hello every one, first of all i would like to thank all the desis in here for their support and i would like to especially thank FTFL, GOLAPAI for their inclusive and important feedbacks.

1- after two years away from Canada we are coming back end of june, my wife is pregnant and she is due end of july, we are an OHIP card holders and i wonder if there is any fees we would pay ?

2- we would like to have a female doctor delivring our child, is that possible to ask as a prebirth arrangments? what about a midwife? is that option covered by the OHIP ? is there any cost?

3- We hear about the no pain injection for the ladies in birth,,, dose my wife have to take that injection, or we could ask not to ? it,s in the backbone and that might be of risk,,,an inclusive response about the birth process would be awesome as it is our first in Canada,,,,we will be living in Kitchener and the grand river hospital is our first choice ,,,,,,

we sent letters to the hospitals but their response was short and not inclusive, so we turned to the immigrants` number one supporter `the canadiandesi`

thank you every one.

Dear Nverlander,

Is this your first child? Bcoz I am not sure how your wife will be travelling in her last trimester. you are taking a risk I suppose.
Anyways for the answers,
Your wife's OHIP will cover all the hospital expenses for normal/c-section birth and stay if you choose the regular rooms sharing with 3 other moms(depends on timing too.....)!! It would be best if you can look for a family doctor at the earliest and just give your wife a full check up soon after landing.

You CANNOT choose your doctor(male/female).When your baby is ready to be out in this world the doctor on duty will help him/her out.Dont get stuck up with "we want a female doctor issues".. I travelled 20 kms just to choose my "female gynec" all thru my pregnancy and eventually ended up cut open (c-section) by a male one. It doesnt matter as long as mother and baby are healthy and fine.
Choosing a mid-wife should have been done long time ago because they arent so easily available. I am afraid even if you get one they will ask you guys to go to the hospital as they do not know your wife's medical history.

Epidural (No pain injection - thank the person who invented it!!) is your choice.
The back bone numbing risk is very very rare like any other risk from a flu shot. As long as your wife is fine without it let it be but dont pressurize her not to take it.you can contact the hospital for more details on how to be ready when the time comes. they do provide with all the information.
And you can contact your region/muncipality health centres for more information.I dont know about kitchener but peel region offers a lot of free programs for pre and post partum.

hope this helps.
Shriya.

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you may be someone to the world but for someone you are the world.

You have to stay in ONTARIO for 180 days/year to maintain your OHIP card. You might want to check if the OHIP card you have is still valid.

Most other questions are already answered by Shriya above.

Hiren

Hiren is correct. OHIP will not honour your card, first, because you have been away too long. Then the second, your address might not be the same. You will have to reapply and obtain a NEW card with the current address on it.

That does not mean that you cannot travel. As it has been given to you, the travel of the Mother and the Baby, is at your own risk. Please see your Family Doctor before travels and get his/her O.K. prior to doing it. You might get into delivery mode in the flight. Keep your fingers crossed.

When the deliveries are normal and there are no complications, the procedure here currently is like a conveyor belt process. You get in at one end and get out through the other, the travel time on the belt is 24 hours. All they want to see is, that the Mother can walk and carry the Baby and the Baby can self feed on Mothers breast. Then you are out. Time taken is 24 hours.

You are free to decide upon the epidural and also pay what it calls for and any other expenses.

If you have friends and family here and have support, then go for it, once again you hold yourself responsible for all of the happenings present and the future.

The main reason that we all ask you to see a Doctor prior to the travels is, that Doctor can evaluate the current status of the Mother by looking at the Mothers Physicals and say if there are any stretch marks and evaluate the current situation and how far advanced is she in, then decide for other tests, etc., if needed, with ultrasound check and give you the expected time and an anticipation. They are the ones who will decide upon it, based upon the tests.

There are a few female Doctors in some walk in clinics, a call will tell you who it is. Yes, your Baby will be a Canadian and you will have little or NO problems as regards Paper work is concerned.

Now you have been informed...

Freddie.

EDIT: The baby gets the Full OHIP coverage from the Moment of birth.

Dear friends, we are seeing a doctor in here who will decide wehther my wife is able to travel or not,, it is our secound child and thank the almighty my wife is in a good health, so far our doctor says she can travel , and ofcourse we will get that approval written.

the thing that worries me is the validity of the OHIP card ! we stayed for two month first time we landed, and before we leave i was told that the OHIP card will expire directly if i left for more than 3 month or so,,,,,,
so the cards are with a friend where we were staying, keeping them for us till we come back.

I am really sorry to say that but how would i be noticed if i left ? providing that i will be staying at the same place using the same address.

I am just trying to avoid all the headach of applying for the PR for my new child,,, i am sure you know how bothering it is, while there is a possibility of having the birth process done inside canada.

plzzz advice,,,,,,,,,,,

thnks a million.

Hello,
As far as I know, you will have to restay in Ontario for 3 months (from the day of your current-second landing) to get your OHIP status back. So until then, you will pay for all charges, like visit to the doctor, Gync., Emergency, Delivery etc... Once the baby is delivered, care for the baby is free (as he or she is a Cdn. citizen and entitled to OHIP from the time of the birth) and you will still pay for the mother and the hospital fees. This could set you back by 5000$- $ 10000 (I am guessing).
As better way is to land in Sasketchewan province (which is a booming province and a cheap cost province) where the health care starts from day one.
Kitchener -
The Grand river hospital in Kitchener is not so crowded for delivery. I have been a witness to 3 deliveries in this hospital and I have seen that there are about 8 rooms (may be max. of 20 pregnant ladies can be accomodated at a given time) and I have only seen at the max. 3 people at any given time. So the rush will not be there. You will be delivered by the person on duty. Since you are in public healthcare, you canot fight this unless your religion states it.Gync's in Kitchener are fully booked and hence you need to first talk with a nurse at the Grandriver who will put you in touch with a Gync.. There is one really bad Gync. in Kitchener and most of the people without a Gync. gets alloted to her. She is a bit rude but then there is no guarnetee that she will be the one who does the delivery as it is done on a shift basis. There is a Tim Horton's at the Grand river for all your food need. The mother will be given food (free with valid OHIP card) by the hospital.
Hope this helps.
Peace by TK

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

There are Provinces in Canada which give you health benefits from day one ... I believe apart from SK , NS is another one .. Please confirm ... It appears OHIP - ON will not cover your case .

Delivery process is fantastic here as is the follow up . The down side is that you may not have the same help from relatives and friends which you get back in your home country and a depression accompanies child birth at a much higher pace . They call this Post Partum Depression . If it increases and they feel that the mother may be a risk to the child they may even go to the extent of taking custody of the child and giving it to a foster home .

But the support system for babies / children is just great . There would be a nurse calling and visiting you to follow the mother and more importantly the child's progress .

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Fido.