NHS or Private

[NewYorktoLondon]

My husband and I have recently moved to London from New York. We're also are just over 8 weeks pregnant.

We are trying to sort out the whole NHS system or deciding to just go private. It is extremely expensive to go the private option, but if we think it is worth it then we think we can manage this.

So I have two questions for anyone who is out there ...

1. Private. Where's the best place to go for a private birth. Is the Portland a safe option - and has anyone done the Midwife Led service through them? Are there consultants that you think are just great?

2. NHS. Of St. Mary's, Chelsea and Westminister, and Queen Charlotte's which would you recommend?

thanks for any advice. we are desperately trying to sort through all of the options, and honestly just looking for the best one out there?

Thanks.

Useful recent thread here

Yes I would read that thread. NHS is safest option really. Portland has a bad recent history.

I had my dd at Chelsea, the care before and during labour was great, the aftercare was awful. You can go NHS for the birth and move to a private room afterwards (if one is available) but to be honest it is £600 per night for very little. If everything goes ok you won't be in there for long anyway, and if it doesn't and you have to stay longer you will probably be glad you had been in the NHS for other reasons!

Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!

had my first on the NHS and can't fault the care I had ( but not at any of those hospitals) Am expecting a second and will also be on the NHS. Private isn't an option for lots of women here because of the cost....

I'm also an ex-pat and was really anxious about what route to go down when we were expecting our first - no friends had babies at that point and all of my family were overseas. Was in the same boat as yourself. Have been exptremely impressed with the entire midwife care before and after ( midwifery is still seen as a 'fringe' thing - but growing more mainstream I think - in Canada)

Good luck with your decisions and CONGRATULATIONS!!

I had the same dilemma, but following an anomalous scan which was dealt with by the Harris clinic at Kings, I didn't want to be anywhere other than in the NHS system. I was worried that private clinics, unless directly attached to a hospital, are not equipped for emergencies. And in any event, the consultant who dealt with me on the big day was the same who had looked after a friend who'd gone privately and spent thousands for the privilege...

Yes the wards weren't fabulous, and nor was the food etc, but dh was great at bringing in food parcels and everything went quickly (despite the fact I ended up being in hospital for nearly 2 weeks). The wards at Kings were new anyway, so they were much nicer than I'd imagined (I'd heard the old wards were dreadful). Paying for a private room after the birth may be a good compromise, although if all goes smoothly, you might be in and out the same day, and prefer to have help at home instead. HTH

I had my dd on the NHS and i really can't fault them either.
I'm in the NorthEast so guess it would differ in different areas.
My midwives were fantastic and the hospital was lovely!
Good luck and Congratulations++++

As a midwife in the NHS, I would say that I have never seen the need for private care when having a baby except for the fact you might get a nice single room. If you have a high risk pregnancy requiring medical care you will automatically be seen by a consultant. However, if you have a normal pregnancy the best carer for you is a midwife. There are some fabulous schemes of how midwifery care is delivered in the NHS. If you wanted to be guatanteed of one midwife throughout labour and birth then I would consider an Independent Midwife.
If anyone is in need of high tech specialised care then the place to be, without a doubt, is the NHS.

Not an answer to your question NewYorktoLondon, as you'll be in London, but private isn't an option in Scotland as there is NO private maternity provision here!

Can't fault the state system though - my experience was excellent (food excepted!). I did end up in a single room though, because ds needed phototherapy, which was much better than the the 4 bed ward I started in.

I would echo what others have said about needing the back-up of the NHS for emergencies. CountessDracula has that name for a reason, so she would know!

Thanks to all for the great feedback. Really helpful.

All of this is so overwhelming. I just got real afraid when I went to my GP and she said that I wouldn't actually see a midwife or consultant until I was 16 weeks on the NHS. And that they no longer did 12 weeks scans. I can get a scan privately, but it just does feel like anyone will be pulling all of my medical history together.

This is what's prompted me to go private - so the ante-natal care can begin earlier.

Does anyone know how I find an independent midwife? And if I go this direction - then do I just sign-up with a NHS hospital? I work in SoHo and live in central/west london.

Thanks for all of your support!

that's rubbish, I saw my midwife for a booking at 11/12 weeks and had a scan (wanted a nuchal fold measurement and got my gp to refer specifically for this though as i was 38). please don't be put off by the fabric of some nhs hospitals, mine was particularly grotty but had a better obstetric reputation than some of the newer units.

Agree with bundle, 12-week scans and appointments were standard part of my NHS care as well (UCH in London). In fact I think they now do them at 11 weeks and offer you a nuchal fold scan too, tho' I didn't go for this option.

The way into NHS hospital care is to go to your GP and get him/her to refer you. There will probably be two or three local hospitals that they refer to, and the GP may have useful opinions regarding the choice. You can opt for mainly hospital care, in which case all your appts will be at the hospital, or so-called 'shared care' in which your scans and a couple of main appts are at the hospital, and the routine checks in between carried out at your GP surgery. The latter seems to be the most common option, as long as you get on with your GP and aren't high-risk.

Hospitals should also offer you a choice of consultant or midwife-led care, again assuming you're not high-risk. Some NHS hospitals (UCH again) have a midwife-only birthing unit (in addition to the standard labour ward) for more homely and holistic care in straightforward deliveries.

