the hospital, we were also given a duo to help us take care of the baby, so that the new father and new mother could go out for a date and a candlelight dinner to celebrate.
Fourth, the choice of private hospitals is free
It is up to the mom to decide whether to have a normal delivery or a C-section. What kind of pain relief do you want? When do you want to have a painless labor and delivery anesthesia injection? Do you want to induce labor in advance? These are all things that can be discussed with a specialist on a case-by-case basis.
When my pregnancy ultrasound measured the baby's head circumference to be relatively large and a little overweight, my specialist told me that if I didn't have a natural onset of labor after my due date, the fetus was getting bigger and bigger, and it would be more difficult to have a normal delivery.
We discussed this and chose to induce labor three days earlier than the due date. This way, we basically minimized a lot of uncontrollable factors, chose the birth date, and were hospitalized early.
The first baby was delivered in seven and a half hours, the second in less than four hours. And both were uneventful, with every step of the process largely within our expectations.
In addition to this most expensive option, there are two other birth options.
If the mother-to-be has an unplanned pregnancy and has not taken out private medical insurance in advance, she can choose between an obstetrician-gynecologist specialist and a public hospital.
Again, it's a matter of asking your GP for a referral letter early in the pregnancy, and then recommending a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology after 12 weeks.
The specialist is responsible for the subsequent labor and delivery. Choose to deliver in a ward maternity ward in a public hospital. On the day of delivery, you will be delivered by a regular specialist. Good obstetricians and gynecologists have full schedules throughout the year, so it's best to book your appointment well in advance.
If you have permanent residence in Australia, you can give birth in a public hospital for free and do not need private medical insurance.
You only need to pay for the specialist's visit, which can be anywhere from $4,000 to $8,000, and Medicare will reimburse a small amount.
The advantage of having a baby in a public hospital is that the hospitalization fee is free, and when you give birth, your own specialist will bring a team of TAs to deliver your baby. And public hospitals are well-equipped to handle any emergencies during labor and delivery.
The last option is the most affordable, which is to have your baby delivered by a doctor on duty at a public hospital.
You still need to ask your GP for a recommendation to a public hospital near your home.
The prenatal checkup is arranged by the GP (General Practitioner).
In the mid to late stages, you will be seen by a Midwife at the public hospital.
On the day of delivery, you will be delivered by a duty doctor at the public hospital.
If you have permanent residency in Australia and a personal Medicare card, this option is almost completely free.
There is a lot of uncertainty in this scenario, and some moms have had bad experiences in public hospitals. Because public hospitals receive so many patients, it's really up to luck whether you get a good doctor or a good nurse. But some of the moms who had a particularly good time found the public hospitals to be inexpensive and good value for money.
Secondly, there are not a lot of choices in public hospitals, and it's not as if you can have your belly broken just because you want to.
If the conditions for a normal labor are present, you will not be asked to have a cesarean, it is encouraged, and the operating room will only be coordinated to prepare for a cesarean if it is a very urgent situation.
A friend of mine gave birth to her first child in a public hospital in difficult labor, and suffered for more than a day, the doctor on duty that day, too young and inexperienced, and did not know whether to decide on a cesarean section, and finally dragged on for a very long time, the maternal situation is very dangerous, before a more senior physician to shoot the board to push her into the operating room cesarean section. So when she gave birth to her second child, she decided to opt for a private hospital.
These are the three options for having a baby in Australia, and Dolphin's personal feeling is that if we want to plan ahead, it's best to buy private health insurance first.
In the case of economic conditions, you should give yourself more choices, choose a specialist you trust, and pick your favorite private hospital, so that the important moment of life is less risky and more cozy, and after a number of years, when you look back, you feel that this is really worth the money spent!