Want To Give Birth In U.k Axis: Need Help On Hospital

Goodday Nairalanders,
I am pregnant, Nigerian and want to deliver my baby in U.K/Ireland axis. l have just been issued a U.K Visitor Visa. I would appreciate if anyone who has the knowledge of a Maternity/Hospital in U.K/Belfast/Ireland axis, WHERE I CAN DELIVER MY BABY AND PAY CASH FOR THE HOSPITAL BILLS. , and what it may cost.
The idea as you would have guessed, is for my baby to have a "Britico Birth Cert" that might come-in handy in future! (Who knows, l might even be lucky to get her their passport  ).
I will really appreciate these information as the pregnancy is getting advanced.
Thank you and awaiting you response.
PS: Mrs Oyinbo, Akolawole, VOR,Pataki, Funkybaby, l would value your responses.

A friend paid £1,500 in a NHS hospital however she is British and has been living abroad (Nigeria) hence did not qualify for the free service. As I understand, the costs will be the same for a non-national. And that's a straight forward birth though.

Having a UK/Irish BC bestows no benefits/rights on the child if neither parent is a citizen or resident. You also need to be aware that UK immigration can prevent you from entering the country if they know you are coming to have a child (assuming you didn’t disclose your intentions in your application of course) here regardless of your intention to pay or not especially if you are planning on using a NHS hospital as the cost is still supposedly subsidised.

Might be worth your while trying to obtain a Canadian/US visa and having the child in either country if you can, but I understand this might have repercussions for the parent in future e.g. ban from entering the country regardless of payment or non payment of medical bills etc.

I agree with your trying to get your child dual nationality as we don't know where our nation is headed. Good Luck.

wow.

I am trying to understand the logic but I do respect your decision to go ahead and have your baby in the UK.

I don’t have much information on the way to go about it but I am sure that any of the hospitals below will be more than happy to give you further information on their services.

St Thomas Hospital – NHS - £9,000

Queen Charlotte's Hospital- NHS - Approx £8,000
Queen Charlottes is one of the best hospitals to be in the UK if God forbid you have complications. It is a flagship hospital and one of 3 or 4 hospitals in the whole of the UK if for some terrible reason you go into labor before 23 weeks gestation they will actually fight to keep the baby alive regardless of cost whereas other hospitals have a policy of “let nature take its course” with premature babies this young due to the cost of keeping these babies alive, 
I had one of my kids at this hospital and the medical care there is excellent with no scars to show for my Caesarian section.

Kingston Hospital – NHS - £7,500


Portland Hospital – Private Hospital - Normal delivery same day discharge approx £10,000

I don’t know if the prices above are higher if the birth is pre booked and lower if you walk into A&E already in labor and you have a normal delivery and discharged within 6 hours of delivery.

The other thing worth considering is that if you are and look 8 months pregnant will you be allowed into the country. Having a valid visa is not a guarantee of getting into the country and many people have been turned back at the border.

Another thing is accommodation - Not many people want to or have the space to accommodate a pregnant mother and a new born screaming baby in their homes for the duration of the confinement.

The minister’s wives etc you mention almost always have their own houses here in the UK and are not depending on relatives & friends to accommodate them for the 4 weeks.

It also crossed my mind (I may be wrong) that the hospitals way of ensuring people paid their bills in time may be not to release relevant important documents required in order to register the birth at the local register office meaning no birth certificate can be issued. No birth certificate means the child cannot travel out of the country not even on mum’s passport.

I wish you all the best which ever decision you go for and wish you a safe delivery. A gbo ohun iya a gho ohun omo Amin.

@poster

YOu may want to move this post to the travel section if you want pataki and the others to take a look at it. They are more active in that section.

Hahahaha 
You are funny

Chaircover’s given you the approx costs. Unfortunately I don’t know the procedure either as my friend came to attend her ante-natal appointments here. She had her child 2 years ago at Barnet Hospital (you may want to call them to find out +44 208 216 4600). You may also want to try http://www.independentmidwives.org.uk/ they have birth centres all over the UK and costs about £4,600 for a homebirth or at their centre. London may be more expensive though. You may also want to call the local NHS hospitals in the area you will be in the UK to find out the cost to a private patient in their hospital as they are different for every hospital.

I agree with Shapey, the money could be better spent investing in something for the child.

However, contrary to what Chaircover & Shapey’s said, every hospital will try to keep a preterm baby alive. Where they don’t have the facilities to do so, they will try to get the mother to a hospital that does before she gives birth or transfer the child ASAP. My cousin had twins at King George’s hospital at 22+ weeks though they do not have adequate facilities, they were transferred ASAP to another that do and were there for over 1 year. They always do their best to keep the children alive regardless of cost except it is not in the interest of the child. For a non-national/resident, the cost will be exorbitant of course.

The hospitals have no right to prevent registration of a child in order to obtain a BC. Everyone has a right to be given a BC regardless of parents’ nationality. I was not given anything to give to the registrar when obtaining one for my daughter. I only had to take mine and my husband’s ID documents which the lady did not even look at. She had it on her system already that I had a child on X date at X time in X hospital when I gave her my name. However, this registrar’s office was in the hospital grounds so might be different for others outside the hospital or even other boroughs.

Ilebola I am pleased to learn that your cousin’s twins are doing well. Praise God. My experience was from 13 years ago; however even though with advances in medical research & treatment since then, what I mentioned in my previous post still happens.

I haven’t been able to find a list of these so called flagship hospitals as this now seems to be classified information, but from the document below it proves that there are still some hospitals below ready to go the extra mile to save a baby’s life even though they may claim that it is for experimental purposes.

