thinking of paying for a private hospital Post Reply

[clio]

Just to say that we went privately when I had my first baby 15 months ago but decided that this time we wouldn't (another baby due in Oct). Mainly because in all honestly it was lovely having all the handwash in the en suite bathroom, and a feeling of being well looked after but it is at a huge cost. This time round we felt if we were to spend that sort of money then we would put it towards the after event of some help. I was quite nervous though this time round having had so many check ups last time and on the NHs you don't get seen that often. However, you can always book in to see your Gp if you feel you need to and have an extra scan privately. To be honest you will have the birth your meant to have, where ever you are, and sitting in a private bed with a 3rd degree tear feels just the same as on an NHS bed!! Your no more likely to have a problem because you are in a busy NHS hospital - and you not left thinking about the cost.

[littlefeet]

If you can't afford private I reccomend St Thomas's! I spent 3 days in the home from home suite with views of the House of Commons. My partner was allowed to stay the entire time and I had an ensuite bathroom!

I gave birth with two paracetamol using hypnobithing which was possibly the best decision I ever made! The staff at St Thomas' were fantastic and although were not totally informed about hypnobirthing they do have a similar ethos to hypnobirthing in that child birthis a natural and normal event that normarily should not require the use of drugs and doctors with sharp pointy instruments!

[lamj1974]

I can't believe people would ever ever go private. We are so incredibly lucky in this country to have one of the best FREE healthcare systems. Ask women in other countries whether they would go private if they have the option to have their babies somewhere like St Thomas', Georges etc and I wonder what they would say! Sorry to sound so 'preacher' like but i had both mine at St Thomas' and i couldn't rave about them enough. They were both prem babies and if i'd been at the portland or somewhere else then I would never have had the care i had there.

Anyway I will get down from my high horse but if you are lucky enough to have the option of having your baby at St Thomas' - go there, i promise you won't be disappointed.

[Groucho]

Hiya,
I guess you have made you choice by now. I just wanted to say that I went private too, however, it was a private hospital attached to NHS so hadthe personal care with all the benefits of NHS equipment. Now before anyone moans about the fact we had access to NHS equipment all profits from the private section of this hospital are put back into the NHS. Effectively it's private within the NHS.
It was fantastic all my appointment to the birth and aftercare by the same obstetrician that I chose. Brilliant consistency, I had absolute choice throughout and no mis communications or fear of the unknown.
I am not surprised one of the poster on here very quickly put women down who go privately. Since becoming pregnant and having my baby I have been so disappointed in the judgmental way in which some women are to other women. Men don't put their own sex down and judge the way women do, please girls stop it.
Lastly I hope you have found the right choice for you;-)

[Erykah]

As a rule I'm very pro NHS, and try to use for the majority of things in life that require medical care. I love St Thomas too - had great experiences of hospital care while pregnant (the emergency gynae unit admitted me twice for hyperemesis and were fantastic).
But Birth? not so good. Love that they have birthing pools on the plus side. But like most London hospitals they get very busy. Huge pressure on skilled staff in the labour wards. I would have liked to be allowed to be admitted much sooner and pain threshold was well exceeded when i did arrive! They didn't have a midwife for me for a while even though labour was well advanced and then i felt the whole thing was rushed through and i wasn't given choices about how to manage the pain.
Rushed into post natal too soon and not enough support on the ward as lots of other people seem to have found.
Agree that the cost of a private delivery is prohibitive and that despite my grumblings we do still have much better care than the majority of the women in this world!
One option at St Ts is an NHS with with a private postnatal ward. it was booked up when i was there though. i think it costs about £400 a night.
Scooby where were you? I agree lets try to honour each others choices about how we parent!
hope all goes well for you!

[MrsAmanda]

" if you are lucky enough to have the option of having your baby at St Thomas' - go there, i promise you won't be disappointed"

I did have our first child at St Thomas' `and unfortunately I was disappointed. I have to say the medical team and midwives during labour were great, but everything else not so much. I spent a lot of time in the antenatal day unit during the last few weeks of my pregnancy, and was admitted with high BP on a couple of occasions. The level of care during this time was not as I would have expected.

