Private hospitals outside london

[Rhianna1980]

I have been doing some research to help a friend of mine who is currently only few weeks preg and interested in giving birth in a private hospital ... But after researching on line we couldn't find anywhere besides London where they do that sort of thing. Can anyone shed any light why is like that?

There seems to be a few NHS hospitals with private maternity wards in London but nothing like that elsewhere (she lives in Cheshire). Anyone know why ? Thanks :)

Supply and demand...? You're right though - people have often commented on here that private maternity is limited to London (and Watford).

This service covers Cheshire.

www.privatebirthcentre.co.uk/

Rootbeer thanks for that! I will pass the details on to her but she wants a consultant lead birth.

Sunshine : yeah that's what I thought too.

There is private maternity in Windsor (long way from Cheshire though!).

Most of the big hospitals will have private wings, but their services will be reasonably limited.

But, most ante natal care is limited to London - outside of there, there is limited demand and it's not worth the insurance premiums.

It really depends on why she wants to go private.

if it's the private room etc., then the private wings at any of the NHS hospitals should be fine.

If it's to get the birth she wants (an EL CS for instance) you are really going to have to look at a consultant led birth at somewhere like the Portland.

MollieO - interested in your comment re Windsor - can you give me some details?

Looks like I'm wrong. Princess Margaret Hospital in Windsor definitely used to provide a maternity service but it seems they don't do so now.

For me, the private antenatal was just as important than the birth itself. That's the part I think you'd struggle to find much of outside of Harley Street...

FMC in Harley Street is vg.

I wouldn't want private maternity care without knowing whether they were geared up if things went wrong. Imo the private wing of an NHS hospital is the best of both worlds.

Mollie - the Portland is truly excellent and has emergency facilities contrary to popular belief.

Whenever I think of the Portland I just think of those poor twins' mother who died because of neglect.

There are no consultant led private units outside the SE.

Is there demand? Yes I believe so.
There are a great deal of women travelling large distances to get this care, despite of the practicalities at the moment. There is a constant stream of similar requests for information on MN, and I'm sure if the facilities existed they would be used rather than left empty. The fact they don't means a lot of women can not even consider it as an option.

So why hasn't one been built outside London yet if there is demand?
I'm guessing cost and politics is a major player here. To get planning for a private maternity wing you need more than just demand - you need will and support for the idea from those who make decisions over planning and the public as a whole. I personally can't see it being a popular decision to allow planning for a private maternity ward in some areas like the Labour heartland of the NW. Even though it might be highly lucrative, it still requires an enormous initial investment and unless its supported, a legal battle only adds to the bill. And why invest in 'difficult' areas, if women will come to you anyway?

I did hear rumour of a planned ward being built at a new NHS hospital in the NW (I think it was north manchester way), but I've seen struggled to find anything further about whether a final decision was made in its favour. In any case the date being talked about was in 2 - 3 years from now. I hope it comes to fruition.

So I'm afraid that unless your friend is prepared to consider a MLU (and that might mean a possible transfer to an NHS CLU if things do go pearshaped) or travel to the SE, she's stuck with the NHS.

What are your friend's reasons for wanting CLU care privately? Any particular reason?

Many thanks for your replies.
I think she wants CLU because she had a bad experience with NHS and can afford going private and wants a piece of mind.

I don't blame her.... (feeling slightly jealous of her as I would love a CLU )

The problem is more than just paying the bill for hospital and consultant ... It's the whole expense of staying /renting London for few months to have the baby which will probably be more expensive than the birth itself ha ha!

So hang on ...where do all affluent rich and famous Cheshire wives (and the rest of them) go to have their babies ?! I'm not convinced that they all stay in London while they get sorted? Or do they ?!

I think most of them stick with the nhs... I know Rio Ferdinand's partner gave birth in a Manc maternity unit last yr. Others may well go to the Portland - think Abbey Clancey/Peter Crouch. It'd be unlikely that you'd need to rent somewhere in London - most would surely be driven home after their stay.

Unfortunately, there are very few options for private maternity care outside London. You will find private midwives, but no options for a private consultant led delivery.

There is something called Mums in Birmingham, but the delivery still takes place in an NHS hospital and a private room is not guaranteed.

The rich and affluent wives in the rest of UK are probably rich enough to afford accommodation in London as well for the last few weeks of their pregnancy. ;)

Rhianna1980, the footballers thing is precisely why I think there is the demand for a NW private maternity wing attached to an NHS hospital. Its not just the footballers wives. There is plenty of money, in and around the manchester area, particularly Cheshire.

I'd say if your friend can't afford to go to London, she might be best to look into private doula or midwife options as the next best alternative so she has someone to be her advocate.

I'm really sorry I can't help anymore. The whole situation is pretty terrible, that women are, in some cases, desperate enough to go to London and spend money that they really don't have. Its not just footballers wives types doing it and I really don't think its not just posh types either.

The piece of mind thing says a lot about trust in the NHS which is very sad.

First world problems.

Doesn't make them less valid if they are for health reasons ThisIsNotMyLife. Depression and anxiety are killers too.

If you look into it a lot of the reasons women are looking at private options it is due to a previous traumatic experience or extreme anxiety which are causing health problems.

Saying its a first world problem is still ignorant, patronising, belittling and quite frankly very rude.

thisisnotmylife - what a horrible post.

By all means save the world if you know how to, but be constructive. Nothing but empty criticism in your post.

One of the reasons the world is in a mess is because politicians spend more time shouting that the 'other' party is wrong instead of actually thinking about what should / could be done.

And when they get into power, they're all far more worried about their second mortgage, expense account and book deal. You don't sound different at all.

If everyone actually received the standard of maternity care that they should in a first world country, then we wouldn't need threads like this... but sadly they don't.