Views on Private at Kingston Hospital

[TJ34]

i am looking at having my baby privately from start to finish at Kingston Hospital. can anyone give me their experiences on this. is it worth paying for private. i am unsure if i will opt for c-sec or natural. still early days. i live SW19 area so kingston is practical from a travel point of view. st marys, portland are little too far. thanks

[guineamango]

A friend had her twins on the nhs at Kingston and they were lovely. Sorry don't know about private care though.

[dal21]

what about chelsea and westminster? they have a private ward whilst being an NHS hospital. That area is commutable from wimbledon.

I would also definitely advise trying to go private in an NHS hospital - where they have full neonatal facilities. Portland/ John and Lizzies don't.

[greenbeanie]

Agree with dal21 I wouldn't touch a private hospital without full neonatal facilities. I have worked in the NHS for many years and we often pick up the pieces from private hospitals where things haven't gone to plan.

If you are on a private unit within an nhs hospital then you can get the best of both worlds in many ways. The private facilities with the full range of care on hand. I suggest that you look at a few units and see which you feel most comfortable with as it is a very personal decision. Good luck

[LSEE]

I'm also looking at going private at Kingston but it is my least favourite option. Unlike other private wings in NHS hospitals (such as Lansdell Wing at St Thomas's) they don't have any private delivery facilities so you will still be using the NHS delivery suite, just with your private consultant running things. To me, it just doesn't seem worth paying for that when other private wings offer fully private delivery. Also the information/service I've been provided with by Kingston so far hasn't been anywhere near as good as I've had from other places, which gives me second thoughts. Have you thought of the Birth Centre in Tooting, I'm going to look at that at the weekend - it's in the grounds of St George's so still easy access to NHS critical care if you need it. Depends whether you want consultant or midwife led though.