Private birth - but can my LO be a NHS patiently straight away? Post Reply

[Claudia&Giacomo]

Hi mums and dads,
We are about to meet our second LO,due end of March and decided to go private at C&W (unlike with my first one).
Everything is going smoothly and the care and support there is great. However there is a specific topic I cannot seem to get to the bottom of it: no matter how much asking I do at the hospital and googling work - so thought I might find the answer here.

Will she be a NHS patient straightaway and how can I get her checked straight after birth under the NSH?

I am talking about the : physical examination that happens within a day of being born, the blood spot test and the checks following this I remember my first one received from the HV at home or at the NHS centre.
So far, C&W only refer to their (very expensive) post natal care package and avoid answering any questions about “isn’t my LO born under NHS automatically”?
Should I just walk over the NHS ward at C&W and get her checked?
Has anyone else been in this situation?

(Ps: I have full NHS entitlement as a resident for over 12 years and my husband is brutish and so will she)
Thanks !!

[josiewood1@gmail.com]

I'm a student midwife working in borough of Wandsworth. I don't have a definite answer but know that when a mother is discharged from a private hospital her details are sent to the local NHS midwifery team (dependent on postcode) who then contact her and visit as with any other mother discharged from an NHS hospital. The NHS midwife would therefore be automatically taking over the care in the community such as newborn blood spot and regular mother and baby checks. However I'd imagine that the newborn baby check that is carried out by a specialist midwife or paediatrician before leaving the hospital would usually happen privately before being discharged. But that's only my assumption.

[Claudia&Giacomo]

Thank you Josie. Good to know upon being discharged, I will be flagged / referred to local HV - I will try to check if indeed this happens.
What you then mention about the paediatrician doing the first check is correct: it is offered as an option, privately. I just don’t understand how I can avoid that and just do it via NHS?

[Evergreen]

What a load of *********
Why would you suddenly trust in the nhs as soon as she is born??
As an nhs worker this is just unbelievable.
You know that the best care is via the nhs.....
Why would you only come to us once she is born???

[Bunnypigeon1]

I’ve had my births privately and the children can be under NHS care when they are born. The only exception I’m not sure about is what happens if they need extra medical assistance- NICU stays for example. It’s worth calling your insurer if you have one.

[Bunnypigeon1]

Oh and yes- the NHS pedeatrician, audiologist and discharge midwife will all come to the private wing to see your baby. It’s one of the advantages of C&W over somewhere like the Portland. Most insurers will not cover the standard post birth checks if done privately...

[Claudia&Giacomo]

Hi Bunny, thanks for your reply. Very useful.
I will challenge then when the time is due. Indeed they confirmed was she to need any special care post birth (ie from jaundice to more serious) she would receive it as a NHS patient unless I chose to do otherwise.
I think the point here is I am the private patient (for personal reasons that are not the topic here btw), not she, so I don’t really understand a couple of comments here which are everything but rational.
I got the impression they just try to add cost as much as they can - which is something that doesn’t sit well with me.
Got a better picture now and will challenge in due time I guess. But will definitely pretend she is under the NHS care as she should be. Thanks all

[roadsw123]

We had our son on the NHS at C&W but transferred to a private room at the Kensington Wing after the birth. We continued to receive NHS care (both me and our son) so I assume this would be the same for you if you've had a private delivery. However I would say that we did wonder whether we ended up with worse care than we might have done if we'd been on the NHS ward. Our son needed monitoring for infection risk and for jaundice and it always felt like we were very far removed from the doctors when trying to get an update as to what was going on. It's perfectly possible that we'd have waited just as long to see a doctor on the NHS wards but for what it's worth it did feel as though maybe being away from their usual rounds was a disadvantage!