@mousepad,
Thank God it all turned out well.
godddd!!!!!! at what you passed through, some POE officials are just over sabi.
Please rest well

@mousepad,
Thank God for victory and you were also brave. God pass devil American baby here we go. some immigration officers can be evil. may the Lord deliver we that are yet to go from the hands of the evil officers.
Amen

Congrats @ mouse pad...that's y they get everyone lying to them cos they hate the truth...if u didn't say u were preg na wahala,u tell dem again na wahala. Am happy for u my sister... The best place to speak the truth is @the embassy but once u didn't tell dem u r pregnant there,don't say anything abt it @ POE.

nikkygal:

Yes i had my baby in houston. . . I used West Houston Medical centre! Same hospital walmart talked about on this thread earlier. There are other hospitals you could use in that axis though. . .like Oakbend hospital which is around Richmond, Methodist women's hospital etc and all these still charge within the $5k-6.5k range all inclusive up till delivery (doctor+hospital) as i know people who have had their babies there. Please take note that the costs for the paediatrician and other tests for the baby post-delivery are not included in this estimate.

Hello nikkygal, pls can you explain how I can register at West Houston Medical Centre? I intend to give birth to my baby there. My family lives about 2mins away from the hospital. If its the WHMC on Richmond Avenue you are talking about. Have been checking there website but I really can't find anything helpful. How like to know if I need 2 find a Dr first or d hospital has a complete package for Mother and Child. Thanks

Micah2013: Hello nikkygal, pls can you explain how I can register at West Houston Medical Centre? I intend to give birth to my baby there. My family lives about 2mins away from the hospital. If its the WHMC on Richmond Avenue you are talking about. Have been checking there website but I really can't find anything helpful. How like to know if I need 2 find a Dr first or d hospital has a complete package for Mother and Child. Thanks

@Nikkygal,

please also tell us how much everything costs (Doctor, hospital, fees etc)....A friend is interested in using the hospital too, she has family in Houston close to the hospital

uchetobi: @mousepad thank God for your victory o! Thats must have been distressing...try and rest....was this your first time to the us?

I think firstimers should endevour to use their visa before they go and d give birth just to clock in sha.

And if you cant, especially if you dint declare you were pregnant try not to mention it at POE. Wear big clothes and do your makeup right before you disembark so you don't look too tired and stressed out.

If you applied with your husband, try and go with him and stand behind him during questioning.


Its well

My sister it was my first time ooo! and you are right cos even my friends kept asking me to travel first before going to give birth but all na money na! Its well! I bless God for victory!

Micah2013: Hello nikkygal, pls can you explain how I can register at West Houston Medical Centre? I intend to give birth to my baby there. My family lives about 2mins away from the hospital. If its the WHMC on Richmond Avenue you are talking about. Have been checking there website but I really can't find anything helpful. How like to know if I need 2 find a Dr first or d hospital has a complete package for Mother and Child. Thanks

@Micah . . . .West Houston is on Richmond Avenue. If you want to use the hospital, you need to first get a physician (gynae) that is attached to the hospital and register with him before you can now go ahead and enroll with the hspital as well. You can get a doctor through the WHMC website, under the 'Find a Physician Tab' . . . . Just put in your zip code and obstetrics as a speciality and it will bring out a list of the gynae doctors in that area that you can use. The good thing with WHMC is that a good number of the doctors have their practice on the other side of the hospital building which makes accessing both the doctor and hospital very convenient during appointments.