This is an extract from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which considers ethical questions raised by advances in medical research, has recommended that babies born at or before 22 weeks should not be resuscitated or given intensive care.

Between 23 weeks, 0 days and 23 weeks, six days of gestation, it is very difficult to predict the future outcome for an individual baby based on current clinical evidence for babies born at this gestation as a whole. Precedence should be given to the wishes of the parents regarding resuscitation and treatment of their baby with invasive intensive care. However, when the condition of a baby indicates that he or she will not survive for long, clinicians are not legally obliged to proceed with treatment wholly contrary to their clinical judgement, if they judge that treatment would be futile (see paragraph 8.32). As a first step, it will be necessary to determine whether a baby is suffering, whether any suffering can be alleviated, and the likely burden placed on the baby by intensive care treatment (see paragraph 9.32). Where parents would prefer that the clinical team made the decision about whether or not to initiate intensive care, the clinicians should determine what constitutes appropriate care for that particular baby. Where there has not been an opportunity to discuss a baby’s treatment with the mother (and where appropriate her partner) prior to the birth, the clinical team should consider offering full invasive intensive care until a baby’s condition and treatment can be discussed with the parents.

(e) Between 22 weeks, 0 days and 22 weeks, six days of gestation, standard practice should be not to resuscitate a baby. Resuscitation would normally not be considered or proposed. Only if parents request resuscitation, and reiterate this request, after thorough discussion with an experienced paediatrician about the risks and long-term outcomes, should resuscitation be attempted and intensive care be offered. The treating clinicians must concur that this is an exceptional case where resuscitation is in a baby’s best interests.

(f) Below 22 weeks of gestation, no baby should be resuscitated. For this age group, we consider current attempts to resuscitate a baby to be experimental. We recommend that attempts to resuscitate these babies should only take place within a clinical research study that has been assessed and approved by a research ethics committee and with informed parental consent. I assume this refers to the flagship hospitals I mentioned above.

(g) When intensive care is not given, the clinical team should provide palliative care until the baby dies (paragraph 9.16).

Sorry for the digression but I thought it may be useful information to someone someday,  . . .Patients who suffer form the pre eclampsia, incompetent cervix etc and other conditions resulting in the high risk of having a premature baby.

@ JJyou

Na me oh!!!!!!!!!!!  I am doing fine. My daughter is great. I just got back to work, so I had to take her to a childminder. Amsky dey berekete. I have only spoken to her on phone, work no let am see road. Take care of you.

Word!!!

Thanks everybody, for your responses.
I've always wondered "why" people volunteer good information, even for a total stranger like me?; and its common among Nigerians, even to the extent of what you did not even ask for! Shows we are 'naturally good people', na only "kondision" make our cray-fish bend 

Now "Hauwa",
how on earth did you arrive at that conclusion of me being a "one of those stinky Nigerians"?
First, this would be my first child, l come from a very poor home (that probably explains my phobia for poverty, for me on my child, now and in the future!  )  but l have learnt to save the little l have.

I work, yes, work hard and l pray you or my children would not have to go through what l went through in this Naija, growing-up (have you ever hawked before, on the streets ? well, l have as a girl of abt 10yrs; even now, l still support the parents that put me through such ordeal but l guess l cant blame them, they should have planned better, and God forbid if my child would blame me in future; Mummy, why did you not do X and Y for me when the parents of my friend 'Hauwa', were doing it for her?  )

Okay, enough of sad stories, dont mind me Hauwa. Am just another poor 'gaal' from the hood (the type they call "my pikin", no kidding).
No one has explained to me, the question l asked about rich folks going-on to give birth abroad? Those that already have everything and more than enough for their "issues" to inherit!

I am betting that when my child is 18+, she can file for 'temporary residence', then 'long-term residency', with her B.Cert  and anything can happen from there, in future? 

Does anyone have experience from the Belfast/Ireland region? someone said l should check-out that area!

Funkybabe, you're special. How do l move the thread to another section pls?

Dont mind my poverty-induced paronia, it runs deep :d

Cheers and Tx

Forget Belfast/Ireland

It was smooth few years ago but things have changed

Except you wan go there go hang 

Even with that, you are only going to suffer/punish yourself if you do not have a host/friends in UK that are 'soji' and willing to help

Kai, hauwa
What are you suggesting

If she has her baby at st. Nicholas hospital in Lagos, can't the kid become the next Lagos island local government chairman

in my opinion, you are better off spending half of that money in a state of the art hospital in Nigeria where you will be taken off.
a fews years ago it was possible to have a baby in the UK and then get a passport for the child but times have changed.

if you are not a citizen/british national then things are about to get harder cos the ID card scheme is now in operation.

There is indeed a place called Lewisham here. I do not know about this your friend's argument. YOu may wish to direct it to the ''gurus'' in that field.  I just found out about a guy who has a B.C that has not changed anything for him. He just applied for his post study work visa and was refused. I just found this out and that was why I came back to this thread. He paid his 12k for his tuition, and every other thing. He has just handed in his dissertation. His post study work visa application was refused, eventhough he was given full right of appeal.

Good luck.

Gosh VOR beat me to the post!

Is it actually after 1982 or rather after 1981?

@ Poster,

A British Birth Certificate does not in anyway, confer any right on your child whether now, or in the nearest future, with the current British immigration law. It is advisable that, with the money you have been saving, plan for your kid in the nearest future for a good education abroad if indeed you want the best for them.

You may try your options with other countries which I am not conversant with, but with the UK, please do not come to waste your money for nothing, and your child later on in years blame you, that you could have spent the money wisely in other ways.

Just my one cent on this topic.

Cheers.