Spousal visa denied-appeal in process, arrived on visitor's visa, now pregnant!

Actually, I probably saw the majority of the thread before it was edited. I lurk here way more than I post.  

Yes, the visa experts here can be a bit "strong" in their responses at times but on the whole, they are caring people who are trying to help people. We have had countless people come to this site who are doing/have done stuff which gets them into deep crapola with the Home Office. Your situation is not exactly by the book and they were trying to help you. You may not have liked they responses, but they were all trying to help you.

You should not have a problem finding private care in this area. Have you tried calling the private hospitals? BMI Clementine Churchill is quite close to us.

Lol @ a bit strong! I definitely felt it
I am very appreciative of all the helpful tips everyone has shared. I received more accurate and consistent answers for my questions on here than I had calling everywhere
I will look into the hospitals you've mentioned! Thank you

I am not one to start any controversial topics or conversations......I will just say one thing here and if the mods see fit to delete it then so be it.....I would be so very happy and salute the day that the American Government pulls their heads out of their backsides and can give Americans health care like here in the UK and STOP making the insurance companies rich......I get very upset when my grown kids who by the way do not have any kind of health insurance call me and ask for $$$$$ so that they can go to the DR to find out what is wrong with them all because of the way the US runs things.....no insurance no doctor visit.......I see fairness in the UK system of things.......but most of all I want to see the day when no ones child has to die because they have no health insurance and they get treatment for what is wrong with them no matter what age they are......it is very sad indeed that this happened to my daughter in Dec of 2010 when she was diagnosed with cancer and she died in April 2011 all because she had no insurance.....and she was only 37 years old.....she is not here now to enjoy her grandkids and her family and all because of some RULE in the US about no one can see you without insurance and fat cat insurance companies getting richer.......I PRAISE the NHS!!!!!!!

On another note I certainly hope you get your concerns taken care of no matter where you are.......

You stated you have been in the UK only on visitor's visas, and thus you wouldn't have used the NHS as a visitor, right?  You probably don't want to say that you consider the UK as your 'country of residence' if you've only been a visitor. That sounds like you've been living in the UK when you have not been covered under a visa that allows you to do so.

You also stated 'NHS from what many people are saying isn't that great' - you never once said in your experience, you've been unsatisfied with the NHS. 

And finally, I never said I didn't agree with your research.  It just doesn't appear that you've done much based on your posts and questions.

"I need some with knowledge of the UK system to help me before I loose my mind.
I am a US citizen married to UK citizen. 11months after DH and I got married, we applied for a spousal visa after several headache from the UK immigrations as I was visiting him regularly on visitors visas"

"The issue now is we just found out we are pregnant and I would like to know what options I have in regards to NHS maternity care? "

My question was in regards to Maternity care option. I have had dealings with NHS but on small emergency scales and a few times we had to go the private route. This is our first pregnancy and I happen to be in the UK and we wanted to know if NHS has any policy that might favor me just for Maternity. We called NHS helpline several times and each response was different compared to the one before. The most consistent response we received was that it was up to the GP to decide.

I am not one to start any controversial topics or conversations......I will just say one thing here and if the mods see fit to delete it then so be it.....I would be so very happy and salute the day that the American Government pulls their heads out of their backsides and can give Americans health care like here in the UK and STOP making the insurance companies rich......I get very upset when my grown kids who by the way do not have any kind of health insurance call me and ask for $$$$$ so that they can go to the DR to find out what is wrong with them all because of the way the US runs things.....no insurance no doctor visit.......I see fairness in the UK system of things.......but most of all I want to see the day when no ones child has to die because they have no health insurance and they get treatment for what is wrong with them no matter what age they are......it is very sad indeed that this happened to my daughter in Dec of 2010 when she was diagnosed with cancer and she died in April 2011 all because she had no insurance.....and she was only 37 years old.....she is not here now to enjoy her grandkids and her family and all because of some RULE in the US about no one can see you without insurance and fat cat insurance companies getting richer.......I PRAISE the NHS!!!!!!!

On another note I certainly hope you get your concerns taken care of no matter where you are.......

Oh my! I am very sorry about this. Very heartbreaking indeed. My frustration with NHS is particularly about their policy on Maternity care for visitors. It would be nice if there was a clause in regards to people under a few weeks as people can certainly get pregnant whilst visiting.
The US has many helpful options for people with illnesses and also those in need of maternity care regardless of their visa status. But there is no reason to get into that. I extremely sorry about your loss.

My frustration with NHS is particularly about their policy on Maternity care for visitors. It would be nice if there was a clause in regards to people under a few weeks as people can certainly get pregnant whilst visiting.