I just did a quick search on the WHMC website for you now and this is what i found below:




Physician Office Location
Howard L. Schreiber
12000 Westheimer Rd. #208
Houston, TX 77082



Douglas Wohlfahrt
11281 Richmond Suite 112
Houston, TX 77082


Elvis Torres
12000 Richmond Avenue Suite 220
Houston, TX 77082


Mary Jo Zanders
12121 Richmond Ave Ste 104
Houston, TX 77082


Jeanie T. Huynh
12121 Richmond Ave Ste 403
Houston, TX 77082


Stephen E. Guilliams
12121 Richmond Ave Ste 203
Houston, TX 77082


Matti Korhonen
12121 Richmond Ste 215
Houston, TX 77082


Tammy Vu
12121 Richmond Ave, Suite 414
Houston, TX 77082


Magdy W. Rizk
12121 Richmond Ste 317
Houston, TX 77082

100%
Core La 12121 Richmond Ave Ste 315
Houston, TX 77082


I will say narrow your search down to doctors that have their practice on Richmond Avenue because of its proximity to the hospital for ease of registration and appointments. Just contact the doctors via e-mail, state your circumstances and describe yourself as a 'self-paying patient (cash)'. . . . they'll give you their terms and you'll choose one eventually and secure an appointment on your arrival.


***Please i've said it before on this thread, let me reiterate 'Google is your friend'. Please let's take time to search out information. This thread serves a platform to exchange information but overall our individual circumstances differ so it's important we take time out to use the internet and search out more detailed information to suit your need. This will usually unearth lots of hidden stuff that others that went before you might not know.***

hardeymijuh:

@Nikkygal,

please also tell us how much everything costs (Doctor, hospital, fees etc)....A friend is interested in using the hospital too, she has family in Houston close to the hospital

@Hardeymijuh . . . I already stated it in one of my earlier posts that everything costed me about $6.5k. My doctor fee was about $2500 (they accepted my medical test results from Naija) but i had to do some few additional tests that they dont do in Nigeria and that costed me an additional $300 approx. . . .so approx $2800. WHMC hospital fees was $2200 for natural delivery and additional $1200k for epidural (epidural is optional). The fees for CS was about $3000 then and don't forget these costs are just till delivery and exclude the costs for the paediatrician and other tests to be carried out on the baby post-delivery. You can confirm the hospital fees from WHMC website as well. . .

I will avoid being categorical on my total bills because everyone's case is different and so if other medical emergencies or complications spring up, your bill will sky-rocket so nothing is actually cast in stone.

Hope this helps.....

@ Mousepad.. Whao! Thank God for everything.

House please does this mean one should select the B2 visa category while applying ?

Mousepad:

Good day house. Let me just go straight to the point, the devil fought!!!! But God gave victory!

First my flight was to Spain (5hrs) , when we arrived we waited at the airport for 6hours then flew to Chicago for 9hours. On getting to the immigration I told them I was there first for my business after which I hope to stay back and have my baby, the guy thumbprinted me and then took me inside for questioning. They told me point blank that they were sending me back home, that I filled that I was coming for business when I applied but that now I've come to have a baby. I was kept there for 3hours, missed my connecting flight to Dallas, was not allowed to contact anyone including my husband. The first flight they wanted to put me on left, the second one left and then they brought a ticket for the third flight, brought my box inside the room and continued questioning me. I told them I didnt do anything wrong, that my visa allows me to seek medical attention in the US and I can pay for it, they asked to see the money I had,I showed them ($8,300) showed them my doctor's appointment letter but the woman who was questioning me was hell bent on sending me back. She told me I was so unfortunate to have met her and not another immigration officer and that as far as she's concerned, I'm a liar and will go back to Nigeria. Her supervisor (a gentle black woman) came in and asked me why I didnt want to give birth in Nigeria, I told her the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is too high and that she should feel free to verify online. She asked to see my money which I showed her and she left. To cut a long story short they started a third series of questioning matching against what I filled in my form and with each answer the evil woman kept saying I was lying and that she had made up her mind but will wait to hear what her supervisor (the black woman) will say. At that point I told her that look, not every Nigerian is fraudulent, she looked at me in shock and said I never said that, I said yeah I know but I'm just telling you for the records, she stormed out of the office and when she came back I told her I wanted to see her supervisor, she asked me to leave her office and go wait at the lobby. I did and then went to bathroom, cried and prayed, knelt down and put my hands on the ground, called God to pls intervene. When I came out of the bathroom I saw my passport on the chair beside my bag and looked inside they had stamped me in for entry for B2 (medical visa class) for 6months! I went back to her to say thank you and she said please dont thank me, go thank my supervisor and then you can also report me to her. I'm safely in Dallas now and thankfully the airline re-booked me for a later flight without an extra charge so I thank God! As in I'm still in shock, didnt see me going through all that at all! I even pleaded with the woman that even if wanted to send me back, she should at least let me rest my head for an hour or two, she said my problem is not her problem and that she's not there to grant me any favours.

