Private Birth

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Hello

My mum had her first child on NHS over 30 years ago, and was not happy with treatment. My older brother was a difficult breach, and was short of oxygen to brain. He has learning difficulties as a result.

Mum had private births for both my sister and I, and had better care.

My parents are well off, but not rich. They have an income of 80k a year before tax, which although it sounds a lot, is not a fortune.

My parents have offered to pay for me to have my first child privately - is it worth it? I do not want them to waste their money.

Thank you

I saw yesterday that a birth at the Portland Hospital costs £15,000. Only you can know whether this represents value for money for you or not. Is your current pregancy low risk? If you read the statistics about the risks of being in hospital and the risks of being at home, you might even plump for a NHS home birth. Personally, for a low-risk pregnancy I find £15k an outrageously huge sum of money to pay for care when you can get completely free care, at some of the highest standards in the world, on the NHS.

You will also be aware I'm sure that the NHS has changed an awful lot in the past 30 years. Does your mum know that it was NHS failings which led to your brother's learning difficulties? Is there any evidence that if she had been in a private setting, the birth would have been any different, given your brother was breech? (Genuine questions - I obviously have no idea about the details of what happened to your mum).

Others might suggest you hire an independent midwife (who could assist you at a home birth, or who could be with you at a NHS hospital birth as a birth partner, but not be able to act as your midwife), at a cost of (very roughly) £3,000 to £4,000, or a doula (not sure of costs).

Personally I would be really interested if anyone has any statistics on whether a private birth is medically safer than an NHS birth, or whether you simply pay for things like a private room, guaranteed contact with an obstetrician, guaranteed continuity of care etc, which doens't necessarily have a direct impact on whether you have a safe birth or not.

I had such appalling care at the start of my first pregnancy with DS1 that we transferred to private care for that birth and I'm having DC3 at the Portland again in a couple of months. Its over £10,000 for a natural delivery and over £15,000 for a section.
I think it represents excellent value for money - my consultant was always on call if i needed anything. I had a plancental abruption during my first delivery and the fact that I can have a scan each time I'm seen to check placental blood flow means my risk this time of another is non-existant. The hospital is clean, midwives are helpful and professional and I feel safe and cared for.
However, we can easily pay for it. Its a lot of money if you can't.
If I were you I would start on the NHS, take your mum along to the appointment and she can see too what the care is like and then you can make the decision.

My first pg was low risk. Ante care was good but post-natal was appalling. MWs missed that my DD was seriously poorly and she died in hospital.

Second pg was treated as high risk and the ante- and post-natal care (at Chelsea & Westminster) was absolutely brilliant. No complaints. I did consider going private for 2nd preg. but I managed to see the consultant who I wanted privately on the NHS. I would not have gained anything extra other than a posh room with nice nice toiletries by paying £15k.

You could supplement NHS with extra private scans and get a private room eg Kensington Wing. Personally, I would not consider private given the care I received but I know that not everyone would ordinarily get this.

When my mum went private, she did not pay for own room etc. She said that she just paid for private consultant. Not loooked into it yet.

I would not want parents to pay for entirely private package. We live in North Wales.

I recently have had to switch to private birth, rather than nhs. In my research i came across this which i've we'd lived nearer i would have explored. As it is i'm going to the portland. www.privatebirthcentre.co.uk/

A private birth isn't going to guarantee anything TBH. I believe the NHS can really do excellent things when the shit hits the proverial fan. I had a private birth with my second pregnancy and although the pre natal and post natal care and continutity of care with he same consultant was excellent if there was any medical emergency I don't believe I would have got "better" care than what is offered on the NHS. M first birth was complicated and I spent some time in high dependency after - this was all NHS and I can't fault the care I received. If you are concerned about cost then maybe like others have said do private scans, have own MW etc if you feel you don't deen it necessary to pay for the niceties like private room etc.

Thanks. Northwich is too far. I would like a consultant rather than midwife, as my mum blamed the midwife over not getting the proper care for brothers birth.

My partner is insisting baby must be born in Wales.

I will start with NHS. Wrexham Maelor has a good reputation.

Thanks. When me and my sister were born, my mum paid for a consultant to be on call at around the time of her due date, and to be present at the birth.

She said everything else was with NHS, except for one meeting she had beforehand with consultant. This was a long time ago, and at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

I agree options will probably be restricted in Wales.

Sadly there are no hospitals outside of London, withthe exception of Watford, which do private deliveries in hospital. I had my three at the Portland - was it "worth it"? It was on insurance. I spent some time on an NHS antenatal ward and the difference is night and day - nit in terms of medical care but in general cleanliness and aftercare.

Bagofholly I don't think this is right. I know people who have had private deliveries at NHS hospitals in Birmingham. OP PM me if you want me to pass on details.

When you say private delivery, what do you mean then? I couldn't find anywhere at all outside London. I don't mean a private room on an nhs ward, there are loads of places that do that, I mean fully private facilities. Which hospital in Birmingham?

Does anyone know of private maternity hospital near Leeds / North Yorkshire ? Can't see anything on google so presuming not

If you can find one I would 100% go private if an option. I had a horrible birth experience with my first, post natal care being the worst part.
If you can then why not!

@fairybeagle thanks for response I want to but from looking online can't see any near ish to where I live

I am also looking for private in the yorkshire area. Anyone got any recommendations?

I think services have improved since your mum gave birth. It is however, a completely personal choice.

You could try NHS care and swap at any point if you don't feel cared for.

I swapped hospitals at 20 weeks because the first one I went to was atrocious. I decided to find a hospital that had private rooms available for after birth. Which means the treatment and birth are through the NHS. But I can upgrade to a private room afterbirth. Some of the rooms partners are allowed to stay in, have a shower and a mini fridge. Which would mean my husband can support me after my C section. I knew I would be in for a couple of days so this was a great compromise for me.

Where I am private births were 10-15k and additional nights/follow up care was all extra some hospitals charged up to 1800 per night in the hospital. Needing a c section and likely needing 2 nights meant the price was creeping up and up. Some of those 10-15k prices didn't even include the antenatal care. My husband offered to pay but once I found the Royal Surrey County Hospital I was more than satisfied with the care I received.

Maybe look at the private midwife option.it would be a home birth or they can attend hospital to support you but can't be a midwife there. They also do all your ante and post natal.

I am 100% going for this option next time. I had a NHS low risk birth. Shit hit the fan and while yes they saved my sons life communication and post natal care were crap. My ante natal care was lacking to say the least.

The only reason why shit hit the fan and they needed to come in and be knihjts in shining armour was because they were negligent in the first place. If they had done their job properly while I was in early labour we wouldn't have been in the situation we were in.

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