Thinking of going private - any tips, recommendations etc please?

[KeepingQuiet]

I'm only 6 weeks preg but off to see the GP tomorrow and I know he will ask which hospital I want to be referred to

Went NHS at St George's last time but the "care" was dire
My other NHS option would be St Thomas' and I know they have a private wing

Any other options in London apart from the Portland or St John & Elizabeth?

Any hints or tips? Our health insurance won't cover this so it's a big spend

Well, it hasn't got a great reputation. In fact, it is really bad. But, if you've already been and you are happy with it, then I guess you know what you are in for. Sorry... I don't want to worry you if you are already committed. If you want to chat about this, start a new thread. Don't want to hijack this one.

6K?!??! Blimey, go to Queen Charlotte. They have a birthing centre too. But, I would know very little about it as I'm a planned section kind of girl, myself.

KQ - when I used it in 2002 the Birth Centre operated as a combination of independent mid-wife plus a physical place to have the baby should you choose. i was assigned two midwives - one my main one, plus a back up. you meet them both before hand for all your ante-natal appointments - these are great as they come to your house and spend about an hour with you (again, if you want - if you preferred you could send them scurrying after 10 mins, but that rather defeats the object) they really take time and effort to discuss how you'd like the birth to go. when it comes to the birth you can have a home birth, you can go to the birth centre or you can go to hospital. you don;t even have to make a decision in advance. either way they come to your house first and then either stay with you or go with you to the Birth Centre or hospital. you can't have an epidural at the Birth Centre but you can have an epidural in an NHS hopsital with your Birth Centre mid-wife in attendance. the only complicating factor is that different NHS hopsitals operate different ways of dealing with independent midwives - when I had dd in 2002 Kingston hopsital would only allow them in as a birth partner not your actual mid-wife - but I have a feeling that may have changed. The Birth Centre operates the most flexible mother-centred systems I can imagine. After a traumatic hospital birth with dd1 it was very liberating to be "allowed" to have a real say and real control and to have a mid-wife I knew and trusted and who had a manageable case load and wasn't always in a rush.

Had DS at the Lindo Wing. Mr Teoh was my consultant which I loved because he has a portable ultrasound. Every visit you can check in on the baby, which I found very comforting after a few miscarriages. The care was great and they allowed my husband to stay with me in my room for the 5 nights I was in.

I used Lansdell at St Thomas' and it was brilliant. Will be going back. We had a bed put in there for dh throughout and my consultant agreed on a 50% discount on his usual fees. C & W , Queen Charlotte and the third one were fully booked as usual so you need to get in really early.

Was once referred to a Linda Cardoso at Lewisham and was very impressed with the people and facilities except that she had to refer me to a Prof. Nicholiades who had a overbooked schedule.

If you can get into Chelsea and Westminster on the NHS, you should be fine. I recently met someone who said she had to literarily beg, cajole and threathen to get in on the NHS.

u cd try chelsea and westminster which has a private wing but gets very busy and has to be booked early. their private consultants will treat anyone at the Portland (£5k ish) and say it is much better than it used to be. my consultant (private) at C&W said he would not touch St John and Elizabeth.

did he say why??
was he jealous ??

I wonder why too.....

Hated the NHS ward at Tommy's after DS1, too noisy dirty and also agency staff not great at medical care

Used the Birth Centre for DS2 to try for VBAC, wouldn't recommend them if you know you want to go to hospital but if you don't mind I thought they were good. Didn't fancy their home from home unit myself. And you are right, there are no epidurals with the Birth Centre but actually and to my surprise I managed without one. In the end DS2 was another c/section at Tommy's. DH was v resourceful, got a private room at Tommy's on the spot which happened to be free. You might not want to rely on that. Anyway it was lovely, clean and quiet, possibly veering a bit too far towards the Yummy Flat Tummed Mummy for me but it serves me right for going private I suppose

I am having a planned section due to medical issues, paid for by BUPA. I went to look at the Landsell Suite yesterday, I thought it was ok. Still brought me out in hives though and I thought I was going to cry the whole time I was there, probably a hangover from my previous hideous birth if I'm fair. I'm considering using Mr Kellerher.

I'm going to look at the Portland next week to see if I can get past reception without thinking I'm going to faint. I'm considering Donald Gibb if I go to teh Portland.

£6k is the minimum it will cost. The 'usual' range is £6k to £11k. Ouch.

x

I've just heard from the Lansdell Suite at St Thomas - their midwife is retiring so midwife led care doesn't seem to be an option there now

Can recommend Kate Harding (consultant obs) at St T's - I had her on the NHS but she does do private as well.

My girlfriend had an emergency c-section at the Portland - and came out GBP 15 K poorer! She told me about a "welcome basket" that was in her room - stuff for baby, creams, maternity knickers and pads etc - she nearly fainted when she discovered that they charged for everything in the basket and (are you sitting down???..........) a pack of maternity pads ? £65 per pack - well fuck me sideways!!! Am getting that "ripped off" feeling!

Hope the pads were gold plated for that sort of £££. Outrageous!

Another reason to avoid the Portland, IMO.

A word of advice about the Lindo Wing - it's small and gets booked up very early, so if you're interested in giving birth there, move quickly. I toured it when I was approx 10 weeks pregnant, and there was a real question whether or not they could fit me in!

Spudballoo, Donald Gibb has been my consultant twice and he is excellent. Have you seen his own website TheBirthCompany dot co dot uk?

The Portland didn't do the basket when I was there but did have their own boutique.

Probably completely going off on a tangent, but if you're not made of money, is it really worth going private? I'm far too much of a miser to pay for something I can get for free. 6k pays for a almost a year's worth of 2-days-a-week childcare and I know which I'd rather.
Most people think that money going private is really well spent though, so what do I know?
PP

Must say, I went to the MLD team at the Portland and it was fab. And it was all inclusive - not charged extra for pads, toiletries, all stuff for baby, champagne dinner. Def. worth the cash IMHO as I had constant care with a midwife I'd met many times previously.

Re the Birth Centre, I think it's a question of "fit" - if you get the wrong midwife, you may nto have such a postitive experience.

positive

I would highly recommend the Lindo Wing .. haven't given birth yet so we'll see, but the care so far has been flawless.

I'm just about to embark on the process of begging my way into the private ward at C&W. Any advice? Any recommendations for Private Obs there?

There is an article in this months red magazine about this, detailing various women's private experiences

I'm surprised re what you say about the Portland and "gift basket" - doesn't tally with my experience at all. I had 2 CS's there reasonably recently and it wasn't anywhere near the price range you mention. I categorically cannot see how they can "charge" £65 for maternity pads. You have to pay separately for bloods, scans etc as you go along and they are not much more than that - my CVS was only twice that! I'm not saying it was cheap, but it wasn't in the stratospheric levels you mention either. Seem to remember that the food element of the bill was really, really reasonable (DH works just round the corner and would turn up pretty much for every meal!)

I had both of my children there and really couldn't fault it (would have considered St john & St Elizabeth but really inconveniently located for us). But it is horses for courses (I'm a kind of "like medical experiences to be carried out under bright lights and have a whiff of dettol rather than by candle light and ylang ylang oil" type of girl!)

Melrose,
Is that the August or September issue of Red?