Once on the postnatal ward, the care was practically non-existant. I don't blame the midwives per se, they are just too busy to handle the number of women they're expected to look after. However, because they are so busy, bedside manner can often be lacking. I had to stay in for 5 days after giving birth and just about everything about my stay and care was truly dreadful.

[KAT272]

After my experience with St Thomas's care after the birth I would happily pay 5k and go private- 5 days of no help and hell. However during the emergency C Section itself the staff were wonderful. A tough decision.

[Mama]

I can't say private is best because I haven't experienced it to be able to compare, all I can say is that I have had two babies in the NHS, in different hospitals, and both times i was let down. Both pregnancies were good and my babies are strong and healthy, but both experiences were truly terrible, each in a completely different way.
In my view the NHS is under too much pressure and in too many occasions it shows it can't cope, leaving people with very unsatisfactory experiences.
I think the private midwife is the best option, it still does not fool proof every single situation, but if she is really good it's probably as good as it gets.
My ideal case-scenario? The private clinics set up and lovely personalised pre and post pregnancy care, with the scientific and technical support of the NHS big hospitals, in case something goes really wrong. How much would this cost? I recon I could have my baby there for around £50K...

[fatherof6]

go for it best money we spent expensive because we have 6 but worth it

[minime]

i did it and it was fab go for it

[klh249]

Here's an option, I went NHS and then had a private room at the end. Best of both worlds. In Oct 2009, I spent 690 per night for a room at the Lansdell Suite at St. Thomas. You could always enquire about pricing now. However, I am in my second pregnancy and am myself considering going private for the whole shebang as I am having many complications and have already been admitted twice myself! Good luck making your choice!

[balhammummy5]

I considered private, but various doctors I know advised against it, in case of any complications - as NHS hospitals are apparently better equipped to deal with these. I have heard that some private hospitals don't even have the facilities to give a blood transfusion, which is not that uncommon after birth.
Everyone has a very different story to tell of their labour experience, but mine (at St George's) was great. I had a midwife with me throughout my labour even though I had no complications - they never left the room for more than about 5 minutes - for the whole 20 hours I was in labour. I also found the post natal care fantastic - the midwives were incredibly caring and couldn't do enough for me. I'd never have got breastfeeding established without their help. We were on the Carmen Suite for post natal which is smaller and so possibly a bit friendlier. My only criticism is that the showers were bad!

[Citymum]

Beware scaremongering re the Portland Hospital. It has emergency theatre, NICU etc... You are in very safe hands there, the only question is if worst case you could afford to keep an ill baby in there, or if you would then need to transfer back to the NHS.
My experience: private is worth every penny, this is one if if not the most important event. Sacrifice a couple of holidays to get the level of 1-1 care the NHS simply can't stretch too, as amazing as the staff are.

[MrsAmanda]

Would take me more than a couple of holidays to fund the 12 grand the Portland quoted me. But maybe I'm a cheapskate

And as I mentioned previously, I needed an extended stay after having our first son (I had a bloodclot) which would have bumped up the price considerably. When we had our second child, he was very poorly so we both had to stay in. Again, we wouldn't have budgeted for that. Incidentally, the quality of care he received at St George's was faultless.

Citymum, are you booked into the Portland for your first baby?

There's been a lot of slagging NHS hospitals on this site, and indeed, I've had very variable experiences. But for some of us, private maternity hospitals are beyond our budget and not an option. Being told to just forego a holiday or two for 'the most important event' is condescending and patronising. NVN is for all local parents, not just those with bankers' bonuses, live-in nannies, private schooling.

*steps down from soapbox*

[Mingg]

"NVN is for all local parents, not just those with bankers' bonuses, live-in nannies, private schooling" a bit presumptuous MrsAmanda, no?

I went to Portland, it was fab & the best decision we've ever made. I had most of my ante-natal care at St Thomas' and, for lots of reasons, it was not good. In the end I would have rather taken a loan to pay for private care than had my baby at St. Thomas.