To not give birth through the NHS?

[HereOrThereAndAnywhere]

With all the news stories of poor NHS maternity care and not good outcomes, I'm wondering if it would be worth it to give birth in another country. Is that a bad idea? Was your birth experience (if you had one in the last couple years) ok?

For voting purposes

YABU = Maternity care is perfect and there's nothing to worry about
YANBU = Maternity care has really gone downhill so I would try to figure out another way to give birth either privately or abroad

I'd be worried about the child's nationality, especially with the cluster that Brexit has turned into.

I live up north, so it would be a really far journey to get to London to just give birth

Whereas Greece would be super convenient?

So many typos!!!

Why not just pay to go private here? Not cheap but easier than abroad. Are you a UK national? Surely you want your child to be born here.

Perhaps I'm being naive but I figure that private care abroad would be less expensive (even with flights and accommodation). Although I could be wrong.

NHS was great for the birth, no complaints whatsoever.

Postnatal however resembled the seventh circle of hell.

If you can afford it, go private. You'll enjoy it more either way, and it frees up NHS resources for someone who doesn't have the luxury.

Well worth reading the Adam Kay book mentioned above. Very funny and entertaining, but also shows how great the NHS are at actually saving lives. The dedication of the staff considering the obstacles they have to put up with is awe-inspiring.

As he points out in that, going private in the UK looks good, but if anything goes wrong then the NHS has the actual equipment you need.

Where do you plan on finding this ‘perfect’ maternity care you’re looking for?

I'd be worried about the child's nationality, especially with the cluster that Brexit has turned into.

I've looked in to this and my child would still qualify as British by descent.

I wouldn’t want to give birth in a country where English isn’t the main language - sounds a bit stressful. But then again so are NHS hospitals. I was faced with the same choice as you either risk NHS or temporarily relocate to London to go private. Decided to risk it - baby ended up in NICU as a result. Categorically will not do it again.

My midwife did change midway through pregnancy but I ended up hospital led anyway, the care I got while giving birth and with my son who was poorly after, I couldn't have asked for more every middie and HCA was so lovely and supportive even the last who brought the tea was so warm and remembered all of the babies names. My SIL at a different hospital had had two babies one was a good experience the other not so. I wouldn't say it was perfect but if I were to have another I'd see no reason to look elsewhere for my care. Do I think the service needs more funding, staff etc of course, it's stretched in places to say the least.

I would suggest getting the maternity dashboards from any private unit you were considering and comparing outcomes with the dashboard for your local NHS maternity unit.
Hotel facilities undoubtedly better at some of the private units but outcomes might surprise you.

Private in the UK is probably much more sensible than abroad because if anything goes wrong and you or baby need intensive care / a long stay then in the UK that will be on the NHS - whereas if you’re self finding privately a neonatal intensive care stay could end up being tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds - plus potentially a very long stay after birth or the cost of medical repatriation if needed. Even fairly common complications can result in a linger stay and cost £££ eg neonatal jaundice. Going without insurance which would cover baby seems a massive risk.

Also your questions are really skewed and biased.

YABU = Maternity care is perfect and there's nothing to worry about
YANBU = Maternity care has really gone downhill so I would try to figure out another way to give birth either privately or abroad

Maternity care certainly isn't perfect, and there are problems, but it's still bloody good.

On the other hand, although there are problems it hasn't gone massively downhill either.

It's rather similar to a newspaper question trying to get the result they want, whatever the reply. Like "When did you stop beating your wife?"

Had my baby 7 months ago and the NHS were bloody brilliant! Had such a positive experience, I honestly could not fault a thing! I think we are extremely lucky to have such an amazing thing as the nhs!

If I was to have another child then I would pay privately but here, not abroad.

First birth was managed well but care afterwards on the ward was awful.

Second birth, the midwife was awful and resulted in me being rushed to theatre with complications. Care on the ward afterwards was awful again.

If my children have children I will offer to pay privately if they would prefer.

Perhaps I'm being naive but I figure that private care abroad would be less expensive (even with flights and accommodation). Although I could be wrong.

I doubt that very much indeed, especially with the weak pound...

So do foreign private hospitals offer birth packages that cover for any amount of complication?

I think the risk would be high if there was any sort of problem your bill would get very big very quickly.

As a cost saving measure going abroad for private birth could backfire significantly.

My NHS birth 2 years ago was hard and traumatic but not because of anything that could be helped. The staff went above and beyond and ultimately saved my daughter's life. I honestly think that although maternity care in the UK is stretched and people do have bad experiences sometimes (as with everything), I would give birth in another NHS hospital in a heartbeat. I cannot fault the care I received under very difficult circumstances.

I would pay for a independent midwife if I could, I can't but I have hired a birth doula.

I think it all depends on what you consider "better"
In my home country (EU) the care is exceptional. The still birth rate is much lower than here, there are more tests involved. It is very medicalised and that was not my preference. So I like some bits like toxoplasmosis tests, more scans later on for blood flow, etc.
I dislike the close monitoring of expectant mums' weight, the almost compulsory OGTT, the lack of choice, more amniocentesis procedures based on age, etc.

So in that sense I prefer it here, more midwife care rather than doctors, more choice and more "natural" options.

However, I was disappointed at my birth experience, there were a couple of f€^* ups that I am addressing soon at the reflection meeting. And I am already having issues with antenatal care this time around.

So yes, if I could afford it I would go for an independent midwife this time.

@ChipsAreLife - I gave birth in a private wing of an NHS hospital for that reason (ie. if anything went wrong for me or baby, the rest of the hospital is right there!).

OP, I went private for a medically-necessary C-section because I'd had multiple miscarriages, no children born alive, and didn't feel that the NHS consultant allocated to me (only consultant for two hospitals!) was paying attention to the complexities of my case. It probably would have been fine, but I didn't want to be in a situation where something did go wrong, and I'd never forgive myself thinking that I should have listened to my instincts about my care. My in-laws paid.

Will0wtree

That was my mistake. I know people get really defensive over the NHS so I wanted to give them a "great" and a "not great" option. I figured people might be more annoyed if I called NHS maternity care as average/mediocre and left no option for "great".

Can you afford to pay for NICU if needed?