NHS policies are not specifically about maternity care, it's about ANY care for visitors. The only free NHS care that visitors are entitled to is emergency hospital treatment (in the ER). Any other NHS treatment you receive while a visitor in the UK must be paid for (you can still use NHS services, but you need to pay for them).

The NHS is funded by our UK taxes and National Insurance contributions... so if you got free treatment as a visitor, it's us (the UK tax payers) who are paying for it.

It's only fair that if visitors are not contributing to the economy by paying taxes, then they should fund their own medical treatment while in the UK (the same as if I visit the US and need treatment while I am there) - that is why foreign travellers are advised to take out travel insurance to cover any medical care they might need, including maternity care, while they are travelling abroad.

When you are living here on a spousal visa instead of a visitor visa, you will be entitled to all the free NHS maternity care that you need, but until you are legally resident in the UK, you will need to pay for it.

My frustration with NHS is particularly about their policy on Maternity care for visitors. It would be nice if there was a clause in regards to people under a few weeks as people can certainly get pregnant whilst visiting.

So you're frustrated because they don't cater to your very specific, non-emergency, situation? 

The only special provisions they have for visitors is emergency care, which is as it should be. They'll take care of it if you are in an accident or contract some horrible life-threatening illness, but I don't see why they should provide scans and prenatal care for someone who happens to get pregnant.

As for the system in general, well, I was unemployed for the past year, and the one absolutely phenomenal thing about that was that I didn't have to worry about getting sick or breaking something and getting into a boatload of debt because of it, because I knew the NHS would be there for me. As a matter of fact, I did break my fingers and injured my foot. I hate to think what that emergency room visit and x-rays would have cost me in the US.

Now that I've had to move back to the US and have been back for 2 weeks, still unemployed, I have to shell out $300/month just in case something happens to me. It's just wrong.

My frustration with NHS is particularly about their policy on Maternity care for visitors. It would be nice if there was a clause in regards to people under a few weeks as people can certainly get pregnant whilst visiting.

The interesting thing is that the NHS would have paid to keep you from getting pregnant as there is free family planning services for everyone (even visitors).

No one is stopping you from accessing the NHS for maternity care, you just have to pay for it. Just like you would if you were in the US and didn't have health insurance (or if your insurance didn't pay for maternity care, which most individual policies don't). On the other hand, if you were a visitor to the US with an emergency, you'd have to pay for that care as well.

Oh my! I am very sorry about this. Very heartbreaking indeed. My frustration with NHS is particularly about their policy on Maternity care for visitors. It would be nice if there was a clause in regards to people under a few weeks as people can certainly get pregnant whilst visiting.

Yes, but most visitors are only here on short holidays. They can get their maternity care in their home country. When I was here on a long visit (4 months) before I married my husband, I actually went to a clinic and got free birth control because I didn't want to have an accident before I was entitled to free NHS care.

I feel very lucky to live in the UK with access to the NHS for my pregnancy and birth.  My midwife is caring and professional, I am seen in a timely fashion, and every emergent situation has been handled with the utmost professionalism.  My sister is pregnant in the US, has excellent insurance, and has not had a comparable experience to mine.  She's really jealous of the level of care I receive, particularly since even with her insurance, she and her husband will be paying $1000's out of pocket for her birth.  You may find your opinion changes when you actually use the system.  One of the women in my pregnancy yoga class has both NHS and private insurance and she prefers the NHS care.  

Back to your question- if you are only a few weeks gone, there is very little the NHS is going to do for you, as there isn't much to be done.  I wasn't even given a pregnancy test, as the one's you buy at Boots are very reliable.  False positives on a home pregnancy test are nearly impossible, as your body only produces HcG when you're pregnant.  You need to take 400 mcg of Folic Acid every day, all prenatal vitamins will include this or you can just buy the tablets on their own.  If you want to do the soft marker test for Downs Syndrome and other Trisomy disorders, you need to have a scan between 12-16 weeks (as I recall).  This is combined with a blood test, which is generally done at your booking appointment- I think that was at 10 weeks or so.  The booking appointment is your first 'big' midwife appointment where they check your vitals and take blood for various tests.  You should have this done, it's important.  If you have any bleeding or serious cramping, you should call the NHS Direct line and they can advise you on the best next step.  There's another midwife appointment at 16 weeks and a scan at 20 weeks to check for anomalies.  Other than that, I don't think most healthy women see their midwife between 16-25 weeks as it isn't necessary if everything is progressing well.  Anyway, I hope that answers your question on what sort of care is needed in the first trimester and a bit beyond.  Good luck.