So if you know you told them something else during interview, pray and pray and pray!

hardeymijuh:

@ Mrs Bee,

Good to know you arrived safely with no immigrations issue...Trust you are settling down gradually!!!

@ All,
Happy Sunday...Wish you a blissful week

Anyone planning to travel in December; New York, New Jersey, Phoenix, Houston, El Paso.....My wife and I intend to travel in December precisely second week....

@ All,

Thanks a lot for all these informations provide on nairaland.Com

My English is not so good because I am from a francophone country, but I was saying to my wife that we have to found information from naija because in my mind it was in that direction that we could be better informed about how to give birth in USA

After reading all the 23 pages of posts + our own research, we are planning to go probably to phoenix (1srt choice, thanks vivianobas, abiolu and Mrs bee) but El Paso could be a good choice also. But We have family in Maryland, Chicago and New York and as it was said by someone on this forum, It could be more “safe” for my wife to be in a city where she knows somebody. So If there are some good addresses ( affordable hospitals and rooms) in Maryland, chicago or New York, we could think about this option.

@hardeymijuh
My wife will probably fly by the second half of December, we are in the same case I think… Which choice? ( Phoenix, El paso, new York or Chicago)

Hiya guys... ve been following this thread for a while now. decided to chip in my own Lil bits. Was at the embassy last month.
My interview went like this
Vo: good day, what's ur purpose for traveln
Me: going for vacation wit my hubby
Vo: have u traveled b4?
Me: yea, traveld wit my hubby for honeymoon this year to dubai
Vo: wen did u get married?
Me: march
Vo: does ur hubby have a visa
Me: yea, he does. (showed her a copy of his visa page)
Vo: r u going to receive medical treatments on this trip?
Me: yes, cos I am pregnant
Vo looked kinda shocked
Vo: so u plan to ve ur baby in the us?
Me: yes, I already ve a correspondence wit a doc ( showed her emails exchanged Btw me and a doc in houston)
Vo: how much ve u budgeted?
Me: total bill from the hospital is bout 8000dols but I am going wit 15k
Vo:where do u work?
Me: told her my place of work, but my husband was the one sponsoring
Vo: where does he work?
Me: told her, showed her his supporting documents and a letter of consent from him
Vo: did u come with bank statements?
Me: yep, my husband's own. Showed his statements and payslips for the past 6months.
Vo: ok, ur visa has been approved, but u shldn't ve lied bout going for vacation. U wld ve just told me u were going to have ur baby. Its not illegal to do that. When u get to immigrations, just tell them, u r going to have ur baby.
Me: thank u.
Vo: also get full details bout ur doctor.
U can pick up ur visa on monday.

I intend to travel next month, please does anyone in the house know of affordable hotel apartments close to west houston medical center? [/color][color=#000099][color=][/color]

Congrats @emispackage

@mousepad happy for you! Thank God for favour.

