I'm surprised to hear that the Birth center in Ottawa billed you 5000. Which if the birthing Center precisely. Community Midwives or Ottawa South??

hajidel:
Good day house; As promised I would like to share my wife's journey after the successful birth of our child and through the help and tips from this forum we acknowledge and show our gratitude. So hence we would like to share our own story so others may benefit from it.

Wife travelled at around 28 weeks and arrived in Montreal without any issues at the airport as we had always declared our intent of giving birth in Canada. I'm not sure if me residing in the USA did any trick but at the POE we were only asked a handful of questions and was let in without any issues. Now that is the easy part.
The real issue came when we needed to get a doctor and hospital to register with. Through the help of others on the forum here albeit most go to Toronto not much experience in Montreal so, we tried walk ins, urgent care, family GP etc but none of them was successful. We then tried to contact the hospitals direct and some would not accept patients without the insurance card which only residents of Canada can have. Some of the other hospitals were requiring us to pay a deposit of between CAD$15,000-25,000 which for me was not worth it. I then proceeded to give my wife hotstepper's contact so she can get another option. Hotstepper was very helpful in offering her services but unfortunately she turned it down as she would not have any relatives in Toronto that would offer emotional help.

Contemplated sending her back home to africa as
1. it did not make financial sense the offers the hospital were giving in terms of the deposit less the delivery (dependent of C or natural),
2. baby and mother per day
3. Epidural
4. Doctors fees
and some other fees that I have even forgotten about.

After a couple of weeks wife made some contacts and ended up choosing a birth center in Ottawa which was only $1500 cheaper than a hospital and only an hour and a half but does not offer epidural and if any complications arose then they would end up in the hospital.
She did a tour of the birthing center and found it fantastic. I decided to go to Canada from the USA myself to check out the center.Pre natal and the birth center visits were conducted every other week to check the progress of both mother and baby and it was all smooth sailing and I travelled back to the USA.

Arrived back in Ottawa 2 days to due date and unfortunately Wife went under 2 weeks overdue. On the day contraction started 2AM and made a call to the midwife and we were asked to come to the center at 4AM and off we went. Stayed at the center (i went to sleep at that time till 10AM LOL) and major contractions started at around that time and the actual labor process started. She came in at 3cm and later opened up to 8cm within a couple of hours. She was being attended to by 3 midwives and an elderly relative of hers who was extremely experienced in birthing and she was actually allowed by the midwives to chip in with her experience as they saw her doing some stuff that gave them confidence in her.

After a long contraction period of sever pains and only about 1.5 hours of pushing, the baby came. A boy at 3.5kg healthy with no complications from either the mom or the baby. No washing or cleaning of the baby whatsoever, just wrapped in blanket. We had a choice of going home after all the checks on mother and baby was done or could stay at the center for 24 or 48 hours at no extra charge. Food and drinks are available a-la-carte and at any time of the day or night. We decided to stay there overnight and left in the afternoon the next day. Once we got home, they bathed and cleaned him.

So tatal cost of the birthing

$CAD5,000

includes the prenatal and after delivery checkups. They also did a home visit 2 days later to check on the baby poo and pee, as well as his weight soft spot in his head. Three subsequent home visits were conducted to check on the progress of the baby. Food, transportation are also a big part of this process so that should not be discounted. So my wife would spend about $CAD100-150 per week on food and transportation.

Now to the paperwork.

In Quebec unlike Toronto were you have a turnaround time of about a week to do the birth declaration/registration (i'm not sure which one), you will have to do Birth Declaration with the state of Quebec. After the delivery, the center/hospital will give a form to confirm that the birth took place there and you will be given a copy of that form which you will take to the state of Quebec to do the declaration, where you will fill the child's full name, the parents names etc. But the catch is, it takes 15 working days for this declaration to be entered into the states system before you even apply for the birth certificate. We did the declaration the next working day and the waiting began. I would think that the declaration may not take the whole 15 days and after 10 or so I went in to inquire and negative and went in 2 times after that nothing. Eventually just the 15th day it was registered late in the afternoon and the next morning first thing we went to do the same day service for the birth certificate as oppose to having it mailed out which will further delay it.
We took the birth certificate and went into the embassy to apply for the travel certificate which was done the same day and we went to the passport office to apply for the passport and also chose the same day service as we had an itinerary that showed we will be traveling soon. We dropped off the passport application in the morning and picked it up in the afternoon and it was a 5 year valid passport.

From the birth to the declaration to the birth certificate and passport application took exactly 3 weeks and they left 2 days later and i went back to the USA to fly out from there.

All in all it was a mixed experience with emotional and physical distress.

