Private Caesarean in Hertfordshire?

[NicholaK]

Hi, I am very new to this site and only 5 weeks pregnant. I would like to look into having a private caesarean at an NHS hospital preferably in Hertfordshire. Can anyone tell me how to go about this (do I speak to my midwife or a consultant - am worried the midwife will not be impressed with me wanting to wimp out!) and if anyone knows which hospitals I would be able to do this at. My local would be Lister Hospital in Stevenage. I know there are loads of hospitals in London where you can have private elective c-sections but I would prefer to stay more local to home. Hope someone can advise!

You have a choice of precisely one hospital which is Watford, using their swish Knutsford Wing. Beyond that you have to come into London, where several of the big maternity units have private wings/wards, or the totally private Portland.
Hope that helps!

Just to add, there's no "wimping out" as there's no totally easy way to get a baby out, and any healthcare professional who uses a phrase as crass as that deserves reporting. It's your choice how you give birth.

Nichola - a private CS can be very expensive. If you do your research and manage to convince a consultant you may manage to get an NHS Csection even with your first baby (I did). I Second BagofHolly - Its Your choice how you give birth.

If you want to go private you need to find a private consultant - might be able to get your GP to refer you, or look up their details and call their secretary directly. In that case you don't need to talk to a midwife at all.

They won't be able to do it in an ordinary NHS maternity dept though (you can't usually mix private and NHS like that) so you'd probably be looking at coming to London (or Watford if that's closer).

I believe you often need to book in quite early with a private consultant as their schedules fill up some time ahead, so don't wait too long, but as you're so early it might be worth asking for an appointment with your NHS consultant first to see it they'd be willing to consider it. Depends on your reasons and their views, I guess.

Richard Sheridan is the one everyone wants at Watford. He charges around £3k and then you're looking at anaesthetist and theatre fees, plus rooming charges.

Hi Everybody, thanks for all your responses. I will definitely look into the Watford option then and maybe try to speak to the nhs consultant to see if I can convince them.

My reasons are just that I really don't like the idea of a natural birth. Whenever I have spoken socially to any doctors (a couple of my friends are doctors and my sister in law) or indeed a couple of midwives when I was temping at my local hospital many years ago they have all said they would prefer a c-section as they have seen how some women have been messed up from natural births - the thought of forceps, ventouse or episiotomys scares me hugely!

Chynah - how did you convince them (if it's not too personal)?

Nichola, everyone has horror stories from having a natural birth but there are also horror stories from having CS. I personally would think very carefully before going down this route and would try and find someone who I trusted to help me through a natural delivery.

Nicola - I researched everyting I could find on pros & cons of cs & NICE guidelines. I requested a cs on the grounds that I didn't want a vb for fear of the possible damage a vb could cause and also the fact that I really didn't want a VB and find the idea of the whole process disgusting (to me)and couldn't imagine anything more hideous than enduring that.

The first consultant refused me but you are entitled to a second opinion and the second consultant agreed. My husband was very supportive and spoke on my behalf when I was too emotional which was very helpful - he also used the argument thathe was worried about the effect on me & baby if I didn't get my request.

If you have decided it's the bst for you don't let people talk you out of it and start the process of requesting one early - my first wasn't agreed til 37 weeks which was very stressful.

Tootlesmummy, did you have a bad experience with your elective section?
I think the OP is thinking v carefully about it if she's researching so early in her pregnancy.

BOH, no I didn't but my best friend had splitting wounds, infections and needed an operation to sort it out with her DS.

I have no doubt that OP is thinking carefully but I would suggest looking into VB births more and speaking to others to get a more 'balanced' view of VB.

CS is not the 'easier' option and your dignity etc is still compromised.

If you're near Cambridge at all, Addenbrookes do private care but treat you identically to an NHS patient (i.e. no swanky rooms).

I'd be inclined to have an NHS one and spend my money on a doula, or hire an independent midwife for a home VB, tbh.

Tootlesmummy, that is rare. And not hugely helpful either. The OP has the right to want any kind of birth she likes and has asked for information about a specific geographical area, not for scare stories about CS and opinions on how VB is preferable. For some of us, it isn't.
I'm under Addenbrookes for my antenatal care and they do have some private rooms but they're hard to book in advance as they're also used for isolation cases. There's no additional post natal care either, which is what you pay for, in a private wing.

BOH, I think it is something the OP needs to consider and tough shit if you disagree.

I haven't said it's wrong or it's not her right I have just pointed out a couple of things.

Goodness me, how aggressive! Who on earth are you to decide what people "need to think about"? It's clear that unless the OP has the same opinion as you (ie that VB is preferable) that you'll consider that she hasn't thought enough. And you haven't pointed any facts out, just your opinions, which are not based on having an elective section yourself.
Given the original question, it's not helpful to her.

BOH, actually I did have a CS, and it wasn't plain sailing so why isn't it helpful to point out that she could do more research.

She's 5 weeks pregnant and nervous and unsure, understandably so. So why can't people give her advice. or is it only good if it concurs with your opinion?

Because there's a big difference between a planned section and one that's done as a last resort. And she hasn't asked for an opinion on whether it's the right choice - just about how to go about it. And it's rather patronising to assume that she should think more about it just because her opinion isn't the same as yours. And I haven't expressed an opinion here about what I think about childbirth, beyond it being the mother's choice, so I wouldn't post on a thread about VB suggesting that the OP go and think about ELCS if that were my preference.

BOH - do you know what, I was trying to help her by saying she could find out more about the options, find someone she feels she could trust. Exactly as I would do to a friend in RL if they asked me the same thing.

If they said no thanks, fair enough or had done some more research and still decide again fair enough I would fully support them.

Don't bother replying as I can't be bothered to respond to you again, so run along.

But that's the point, Tootlesmummy, she DIDN'T ask. She wanted to know about private c section in Hertfordshire. And posted that she's already chatted to friends and healthcare professionals about it and still reached the same conclusion, but because she hasn't chosen VB your posts indicate she "needs" to think about it more. How much more?
And we both know you'll be reading this whether you respond or not.

Sorry but she did ask about ELCS and if you can't provide any helpful first hand experience to a discussion called "Private Caesarean in Hertfordshire?" then I don't know why you bothered posting as for thinking about it more - I think she might have already guesed it's going to come out of her fanjo if she doesn't do something to change that .

I wouldn't go on the VB threads to point out how things may go wrong etc and I could cite plenty of second hand friends experiences if I wanted to but I don't because it isn't helpful.