Giving birth privately at Ealing Hospital

[maysaxo]

Hi all,
I'm pregnant with my first child and due to deliver in September, I'm currently abroad and have spent my whole pregnancy away from the UK. I'm due to move back at the end of this month. I was wondering what I need to do when I get back e.g. booking appointment with midwife etc. Do I need to go to my GP and have him refer me or do I go straight to the hospital?
My local hospital would be Ealing Hospital in Southall, West London. Also I wanted to have a water birth and a private room during and after the delivery (I'm not sure whether they'd provide that anyway). Would I need to pay for this kind of service or would it be free under the NHS? If so how much would it cost me?
I'm totally clueless as to what I need to do hence why I'm asking all these silly questions!

Lurking as also pregnant abroad. Pretty sure if you contact GP reception they'll be able to advise re. booking in. My experience of the NHS is you get a private room with pool if available during birth but are moved to a ward afterwards. This will be on NHS assuming your British and are moving back permanently. Private room will cost and be dependant upon availability

Well I would not recommend Ealing Hospital if you have a choice!! Best thing to do is to get registered with a local GP and then have them refer you to a hospital. You need to be 'normally resident in the UK'...so if you have moved back on a permanent basis and can provide a permanent address you should have no problem. If you are not normally resident in the UK and have not moved back permanently then you should pay for your care. There is a private ward called the Stanley Clayton Ward at Queen Charlotte's hospital, give them a call and they can send you out an information pack on which OB's they work with and provide you with the costs of a hospital birth in the private ward. Any costs to an OB for your care are separate to this and need to be paid to the OB as per their fee schedule. In addition to this there may be various lab fee's for tests.

You are able to be referred to any hospital in your PCT (actually any in London) if they have the space. However be warned that some hospitals will not 'have a space'. I would recommend Queen Charlotte's if you can get in as it is in the same PCT as Ealing Hospital. Queen Charlotte's also has a birthing centre where you pretty much get your own room, most rooms have pools and they encourage an active birth.

Ealing Hospital does have private rooms but they are allocated on the day you are in the hospital based on need. It is pretty much the same for private rooms in most NHS wards. Birth Centres attached to NHS hospitals usually give you your own room because most leave the same day or day after the birth.

Thanks for the replies!
I'm British and will be moving back permanently so I guess I'm entitled to free healthcare. I'll be sure to contact my GP as soon as I get back so he can refer me to the nearest hospital that has a birthing centre, hopefully the Queen Charlotte hospital because I've heard a lot of positive feedback from people who've given birth there.
So if I do (praying I will!) find space at the birthing centre at that hospital would it be covered by the NHS or would I need to pay, bearing in mind I would like my own room before, during and after the birth. I'm willing to pay if it isn't extremely pricey because I really want a room to myself (I know I sound like a spoilt brat!!). Any ideas where I can get info on the prices at the hospital?

Even if you are willing to pay you can only get a private room if they have space on the day you are giving birth and it is based on need. So a mother that has a hard birth, complications, emergency section, etc that wants a private room will get the room before someone with less need iyswim.

I requested a private room at Queen Charlotte's as soon as I was admitted into the labour ward but again they said they couldn't tell me if I would get one until after my baby was born. I had an emergency c-section and asked again in the recovery ward (where I stayed most the night as dd was born at 1:10am) and was moved to a private room at 6am. My private room at Queen Charlotte's and I think it was £110 per night but I can't quite remember (couple years ago). At Ealing it was slightly less.

So it doesn't matter how bad you want a private room....or how much you can pay....if you are using the NHS you just need to get lucky on the day.

The only way to guarantee a private room is to go private. ££££