@Nikkigal.
Thanks for all the info.
But are these prices recent, if yes can i please have who you to call.
Cos i contacted same west houston medical center last week and was told the cost of using they hospitals facility is $2500 flat rate.
Please, help me clarify cos if there's a way i can reduce it to $2200 wld be more than pleased.
Thanks again.

emispackage: Hiya guys... ve been following this thread for a while now. decided to chip in my own Lil bits. Was at the embassy last month.
My interview went like this
Vo: good day, what's ur purpose for traveln
Me: going for vacation wit my hubby
Vo: have u traveled b4?
Me: yea, traveld wit my hubby for honeymoon this year to dubai
Vo: wen did u get married?
Me: march
Vo: does ur hubby have a visa
Me: yea, he does. (showed her a copy of his visa page)
Vo: r u going to receive medical treatments on this trip?
Me: yes, cos I am pregnant
Vo looked kinda shocked
Vo: so u plan to ve ur baby in the us?
Me: yes, I already ve a correspondence wit a doc ( showed her emails exchanged Btw me and a doc in houston)
Vo: how much ve u budgeted?
Me: total bill from the hospital is bout 8000dols but I am going wit 15k
Vo:where do u work?
Me: told her my place of work, but my husband was the one sponsoring
Vo: where does he work?
Me: told her, showed her his supporting documents and a letter of consent from him
Vo: did u come with bank statements?
Me: yep, my husband's own. Showed his statements and payslips for the past 6months.
Vo: ok, ur visa has been approved, but u shldn't ve lied bout going for vacation. U wld ve just told me u were going to have ur baby. Its not illegal to do that. When u get to immigrations, just tell them, u r going to have ur baby.
Me: thank u.
Vo: also get full details bout ur doctor.
U can pick up ur visa on monday.

congrats dear

i appreciate you sharin. in the letter of consent what did your husband explain in there? and who did he address it too?

emispackage: Hiya guys... ve been following this thread for a while now. decided to chip in my own Lil bits. Was at the embassy last month.
My interview went like this
Vo: good day, what's ur purpose for traveln
Me: going for vacation wit my hubby
Vo: have u traveled b4?
Me: yea, traveld wit my hubby for honeymoon this year to dubai
Vo: wen did u get married?
Me: march
Vo: does ur hubby have a visa
Me: yea, he does. (showed her a copy of his visa page)
Vo: r u going to receive medical treatments on this trip?
Me: yes, cos I am pregnant
Vo looked kinda shocked
Vo: so u plan to ve ur baby in the us?
Me: yes, I already ve a correspondence wit a doc ( showed her emails exchanged Btw me and a doc in houston)
Vo: how much ve u budgeted?
Me: total bill from the hospital is bout 8000dols but I am going wit 15k
Vo:where do u work?
Me: told her my place of work, but my husband was the one sponsoring
Vo: where does he work?
Me: told her, showed her his supporting documents and a letter of consent from him
Vo: did u come with bank statements?
Me: yep, my husband's own. Showed his statements and payslips for the past 6months.
Vo: ok, ur visa has been approved, but u shldn't ve lied bout going for vacation. U wld ve just told me u were going to have ur baby. Its not illegal to do that. When u get to immigrations, just tell them, u r going to have ur baby.
Me: thank u.
Vo: also get full details bout ur doctor.
U can pick up ur visa on monday.

@emispackage,

Congrats...Good you told the truth, that will save you the stress and problem of lying at POE...

papadebaby:

@ All,

Thanks a lot for all these informations provide on nairaland.Com

My English is not so good because I am from a francophone country, but I was saying to my wife that we have to found information from naija because in my mind it was in that direction that we could be better informed about how to give birth in USA

After reading all the 23 pages of posts + our own research, we are planning to go probably to phoenix (1srt choice, thanks vivianobas, abiolu and Mrs bee) but El Paso could be a good choice also. But We have family in Maryland, Chicago and New York and as it was said by someone on this forum, It could be more “safe” for my wife to be in a city where she knows somebody. So If there are some good addresses ( affordable hospitals and rooms) in Maryland, chicago or New York, we could think about this option.

@hardeymijuh
My wife will probably fly by the second half of December, we are in the same case I think… Which choice? ( Phoenix, El paso, new York or Chicago)

@papadebaby,
Good to knw you are travelling around that period, sincerely i have not made up my mind....

will let you know when i make up my mind....thinking of Phoenix, but......................................

