Hello,
I'm from Adelaide, Australia. Last pregnancy I had severe HG, and did not start with good medical care. I was classified as a high risk, high complication pregnancy, had a placenta abruption at 13 weeks.
I don't have private health insurance.
I'm thinking of TTC starting 2 months from now, and am not sure who I should choose to look after my medical care while pregnant (particularly the first 14 weeks).
These are my options:
- a lovely GP who helped me recover from HG. She lives 45min away and works 2 days a week. She has rung me up on her days off however, to give me information/test results etc.
- a high risk Dr (called an Obstetric physician here). He specialises in medicine during pregnancies. He is available to be seen preconception, and on a consultative basis. Appointments with him are mostly covered by Medicare. He advised the doctors in hospital on my treatment last time, although I never saw him. A friend who sees him for Lupus says he's weak on people skills, but is a good doctor.
- seeing the head Obst. from my hospital. He was the one who decided last time that I needed to be kept in hospital indefinitely, and that the hospital protocol wasn't working for me. I like him because he gave permission for my treatment to be changed. He is quite bossy however! This is the more expensive option for me.
- using the hospital system. This would mean going to their Emergency section every time I'm dehydrated, want meds reviewed, or want to see an Obst without an appointment. Good points here: short waiting times for treatment, very cheap Zofran, open 24 hours a day. I would also try to have earlier appointments with the hospital Obst. if possible.
Out of all these options, the last one is the cheapest, as the meds come from the hospital, saving me thousands of dollars.
Any ideas?
Debbie