My advice to anyone seeking this journey,

DO NOT UNDERTAKE THIS JOURNEY IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY OR MOST IMPORTANTLY IF YOU DO NOT HAVE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT WHETHER IT BE FAMILY OR FRIEND. BECAUSE YOU CAN PAY THE HOSPITAL OR CENTER ITS ONLY MONEY BUT YOU CANNOT BUY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Secondly, you cannot buy the privilege of being a Canadian or any country in the west that offers Jus Soli citizenship as it is a key to traveling the world easily without much hassle and the medical and educational advantages that comes with it. No disrespect to my african roots as I am proud to be african.

Mental and emotional wellbeing or the benefits of being a citizen. If you have family who will offer you that and financially capable, then bingo go for it, but if no mental and emotional support, even if you have the financial means you might regret. So it comes down to what is more important to each individual.

Would you be required to pay extra for extra night in the hospital if it becomes CS?

FamilyforE4:

I’m 38 weeks now. I’m staying with my friend.
The amount I’ve paid so far at Humber River Hospital, I was total to setup an account but I decided to pay all.
Mother:2680$
Baby:825$
DR TED KOSKELA:Registration:120$
when I got there he told me 1800 for normal delivery,
I told him I don’t have that kind of amount, more over and going to pay cash, he reduced it to 1500.
But, i pleased with him that I have 1300.
He them agreed and said if it turns out to be C:S I have to add the 200$ because he will be paying his assistant for the c:s. I agreed:
So, I paid 1300$
Lab test: 78$

Total amount paid so far:
2680:mother
825:baby
1300:Dr TEd
120 Registration @the doctors’ office
78 for lab tests

Total:5003 Canadian Dollar.

thank God, can you share the detailed bill. How many weeks are you now?

FamilyforE4:


My appointment with Dr TED went well, he’s nice and friendly, I was able to get a discount from him.He said I have to do all my labs test again but took my scans.

I don't know if they did. Coming from the US may have also helped. Even pregnant women go on summer vacation. Cos she could have given birth in the US if we wanted.

Christine77:

Thank you for sharing. They didn’t notice your wife tummy?

Please I'll like to know how your appointment with TED went.

Brampton civic is a bit cheaper than Humber river though. Dr Ayodele still takes non-OHIP, but you'll pay 3500 delivery fee at first meeting

FamilyforE4:
Hello everyone, my updated-I arrived yesterday to Ontario,everything went smoothly, when I applied for my visa, I didn’t declared my intention, after reading the comments here, I decided to send the embassy an email I got automatic respond that my mail is received that they will get back to me, which I never got.
POE- experience
On the flight, I was giving landing form to fill, I wrote my intended day of staying in Canada (45days) when I got to the POE,
POE: why are you staying for 45days?
Answer: I’m here for giving birth
POE: have you been here before
Answer: yes
PoE: any food
Answer: yes, potatoes flasks
PoE: Alright, good luck on your birth and welcome to Canada
Answer: thanks
Searching for Doctor and hospital: I went to Humber River hospital today,went straight to the birthing ward, met a lady at the front deck, I explained to her and she then refer me to a doctor, and told me the amount for the hospital that I can set up account with them now, which I did
Amount per night for mother:2680$
Baby:825$ per night
She gave me this doctor DR TED kOSALKA
Please,has anybody used him or know him? Planing to visit his office on Monday. OR can anyone give me any other doctors contact that works with Humber river.
I need good and affordable doctor
Thanks

Christine77:

Please can you share your transcript at POE to help the group. Thanks.

We were on vacation in the US, so we basically didn't bother with more details. We just told them we are here on vacation and have made reservation for an airbnb. They asked how much we have and I told her. Unfortunately I had above 10k CAD and we have to go declare it. spent another 2 mins with more questions and filling out a form. After then, we were told welcome to Canada.

Hey, is there anyone with information about Doctors and Fees in Ottawa. My wife and I arrived this Monday and we are currently trying to get a doctor. A recommendation would be appreciated.

Are you in Canada now, Did you declare pregnancy at the point of entry?

FamilyforE4:

2226. Hotstepper(f): Quote Post
Were u preggy when you applied and got the visa?

@Hotstepper,
Yes, I was about 18weeks gone. I stated that I was traveling with my family for vacation,That was my original plans,we recently change our mind to give birth there.

Any luck with a Doctor yet?

manlikegb:





No, we did not declare childbirth during our application. This is because we only just found out about the good news(pregnancy) after submitting our application. So we were a little bit worried too about POE but God took control.

As for Doctor & Hospital in Brampton, we're still looking and intend to make some more contacts this week. This is where we have free accommodation, hence why we're sticking to Brampton.

Anyone with valuable information about Doctor and Hospital in Brampton with fair costs should please help. EDD is early July.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks @hotstepper

A friend of mine suggested birth center. Do you know anything about those?

