Thinking of having the birth in a private hospital

[Sherwick]

Hi everyone,

Don't know much about this as am a man (sorry!) but my wife (who isn't English) would like to have the birth of our baby in a private hospital. Does anyone have any experience with this please?

Many thanks,

Sherwick.

[curlykaren]

apologising for being a man....fantastic, well done sherwick!!

[sb]

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[Mellors]

I had my second birth with these people (after a grim birth ending in a C-section 1st time):

http://www.birthcentre.com/

I seriously can't recommend it highly enough. You have private midwifery care before, during and after the birth. they will organise private scans if you wish, although you can go to Kings (or your local NHS hospital) for those. You will know your midwives, who will (literally) hold your hand every step of the way. They carry out full prenatal checks at home (every other day when it gets near to the time!) and are available 24/7 for advice.

You can either have the baby at home, at their fabulous birth centre (which is practically attached to St Georges in Tooting - reassuring in the event you should need medical intervention) or in hospital. they will help and guide you through whatever you choose.

After the birth they support you for the next 6 weeks, including with breastfeeding etc. With my first (NHS) I saw a health visitor about twice briefly I think, it was rubbish.

It was a totally different, life enhancing experience for me. Best ?5k I have ever spent (and you pay in installments running up to the birth, so mine was about ?700 a month for 7 months or so?

PM me if you want any more info.

[ratty]

People used to give birth in caves! Save ya money!

Just my opinion of course!

[Sherwick]

Thanks very much for the advice sb and Mellors (I'll PM you Mellors).

Much appreciated :)-D

Sherwick

[sb]

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[Mellors]

I have to say if you are having a home birth then the midwife lead teams that run out of the doctors surgeries sounds fabulous and free! (mine didn't offer it at the time). If I had another and was confident it would be straightforward I think I would do that and save my cash.

[sillywoman]

Though it's likely that if Mrs Sherwick is of the 'private hospital for having a baby' mentality she may hold up her hands in horror at the thought of something so unmedicalised as a homebirth ;-)

[Moos]

Not that you're making assumptions or anything, sillywoman?

[antijen]

My daughter is due in less than 3wks, she is with brierly midwives for a home birth, they are brilliant and seem to have much more independance since my pregnancies. Through the whole pregnancy she has seen them 6 times, although the offer to see them more often was there she has not needed to. It is a personal decision whether you want a home birth or hospital birth although 5grand sounds too steep, you can have a great birth without having to spend that money.

[sb]

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[sb]

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[sillywoman]

Moos Wrote:

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> Not that you're making assumptions or anything,

> sillywoman?

I know, I did add the wink icon in an attempt to show a tongue-in-cheek intent for the tone of the post. I guess it didn't come across though? Sorry:-$

[Moos]

Nah, didn't mean to jump down your throat.

It's a touchy topic though, isn't it?

:)-D

[sillywoman]

It certainly is, speaking of which, I'm just going to lurk on the State v Private education thread & try very hard not to post anything.

(Goes off muttering; "don't get drawn in, don't get drawn in" . . .)

[Mellors]

Its a shame no community midwives were available when I had my first baby 2 1/2 years ago (this was in Kennington when I got pregnant, so Lambeth weho don't do it, and too late to get one their books by the time I moved here at 7 months gone. I couldn't do it at home on the NHS second time because I ended up with a c-section after a horrendous catalogue of errors by St Thomas' 1st time, and as a VBAC you are "high risk".

As I said, if I could get in with a community midwife team if I had another one (and could try for a home birth) I would be more than happy to have saved my cash.

Over my dead body (or bank account) was I going through the hell the NHS put me thought first time though!

[quickbrownfox]

Lots of the men I used to work with had their kids at The Portland. Although the men raved about being able to order burgers and chips from the menu mid-labour, all but one of the mums (out of a sample of 7 or 8) ended up having 'emergency' caesarean sections. I am convinced based on that (and all the celebs that end up with c-sections at the Portland) that you're more likely to have intervention at a posh hospital (just my humble opinion)!

We seriously considered private, but in the end my rationale for going public was that if I was destined for a shocker of a birth, it was going to be bad no matter where I was, except afterwards, we would be much poorer with the private option. That said, Kings and giving birth in general was more hideous than I imagined despite no major issues, so if I had a second, I would definitely sniff around for an option that provides just that little more TLC and comfort, but I think you get this with some of the great midwifery practices like Albany/ Brierley etc. Just knowing who is likely to be with you during labour (as opposed to some random who doesn't know you or your husband from Adam) would make a huge difference.

[hpsaucey]

Just to correct something saud earlier. Actually you can have a home birth on the NHS - Brierley etc. after a previous Caesarian!!!! My friend is currently with them under these conditions and due to give birth next week. She will have her home birth midwife with her at home and the midwife will transfer wiht her to hospital IF she needs to go. I was told the same after a traumatic first birth - not Caes but pretty bad damage. Kings Hospital are more enlightened nowadays and will not push you to a cases sedonc time round. the home birth midwife team saw no difficulty. Had a wonderful home birth with the Brierley. Save your money!!!!

[hpsaucey]

Sorry - 'correct something said earlier' is too strong. Different areas seem to have different policies on home births after a difficult one. Getting off the post subject anyway. Just didn't want anyone to think you COULDNT have a home birth after Caesarian/other traumatic births. Must stop whittering ....

[EmmaG]

I've got my Oakwood midwives pack here and it says they provide all your care both for home and hospital birth. So I don't think you HAVE to do it at home to get the benefit of these wonderful ladies. I have to admit, my flat is nowhere near private or soundproof enough to have a homebirth - poor neighbours.

[Ann]

Wasn't the original post about NHS provision as apposed to private care?

Talk about local midwifery practices is fine but they are certainly not available for all. Sherwick also mentioned that his wife was not UK born.

Pretty much all health care provision in the developed world has a very different pattern of care than the UK, particularly maternity care. In the UK the majority of care is delivered by qualified midwives with direct access to Obstetricians at any given time. Where health care is predominatly private ,care of pregnant women is usualy led by an Obstetrician.

Sherwick, maternity care in this country has been of a high standard for many years. If you do plan to have your baby in a private hospital you would still be supported by an NHS midwife when your wife and baby come home, and that is worth having.

Good luck,

Ann

[Smiler]

Private maternity care is very very expensive, and as someone else has mentioned you have to pay for everything, and C-sections in particular are v.pricy. If you are worried about having care on-hand if anything goes wrong though, some NHS hospitals have private wings, so you get the NHS consultant and are near the special care baby wards etc.

[Sherwick]

Thanks everyone. To be honest I don't know the difference between going private for the birth (i.e. using someone like The Birth Centre) and using a midwifery practice like Albany/ Brierley. In fact, I don't even know what a 'midwifery practice' is! Is this a private service?

:-$

[sillywoman]

about 5k, the midwifery practices are NHS and all affiliated to a local hospital. Kings for the SE22 ones. They offer the best level of care currently available, probably anywhere in the world actually. We are so unbelievably lucky to have these teams available at no cost to us in our area. Some, The Lanes, Oakwood and particularly Albany are world reknown for the work they do. They are the gold standard of perinatal care.