Thanks guys
@ Beyunce, he stated in the letter that I had authority to use his documents and that he was sponsoring the trip. It was addressed to us embassy( that addy on the ds 160 form).

emispackage: I intend to travel next month, please does anyone in the house know of affordable hotel apartments close to west houston medical center? [/color][color=#000099][color=][/color]

Just get the hospital address and google for hotels around there,u'l definitely see varieties.

Hello @surety have you being able to get a birth center or midwife?

Hello people,Sure everybody is doing great? Arrived New York via Atlanta on Delta. Declared $14k usd, and was with wife and son. Spent about 10 mins with the CBP officer, wife and son were in the states for the first time, Me i am your proper Ajala travel. So the key question he asked where!! What we are here for? I said family visit and shopping . He asked what job I do,I told him,and he asked to see my I.d, my job involves foreign certification ,which I got from the states,so I guess he just wanted to verify. He asked how much cash we traveling with,he asked about my last trip to Yanky in May!!! He asked my wife is she was pregnant she said yes. He didn't ask us if we were gonna have the baby in the US. Since we told him we were gonna be in the states for 6 weeks,and asked to see our return ticket. He asked when she was due, we told him the exact date we were expecting in November . He then stamped our passport with the regular six month,and off we went .

@ babababy

Congratulations! nice to see everything was Ok for you and your family.

tobiojo2002: One needs to be careful with these hosp, they overcharge at times and they also do not give you full details so they can gve one ridiculous bills
One of the Financial counselors suggested something to me so I could reduce the bill.she says I can apply for medicaid for the baby and myself , medic aid pays the hospital and. I can refund medicaid the actual amount paid by them, cos she hinted me that medicaid has a standard amount they pay for mother and baby which is lower than the rate the hospital will quote for self paying patients.
Has anyone heard of this or know anyone who has done ths before?

Hello Guys,

I ended up paying $11,200 which is still expensive but better than the initial bill of over 15,000
My bill was 5,500 and baby:s was 5,700. thank God i spent 1 night in the hops otherwise i would have had to settle an extra 4,000.
Other than the bill which was high, i"ve so far not enjoyed the service, Baby's circumcision was not done right, i have a stich thread sticking out of me, i would need to get a makeover for myself and baby when we get bak to 9ja, (Thank God we have insurane in 9ja).

Initially i got a bill of 9,700 for baby, and i questioned this and disccovered that baby was charged 5,800 for 1 night spent in NICU...................
How did he end up in NICU ,...... I requested to be discharged the next day after delivery but was informed that baby could not be discharged cos he had to stay for 48hrs even though he was fine and did not have any compliation,i was okay with baby staying, i left the ward and spent the night in the lobby, so i could be avialable to feed baby, was a really tiring exprience, i was fine but still in pain but was also trying to be prudent. the normal charge ought to be 2,200 per night but we got a bill for 5,800 for the second night, which made me question them on why the extra 3,600, they claimed that it was because baby spent the night in NICU and not the nursery, hummm.......i made my point that, 1, i asked if there was a nursery but was told no.(apparently the nurse either told a lie or was high when i asked her) 2,baby was a perfectly healthy boy that did not need any special care, this information was avialable to the hospital staff , whoever that was, but it was deicided that he should go to NICU instead of the nursery, i wont be paying for the in efficiency of ur staff. it took a week to get that extra charged reversed, and the 5% discount which was promised was now declined , they claimed that they reduced the bill by 3,600, but i stated clearly that this is not recucing the bill , you have just given me the correct quote and i got my discount by force.

