AIBU to have a private birth in London?

If anything happens where you need more medical attention you end up in the NHS care anyway.

Would you consider a home birth if you’re low risk? I did this with my third baby and it was lovely with my husband and children at home. You can hire a private midwife if you didn’t want NHS ones too and at least she can advocate for you and stay with you if you did need to transfer.

100% I wish I’d gone private. Horrible birth experience with the NHS from start to finish. Friends who did private had much much superior experiences. However, the really important thing is that you do private in one of the wings attached to an NHS hospital with full A&E. For example, Chelsea and Westminster or Paddington. A friend did have a massive problem with severe haemorrhaging when she was in the private wing at Paddington and of course was able to immediately be wheeled to theatre because she was in the right place.

I did twice. I wouldn’t consider giving birth any other way. The 1:1 continuity of care is excellent with the same OB at every appointment and then to deliver baby on the day. They also really take care of you post partum. And if you go for a private wing of an NHS hospital you can mitigate any risk in the case of an emergency or transferring e.g. at C&W you have theatre, NICU, NHS labour ward etc. all on the same floor as the private wing. You surely must be talking well over £20k for consultant lead by now though- I paid that nearly 6 years ago.

I had a private birth and my baby was brain damaged. I know many people have very positive experiences, but that was mine and my child's. If I hadn't lived round the corner from the hospital my child would have died. My child has a life-long disability now. I'm really sorry if this comes across as rude, but I don't want to reply to comments or questions as it is very upsetting for me, but I wish I'd had a hospital birth. Please understand I am not pushing back against private births, I just feel compelled to share my experience to help people balance making an informed decision.

How fast were your last births? I labour FAST and there’s no way I would have got to any of the private hospitals in time.

Second thinking about a home birth with a private midwife (though they are harder to find now)

Or hiring a doula who can support you with advocating and navigating the NHS system.

Its your money to spend how you want. I had 4 babies, gave birth in different places, all nhs, all fine. Peoples birth experiences are all subjective.

Not at all unreasonable but do it in the private wing of an NHS hospital. I had NHS anti natal care, Private scans alongside the NHS ones and a private delivery which included 2 consultant appointments prior to the birth and one after.

Having had 2 NHS births it was like night and day. You have a dedicated midwife throughout the entire Labour and birth. It is much cheaper than having an entirely private experience and it’s the best money ever spent

post natally you also have enough staff to actually support you and the baby and help with feeding. It’s calm and civilised

If you go private in an NHS hospital the baby is considered an NHS patient so there are no costs if they need neonatal care

Covid was a strange time for sure. I would suggest looking into a birth doula so you have someone there with expertise and the knowledge to navigate the system and be 100% on your side. With follow up appointments at home. I have a friend who does this work in New York and it’s lovely to hear about how much she cares for her clients.

My neighbour just had a private birth at the Portland. She is still having local midwives visit for postnatal care. The issue was that the Portland didnt send her birth info to the hospital so nobody knew they'd been discharged after birth. They say they sent it to the wrong hospital but that hospital also denied having it. They are used to incorrectly getting the info due to their proximity to our local hospital and pass it on without there being a delay in care so she is inclined to believe they never received it.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable. I had a very traumatic experience as an NHS inpatient 10 years ago almost, nothing to do with maternity care, and I tried to go NHS for maternity care but even just going to the hospital brought back so many terrible memories and I was fixated on the fact I wouldn’t be listened to and dismissed (this is when I first went to the EPU with heavy bleeding).

You have to do what feels right for you. I don’t think it’s money you will regret spending after. As others have mentioned just ensure you don’t go to the Portland (which is mad expensive in any case), go to a private maternity wing attached to an NHS hospital so there is a full trauma and ICU/NICU attached

Getting a private midwife / doula to accompany you is an option but my friend still had a very bad NHS birth experience even with that at Chelsea & Westminster. She finds it difficult to drive past the hospital now

I've had a bad experience with my first birth and was also looking for private birth for my second. It wasn't possible because they were too far from me.

I found a good compromise by choosing a different NHS hospital in a nearby city (smaller and recommended by a friend), and getting a private midwife.
I strongly recommend that you consider whether a private midwife would be "enough" to reassure you. Mine was extremely good at listening and reassuring me, she had personal experience in all the hospitals in the county so could advise me better, explain their processes, etc.

All the visits were at home as well so only had to go to the hospital for the scans (which was handy given the distance, but also less stressful).

I paid about 2.3k I think for the pre-natal care, but there were other options for her to be at the hospital for the birth, help communicating with the hospital staff, and help afterwards if needed.

I had an awful time with my first, NHS birth. I wouldn't have had a second if I couldn't have gone private. I did go for a C section second time round, so not quite the same as you are planning. It was so much better, knowing who would do the delivery, having a private room, with attentive staff and not being kicked out at the first opportunity. The staff weren't overstretched. DH was able to stay. It was at an NHS hospital with a private maternity ward, so the full back up was there and I think the staff worked in both at times. We had a lovely student midwife as an extra, who supported us before and after.

