Going private for maturnity care

[portseven]

I thought that the only Private Maternity Hospital in the UK was the Portland in London? If so then you haven't got much choice.

I would say go NHS but do your research 1st, I had the choice of 2 near me and went with the one with the better reputation (Stepping Hill in Stockport). They were really good with us, it was quite a horrendous labour (4 days!!) but they were fantastic.

[Old Greg]

Thing to remember is that Private is usually OK if everything goes fine, but if complications set in that you need to find out if the private hospital could cope - several cases have dispatched problem births to the nearest NHS hospital - which would mean a delay to treatment.

On the whole I think private is a waste of dosh, just be aware to monitor progress and don't be afraid to forecably request a ceasarian if things aren't going to plan .... oh and get the epidural shunt in early

Agree with things going wrong at a private hospital. Standards vary from place to place in both NHS and private. Do some research into your local NHS maternity services. A good place to start in general (don't know about maternity) is http://www.doctorfoster.co.uk/
Good luck!

[King Cnvt]

Where can I find out how good the local NHS hospitals are in regards to maternity care?

[Churchill]

Where can I find out how good the local NHS hospitals are in regards to maternity care?

Google the following...

"Infant morbidity NHS UK"

[TheRightStuff]

If the scans are ok then go NHS. Put the 10K in a trust fund for your child.
Our daughter was born at Croydon's May day hospital. Midwife stayed with us from 7am - 10pm and she was great. My wife also needed surgery (3rd degree stitches) and the team in theatre were very good as well.

[Troll]

If the scans are ok then go NHS. Put the 10K in a trust fund for your child.
Our daughter was born at Croydon's May day hospital. Midwife stayed with us from 7am - 10pm and she was great. My wife also needed surgery (3rd degree stitches) and the team in theatre were very good as well.

wtf are "third degree stitches"?

[Lewis]

just be aware to monitor progress and don't be afraid to forecably request a ceasarian if things aren't going to plan .... oh and get the epidural shunt in early

I have two friends that begged for epidurals but couldn't get them as there was nobody around to give them! Another friend was left waiting in a corridor during labour. What you say is great in principal but not so great in practice. We recently had a baby in St Thomas's and it was fantastic care but I have heard bad stories from friends who went to other London hospitals recently. We looked briefly at the Portland out of interest. Although the price for a standard birth was affordable the price of non-standard ones got scary. The baby intentisive care was astronomical (something mad like £60K per day - I can't remember the exact figure but it was big) from what I understand you need to have private health care in place to pay for any emmergencies even if it won't pay for the standard part of the birth. Otherwise you could lose you house paying for emmergency care. It did make me grateful for the NHS I must say but we have since joined BUPA anyway

[rootsnall]

I've just been through the same dilema and in my area the NHS seem to offer better facilities if problems occur. You may have a better private option where you live !? Staffing levels did seem to be a problem when we had baby No 1 and you've just got to scream the loudest when required. We were too polite first time round. I'd invest in your own room if one is available but they seem to hold these back for problem cases.

[Troll]

I have two friends that begged for epidurals but couldn't get them as there was nobody around to give them! Another friend was left waiting in a corridor during labour. What you say is great in principal but not so great in practice.

For some reason women (esp first timers) have a trendy notion that they should go through childbirth with minimal pain relief - they then get to the stage where they need it - usually at a ungodly hour- so the registrar has to be roused / bought in on call to put the shunt into the spine of a woman in agony, all of which causes delays.
So my advice is to get the shunt in as soon as possible upon arrival and then choose to use it or not as the situation dictates.

HTH

[TheRightStuff]

wtf are "third degree stitches"?

well you have normal stictches which the widwife can do there and then and the doctor has a quick check and then off you go.
3rd degree stitches is just a bigger cut and the midwife can't do it. It means having to go into theatre with a surgeon for half an hour to stitch it back up. The mother then has to stay in hospital until the stitches heel and can only be released once mum has gone for a poo. Need to make sure stiches don't undo when she goes to the toilet. It also means no sex for 12 weeks.
WELL YOU ASKED.

P.S she did not have any pain relief at all. Totally natural. Midwife said she had never seen anybody so focused.
I was surprised and proud of her.

P.S.S get ready for the ride of your life for the 1st few months.