Hotstepper:

The thread must not suffer and for it not to suffer, people has to come bk and give feed back and thats what is keeping the US going.

People get info here, come nd have the baby and leave wirhout coming bk to give feedback.

If this is all.about biz, trust me,the time and energy I invest here i wouldnt have or even the nos i drop here. Some information I find and update here, I dont need it but i still drop it.

And I am going ro say it here again, if u r leaving Nigeria to have a baby abroad, please come with more than enough money nd not say i have a budget of this and that. If you have a budget,please make sure u must have gotten a dr etc within ur budget before u come.so that u will not be spoiling other people's chance.

@Hotstepper,

You have posted alot of valuable information that helped alot in the past, but i'm surprised at the way you react to questions now. I have asked alot of questions that you clearly ignored and then someone asked an important question that the answer would have been useful to us all, you asked the person to send you a private message instead. Why? @justwise is doing alot of great work on the US side. We can all grow this one and still do lil biz at the same time.

Hotstepper:

I dont understand ooo. I post information here nd yet ppl still message me nd i still tell them ro go bk to the forum to read nd ask questions so people can benefit as well.

I still would have messaged him without telling him to message me on the forum cuz he aaid he messaged me

Some.ppl who has given birth still didnt come bk ro update the house nd all.

u will not see where i posted visa on arrival entry for Nigeria. It is not my job to be finding these info, afterall, i dont need it.

Yea US own is going but that doesnt me ppl dont use agent. Please each to their own. if it comes to like this, everyone to their own. NL does not pay me foe info i post here

I just tire jare

Please how did you make arrangement with a hospital?

manlikegb:
UPDATE.

So we(hubby & wife) entered Canada yesterday. POE experience was smooth. Automated machine didn't work well for us so we proceeded to the Immigration officer's counter and told him the machine didn't work for us. He said its ok and asked us a few questions like;
Why are we here in Canada? Vacation and Childbirth
When are you due? July.
Have you made arrangements with an hospital? Yes
Any meat products? No
Tobacco? Yes a few packs.
How long will you be staying in Canada for? 2months plus.

Then he filled a yellow paper and wished us all the best and to proceed inside and show them the card. The guy we met at the next entrance, saw the yellow card and showed us to the right(an office with other people on the queue). We joined the queue and waited for our turn. It was a lady officer who asked us other random questions like the ones above, then asked how much money we have with us and all. Told her and asked if she wants to see it, but she said no need. Did fingerprints, and stamped us in. Then straight to baggage claim. Even the few food items we traveled with was not even checked.

Now we're at our host's at Brampton. Thank God for everything.

Did you mention on your visa application you were going for Childbirth?

manlikegb:
UPDATE.

So we(hubby & wife) entered Canada yesterday. POE experience was smooth. Automated machine didn't work well for us so we proceeded to the Immigration officer's counter and told him the machine didn't work for us. He said its ok and asked us a few questions like;
Why are we here in Canada? Vacation and Childbirth
When are you due? July.
Have you made arrangements with an hospital? Yes
Any meat products? No
Tobacco? Yes a few packs.
How long will you be staying in Canada for? 2months plus.

Then he filled a yellow paper and wished us all the best and to proceed inside and show them the card. The guy we met at the next entrance, saw the yellow card and showed us to the right(an office with other people on the queue). We joined the queue and waited for our turn. It was a lady officer who asked us other random questions like the ones above, then asked how much money we have with us and all. Told her and asked if she wants to see it, but she said no need. Did fingerprints, and stamped us in. Then straight to baggage claim. Even the few food items we traveled with was not even checked.

Now we're at our host's at Brampton. Thank God for everything.

shynzee:


Please respond on the thread to help others too.
Appreciation in advance.

Please @hotstepper, I also want to know your response to the question asked.

aquaboss11:
Hey @hotstepper and all you guys helping out here. I read through all your post before applying for Canadian Visa in March. I'm surprised to read through the update about difficulty getting a doctor.

We applied through the online route and after 38 days got a passport submission request. The first part haven't been accomplished, over to the second part.

Can anyone suggest the best option to get a doctor, my wife has free accommodation in Ottawa. Any recommendation or suggestion around the area.
Also should i be bothered about the POE experience as we didn't state anything about childbirth in the visa application?

Hey @hotstepper and all you guys helping out here. I read through all your post before applying for Canadian Visa in March. I'm surprised to read through the update about difficulty getting a doctor.

We applied through the online route and after 38 days got a passport submission request. The first part haven't been accomplished, over to the second part.

Can anyone suggest the best option to get a doctor, my wife has free accommodation in Ottawa. Any recommendation or suggestion around the area.
Also should i be bothered about the POE experience as we didn't state anything about childbirth in the visa application?

Can anyone help me with these questions