Private Obstetric Care

The planning and management fee is charged at the next appointment after you turn 28 weeks. It is Emma’s promise to continue to be on call for you 24 hours per day and to be there for the birth of your baby. The fee is currently $3700 which is in keeping with the recommended rate by the Australian Medical Association. This is much less than charged by many Melbourne obstetricians. Remember, the money you pay Emma also pays for the running of the Norfolk Centre and its staff and for Emma’s insurances which are in excess of $100,000 per year.

The charge for a new appointment is $200, of which Medicare pays about $100. During pregnancy the other appointments are bulk billed. The birth cost in hospital is charged to your health fund. The amount paid for items 16519 (low risk delivery) and 16522 (complicated delivery) varies between health funds. If your insurance company pays significantly less than the others (i.e. Budget Direct, NIB, APIA or Qantas) you will be asked to make up the difference.

Gynaecology

A new patient appointment is $200, of which Medicare pays $100. Follow-up appointments are variable in price depending on what they are for. Procedures such as IUD insertion are charged extra and attract extra Medicare rebates. Emma charges the health fund rebate for surgical procedures in hospital.

Other specialists involved in your care, for example anaesthetists, paediatricians and physicians, may charge out-of-pocket fees for their services.

The Nitty Gritty…

To have a baby at SJOG Bendigo you need private health insurance including obstetric cover—this generally means gold-level cover. Usually, you need to take out the policy at least 12 months before your baby is due.

If you have a Medicare card and wish to “self-fund” the cost of having a baby without insurance at SJOG, the cost is about $10,000 for hospital costs and about $3,000 which might be needed for anaesthetics, paediatrics, and pathology. The hospital offers a “have a baby” package which covers all costs no matter what happens.

Many patients on working visas from overseas have private insurance which covers them for delivery at SJOG rather than at the public hospital. If you have neither Medicare nor private obstetric insurance, you will need to discuss your options with accounts at SJOG and Bendigo Health.

The Political Message…

In no other area of life would you expect to have an expert with at least 15 years of training on call 24 hours per day for 9 months! It is a great honour to be trusted with caring for you during this especially vulnerable, stressful, and (almost always) joyful time of life.

Women’s health generally is very underfunded, especially compared to our surgical colleagues. It is not fair that obstetric insurance is only available on the most expensive policies, and that private health insurers and Medicare pay the hospital less to care for you during birth and postpartum than if you had an operation such as gallbladder removal or a knee replacement.

I am aware that women having babies are at a time of life when financial pressures are great, and so I strive to keep prices at a point which is both affordable and allows me to run a financially viable business.