thinking of paying for a private hospital Post Reply

[Abitworried]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of having a private hospital birth. Its a lot of money (5k) but at the same time I like the idea of the extra control that this can give. Does anyone hae any experience of this? What do you think?

Thanks

A bit worried!

[tooposhtopush]

go for it!

best 5k I ever spent. really friendly staff, nothing too much trouble and I felt like I was in a hotel and happened to give birth

[urbanmum]

I think that there is a certain "type" that enjoys private hospitals. They can be found in spas and hairdressers most weekday mornings and they don't understand the difference between comfort and safety. Your unborn child will be safer if there are any complications in an NHS hospital. They have better facilities and although the food may not be as good your safety will be higher.

[tamara]

Come off it! There are heaps of great private hospitals. They might not have the the cutting edge facilities that NHS places do but often they are just around the corner. I went private. Was brilliant!

Now where did I put the foie gras! ???

[Abitworried]

now I am just confused

[Seb]

don't be confused - why pay when you can get something for free?

[Mumbly]

I would highly recommend a private, independent midwife rather than a private hospital. If there is an emergency, it's true you would have to be transferred to an NHS hospital but there is nothing wrong with private hospitals per se. You see the same obstretricians at the private as you would at the NHS, its just that you have to work out whether you want obstetrician led care or midwife. If you have an uncomplicated pregnancy then I would suggest you go for an independend midwife - ranging between £3000 and £4000 plus you get up to 6 weeks postnatal support - invaluable.
hope that helps - other people's comments about spas etc..not very helpful!
Good luck!

[Abitworried]

took MBK's advice - spot on!

[Hyde Farm Mum]

Hi

Not sure if you have decided or not but my experience of an NHS birth was absolutely fine. I had my daughter in St Georges and started out in the natural birthing unit (bean bags, en suite bathroom, water pool) and then finished off in a delivery room as I wanted an epidural.

To be honest during labour you are so out of it that you really don't care where you are. Post natal is a bit grim (everyone who has had an NHS birth says the same thing) but quite frankly it is only for 12 hours (hopefully) and not worth paying £5k plus just for "hotel" facilities. Depending on where you have the baby you could pay for a post natel private room which would be a lot cheaper than having the whole birth done privately. Just grit your teeth through the post natel bit, take some anti bac wipes with you and before you know it you are home!

Hope this helps.

[moops]

Abitworried - Can I ask which private midwives you went with? My friend is interested in it but doesn't know who to go with. Hope everything goes well for you! x

[frazzled]

I have had 3 children privately - I am not "too posh to push", I had all 3 without pain relief, naturally. I have never been to a spa. It is the best money I or my husband have ever spent and (apart from the obvious fact that a fourth baby would send me mad) I would absolutely do it again. I had all three children in the private maternity unit at Chelsea and Westminster and would recommend them without any hesitation. Why go privately? I wanted my own midwife, to be in control, not to be at the back of the queue with the completely over-staffed (but very capable) NHS midwives, my privacy, my own loo, no stupid visiting hours, no noise from everyone else on the ward (or their newborns)........need I go on?!

[bettyboom]

I agree with previous post, there are so many benefits of going private if you can afford to. I chose to cos I was 40 when I had my baby and was made to feel like a leper and that everything would go wrong and so chose to go private to have more personal care. Thankfully nothing did go wrong, but everything I did on the national health at my doctors and at the hospital (had a couple of tests NH and first midwive appointment), was totally disorganised and did not instil me with me confidence. At least with a private obstetrican, you can have more flexible appointments, test results come back in a few days, once when I was ill during pregnancy, I could just call him and ask a few questions, and he called me back a few times over the next few days to check I was feeling ok, and when I started labour prematurely, I was treated very well and kept in rather than being sent home as labour stopped. I went to St Thomas' private wing - which incidentally still has awful food and the room is nothing like a spa or hotel, it was the 1-2-1 support that I was looking for and got.

[sja38]

I would definitely recomend private if you can afford it but make sure you go to a hospital with a good babycare unti. That way if their are implications you get to saty with your baby (unlike the Portland where they have to ship the baby somewhere else). I had my daughter at St SThomas' and it was excellent. Will def be hvaing no2 there

[marmite68]

for anyone out there who can afford it, go privately. Just make sure you are with a hospital who have access to the right level of NICU care - in case your newborn has problems.

so - for instance, the Portland can only care for a certain level of illness in a newborn ... and a more sick one would have to be transfered - you should look into this. I think there are three levels of newborn care.

London hospitals are ok pre birth and at birth (if you are lucky) but post birth they are truly terrible - no resources and rubbish staff (sorry - there are one or two good ones but many many poor ones ... the staff the hospitals don't know what do with get dumped in post birth wards.

My experience at Chelsea was truly shocking - birth fantastic, post birth absolutely disgusting including lazy nurses, appalling conditions and a superbug with 3 weeks very sick and unable to see my child.

So - as per opener - if you can afford private - do it - but pick carefully in case your baby is premature or has difficulties when born.

[Wfm]

if you can afford it, don't even think about it. care is incomparable. however, it is c. 12k rather than 5k (if you go for obstetrician-led).