Or the simplest answer, don't have sex if you don't have any health coverage and you are in a foreign country.  

I made sure my travel insurance covered maternity care, just in case.

Sarahhappyjoy's comment strikes me as particularly appropriate. If you're only a few weeks pregnant and otherwise healthy she's right, you don't actually NEED any services from the NHS.

One of the things I loved about the UK was that pregnancy was treated as something 'normal' rather than the 'condition' it seems to be in the US.

Sarahhappyjoy's comment strikes me as particularly appropriate. If you're only a few weeks pregnant and otherwise healthy she's right, you don't actually NEED any services from the NHS.

One of the things I loved about the UK was that pregnancy was treated as something 'normal' rather than the 'condition' it seems to be in the US.

And ironically, the care turns out to be much better in so many areas of maternity care here with the NHS.  I'm not trying to argue with the OP.  I remember well how I felt a bit bereft with my first pregnancy as I missed out on some of the stuff that turned out to be cosmetic (like a fancy gyno/obgyn office and huge amazing maternity suites at new hospitals) or when things were just different (I'm still not wild about having to choose midwife-led deliveries or consultant-led and your experience being quite different if you want more medical stuff like an epidural.  One thing that helped me was my sister in the US was pregnant at the same time as me, and I actually found that we met with our professionals at about the same intervals and had very similar levels of care.  In the end, she was often telling me she was jealous of things I had on the NHS that she couldn't get in the US. The main difference being how it wasn't so medicalized here and I had to make more choices on my birth plan which dictated where I delivered more. 

If you want to do research into maternity care though, take a look at infant mortality rates.  Even with all it's fancy care, a lot more babies die in the USA than in the UK, and they certainly don't send people out to your house in the US for the first several weeks to do baby checks, breastfeeding support and weigh-ins instead of making you take a vulnerable baby to the doctors office full of sick people (when you yourself are still recovering and exhausted besides).  There is so much that is actually better in the maternity care here.  It just takes getting used to a different idea of what to expect.

Having said that, it doesn't sound as if you plan to be here to have the baby.  If I were you, I'd be checking into Medicaid options for wherever you will eventually have the baby.  You'll want to get that set up in the US so you'll be covered there (assuming you don't have insurance after being away for some time).  Happily, it is generally much easier to get when you are pregnant--although it's difficult if you aren't. 

And while I agree with what many have said here about fairness and paying into the system, in the interest of fairness, it must be said that the OP was right in one account.  You actually don't necessarily have to pay for maternity care when you come from other countries.  It isn't well publicized, but most states do have special Medicaid provisions for illegal entrants.  If you came as a legal visitor, I'm sure you would have to pay for things, but many people from other countries do receive financial assistance--even in conservative states that hold on to Medicaid funds with very tight fists.  It is usually done as a measure of not punishing innocent babies or putting their lives at risk because their parents weren't able to get insurance coverage.  That Medicaid would go away as soon as baby is delivered, but there are many means of helping some migrant families to have safe deliveries.

Having said all of that, I am pretty sure that if the OP's role was reversed and she got pregnant in the US while on a regular visit visa, I'm sure she would have to pay for all her antenatal care there too. 

Best of luck in the visa appeal and in finding people to provide care.  I hope things work out for you.  It must be a frightening time (and if you're anything like me, I'm guessing pregnancy hormones don't help with that stress level.)  I'm near positive though that you aren't going to find coverage outside of paying for it in full.  Even in the US, I don't know of any insurance companies that cover pre-existing pregnancy, and as others stated, insurance is totally different here and works in conjunction with the NHS anyway.  So it will likely be a matter of just coughing up the funds or getting quickly back to the States and getting Medicaid or insurance.

One other thought, some have mentioned checking not with the GP's office but with midwives.  I think you'd be better off calling the Primary Care Trust you live in to find out about setting up potential payments.  Midwives are just as clueless about many of these things as GP's receptionists can be.  They aren't paid to be experts in immigration after all.  I do believe most PCTs have offices though that handle accounts of people, and they should know the rules.  Somebody else might actually know the name of the office, I haven't dealt with them, but I've heard of others on this board working with them.

Don't expect offices or medical personnel to get it right (or even to ask someone who will get it right).  There have been people here who have trusted offices who told them they were fine and later regretted it.  Even with ILR, I still get people sometimes asking how it works for me and if I am entitled to care.  Midwives, nurses, doctors and receptionists are definitely not the experts (as you are finding with your frustrating amount of misinformation and conflicting advice).