SO PLEASE PEEPS STAY AWAY FROM QUEENS HOSPITAL, THEY ARE ROGUES.............TOO EXPENSIVE

pele dear, that is too expensive for the level of service you received and the comfort you gave up! imagine a new mom spending the night in the lobby! pele dear

I think its worth it self to consider that Elpaso even with hotel charge it wont be up to that

I am going to Houston sha, cuz I have family there. a friend that gave birth in Methodist Hospital Texas said she spent about 6k dolls for everything, including epidural, baby, everything! it's worth checking out for those going to Houston

@bolanle ife,I just concluded wit jaymee today and had our contract signed,I was supposed to have signed with another midwife yesterday but I didn't like the atmosphere of her office. So I called jaymee. She charged 3,500 but I negotiated to 3k for prenatal,delivery and postpartum. Thanks for checking.

uchetobi: pele dear, that is too expensive for the level of service you received and the comfort you gave up! imagine a new mom spending the night in the lobby! pele dear

I think its worth it self to consider that Elpaso even with hotel charge it wont be up to that

I am going to Houston sha, cuz I have family there. a friend that gave birth in Methodist Hospital Texas said she spent about 6k dolls for everything, including epidural, baby, everything! it's worth checking out for those going to Houston

Someone also talked about west houston medical centre. Call and find out their charges.

@Surety would sure like to know how things are going with her(Jaymee). Safe delivery.

surety:


Someone also talked about west houston medical centre. Call and find out their charges.

i still have time. I intend to go early at 32 weeks and waka the investigation of all suggested hospitals on ground not on phone

surety: @bolanle ife,I just concluded wit jaymee today and had our contract signed,I was supposed to have signed with another midwife yesterday but I didn't like the atmosphere of her office. So I called jaymee. She charged 3,500 but I negotiated to 3k for prenatal,delivery and postpartum. Thanks for checking.

So are you going to give birth in your house or she has a birthing centre? Good luck and safe delivery. Pls keep us posted

Congrats baaby at success at poe. I wish your wife safe delivery in jesus name

surety:


Someone also talked about west houston medical centre. Call and find out their charges.

uchetobi: pele dear, that is too expensive for the level of service you received and the comfort you gave up! imagine a new mom spending the night in the lobby! pele dear

I think its worth it self to consider that Elpaso even with hotel charge it wont be up to that

I am going to Houston sha, cuz I have family there. a friend that gave birth in Methodist Hospital Texas said she spent about 6k dolls for everything, including epidural, baby, everything! it's worth checking out for those going to Houston

@Uchetobi. . . .You're right about the Methodist hospital cos I know that the one in houston (there's another one in Sugar Land) charges about $6k approx for everything but up till delivery.The costs of the pediatrician, subsequent appointment visits for the baby, immunization & other tests are excluded from this cost. Please plan well and take enough money oh....lol! A friend of mine had her baby there and it was an overall pleasant experience for her as well.

I'll suggest that for people who don't have friends or family to stay with and are on a tight budget, it might be better to use arrangments like El paso or Phoenix as they are set-up to cater to 'out-of-towners' and overall it will probably be cheaper for you. The cost of renting apartments or hotel for like 2/2.5 months is a lot of money. . . .could be as high as $2-$3k excluding additional furnishing you might require.

nikkygal:




@Uchetobi. . . .You're right about the Methodist hospital cos I know that the one in houston (there's another one in Sugar Land) charges about $6k approx for everything but up till delivery.The costs of the pediatrician, subsequent appointment visits for the baby, immunization & other tests are excluded from this cost. Please plan well and take enough money oh....lol! A friend of mine had her baby there and it was an overall pleasant experience for her as well.

I'll suggest that for people who don't have friends or family to stay with and are on a tight budget, it might be better to use arrangments like El paso or Phoenix as they are set-up to cater to 'out-of-towners' and overall it will probably be cheaper for you. The cost of renting apartments or hotel for like 2/2.5 months is a lot of money. . . .could be as high as $2-$3k excluding additional furnishing you might require.

Thanks darl. My budget is 10k dolls which includes my ticket....i am leaning towards that
methodist but we will see