My only regret is that I didn't go private with my first.

I gave birth at Queen Charlotte's which has a private wing and can recommend. I had healthcare that would pay for the private treatment but used 50/50 NHS and private as i was high risk so needed more ££ than the policy covered.

Very positive, the post natal bit is brilliant. The ward you give birth on is the same as the NHS FYI.

Even from thr NHS side the hospital is fantastic

I would absolutely go private, although I would be worried about the fact that they can't treat emergencies and transfer you to an NHS hospital in that case. I read upthread someone said there is an option to have private care in an NHS hospital, which sounds like something I would investigate.

I couldn't afford a full private birth (which would have been my preference), but I did pay for a private midwife, which was worth its weight in gold when I needed someone to advocate for me. I actually got her solely because I knew it was highly likely I would need someone to advocate for me in hospital so, although it was convenient to have checkups at home, I don't think I got as much out of them as other people. I was calm and never had any questions for her, so although she always spent a full hour with me, I felt they were a bit pointless. When I was overdue, she came every day and was always clear I should call her any time, day or night, and she would come straight away (she worked with a second midwife, so there would be backup).

If you can afford it do it. My sister was so horrified with mine and her NHS experiences she went private and had the painless wonderful birth she wanted.

Do your NHS hospitals have those birthing units for women who want a more natural birth? (with the water pools etc). Our local hospital had those and the women in them spoke well of the care they got. It was attached to the hospital so if anything went wrong you could be wheeled through.

I had good NHS experience but I was blue light ambulanced to hosptial as an emergency so had a midwife with me throughout.

I think emergencies and birthing unit people had the better experiences than women I know who went into standard maternity units with standard births.

I had an elective c-section in the private wing of a NHS London hospital. I would 100pc do it again. I actually had PPROM at 33 weeks and was admitted to the NHS wing for a few days for observation (as another poster has said, if they deem you to be too unwell you're cared for on the NHS ward rather than on the private one).

Even though the package I had with my consultant wasn't due to start until 36 weeks, I'm pretty sure the care I got on the NHS ward was better as I was then under her care privately from that point. I had one of the only private rooms on the Antenatal ward and my partner was allowed to stay the entire time. I didn't end up going into labour and had my section two weeks earlier than scheduled with all the private care as normal, but I had to have lots of scans and monitoring and blood tests for the remainder of the pregnancy - I think the consultant also played a bit fast and loose with what was NHS care and what I had to pay for (in my favour) - which was such a relief as it was already a stretch financially without the added complications.

For me, paying for absolute certainty was priceless. I had the first theatre slot, could pick the exact date of the operation, a guaranteed private room (there is an option in NHS hospitals usually to upgrade, but they told me it would've been too busy to do that when my child was born) and dedicated nursing care. It felt like a very stark contrast with some of the horror stories I've heard of NHS maternity care.

I had a wonderful private birth with Bryony Jones as my obstetrician at Queen Charlottes. She also works at the Lindo Suite too. She was absolutely fantastic at looking after my mental and physical health as well as the baby’s. I felt very safe and had a wonderful birth experience. I also managed to go nhs with top up appointments with her privately h til just before the birth.

YANBU best thing I ever did but it will cost a lot more than £12,000. I paid £18,000 15 years ago for a C Section and Consultant led at the Portland.

Having a private birth at the Portland was the best thing I ever did. It does have a NICU for mother and for baby.

I would choose the private wing of a London teaching hospital where you have access to emergency care in the unlikely event it’s needed, good NHS consultants who work privately for you and of course the luxury of decent food and extra trappings etc.

I have various friends who had babies in Guys and St T private wing. (This is the hospital that treats MPs and goodness me, it transpires it’s excellent).

I would caution against any private hospital if it doesn’t have emergency facilities. Things can go wrong with births and if they do, they can happen very fast. Better to be right there in a fully equipped hospital that can manage any complications.

Yes, was going to say that many people report worse experiences at that time, including a friend who said she felt they treated her as irresponsible for getting pregnant and putting more strain on the NHS. I wasn't there, but she feels that way. Unfair if true, as she actually got pregnant before knowing about Covid!

So it would obviously be different now, OP, but if you can afford it, why would you be unreasonable? What could be better to spend the money on- a lot of us would if we could.

If your baby needs nicu at the Portland, I think you have to pay for it. It is £4k a night. That's a good reason to choose an NHS hospital with an NHS nicu and a private maternity ward.

The Portland is amazing. You can tell them if your baby needs ICU, that you will be transferred to UCLH. I had the best week with my daughter there. I was looked after so well.

It's more dangerous to have a birth in a private hospital. It's much more comfortable though. They tend to hide their bad records by shipping critical cases to NHS hospitals and not counting them in their records.

The best of both worlds is a private wing of an NHS hospital.