NewYorktoLondon: I just wrote you a v. long response on the thread you started under "pregnancy." Do give that a look--it's an opinion in favor of private, just to confuse you more!

I recently had a 12 week scan and nuchal fold test on the NHS. I could opt for NHS CVS or Amnio if I wanted at the very best clinic in the whole of the UK (and possibly the world) for this sort of thing - that Harris Birthright at Kings in South London. So your GP is talking rubbish.
NHS hospitals can be grim places structurally, but private care seems a hell of a lot of money for not much IMO. Better to pay for a doula or independent midwife IMO if you want a natural birth. Friends have had good experiences in NHS birth centres and say they are better than ordinary maternity wards.

I had my scans done privately the Foetal Medicine Centre on Harley Street which is Professor Kypros Nicolaides (he of Harris Birthright at King's and developer of nuchal fold test) private practice (I think actually it all goes to charity) £150 for 12 week scan plus blood test and £250 for 20 week scan. Link is here - would really highly recommend them after a bit of a stuff up on my first NHS scan.

For various reasons, one being not feeling like my care was particularly "joined up" on the NHS, I decided to go for independent midwives which was the best money I have ever spent. Whereabouts in London are you? If you want to contact me through contact another talker I can tell you more about them and give you their details.

Sorry just seen that you have said where you live - my independent midwife covers that area so do get in touch if you want to know more.

SueW - I was thinking of in-patient care rather than the midwives. From what I understand, the indepedend widwives still have to work closely with the NHS porvsion, as there isn't a private maternity hospital - or even private beds attached to a hospital.

Your doctor is clearly out of touch ? dating scans, carried out between 10 and 13 weeks, are routine and must be offered to all pregnant women. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is the body that sets standards for clinical care for the NHS: see
guideline
Apart from that I agree with the others who have said the NHS offers excellent medical care for you and your baby although the environment (on a ward not your own room, cleanliness) is sometimes less than ideal. If you do go private you should know that the Portland has been criticised over the deaths of two patients and has no ITU/special baby care unit. Safest option is the private wing of an NHS hospital with all the facilities on hand.

NewYorktoLondon, other than my scans (and the blip associated with the 13 week scan), and one midwife booking which frankly seemed a waste of time, I didn't see any midwife and only saw my GP during my pregnancy - so I had continuity until my blood pressure climbed towards the end at which point I was referred to the hospital.

I was happier with this for several reasons: my GP's surgery is just a few hundred yards away from my house, I knew and liked my GP, I could make appointments for a time which suited me so I didn't have to wait for hours in a hospital, I saw the same person each time (and I knew that if I'd gone via the hospital route I wouldn't be seeing the same person twice).

Other info I wanted/needed was via NCT, reading around, friends, my GP and of course places like mumsnet. Can't remember what it was called, something obvious like "GP-led care" or something. You may want to see if your GP offers this.

I had a 12 week scan at the Harris as well and saw midwife just before this. I also got a scan straight away on nhs at 9 weeks.
I hated the after care on nhs, but cannot fault medical care for me and baby.
With both there was meconium and slightly raised heartbeat so both times I had paeds there when babies born. In fact with ds I had a whole room full of people for his birth!

i can recommend fantastic independent mws who will cover central/west london. CAT me if you are interested.

Hi nytolondon. I am an american living in london. I've had my 2 children (now 22mo. and 3.5yrs) at 2 different hospitals in london. The first was at St.Mary's and with awful gp's. It was a truly abysmal experience from start to finish. After that I was absolutely determined to have my 2nd either in the usa or privately in the uk. The usa ended up not being an option, so I signed up with a obgyn at the Portland and prepared to bite the bullet and spend a fortune having my baby at the Portland (to be paid for by my parents who were appalled by the nhs). However, after several disappointing appointments with the obgyn and then a shocking visit to the Portland (I was appalled at the state of the place...dilapidated and depressing), I decided to brave the nhs and spend the saved money on pampering myself during my pregnancy. Luckily I had not "deregistered" myself with my gp and place at the nhs hospital. This time I was booked at Queen Charlotte's and switched gp's at 8 months pregnant. It was an entirely different experience and totally bearable. I think partly I had learned to work the system and partly had nicer people around me.
As I was 39 when my dd was born, I was offered nuchal fold testing which I had. However, I ended up deciding that I wasn't happy with the reliability of the test (although my results were fine) and decided to have an amnio. I didn't like my gp that I had during the majority of my pregnancy and announced to the hospital that I didn't want to do "shared care" (where you alternate visits with gp and hospital). They said that they couldn't accomodate me for all the visits. I said fine, I'd just do the hospital visits and skip the gp ones. They realized that I was serious and managed to fit me in for extra hospital visits. Also, when I met with my consultant regarding the amnio, he was rude and patronizing and made me cry, so I refused to see him again and marched myself up to the natural birth floor and convinced the head midwife to take over my care and deliver my baby. From then on it was a totally positive experience (even the bit where I had a postpartum haemmorage).
Having said all of that, my advice would be, like others have said, save your money and don't go private. Consider getting a private midwife and make sure that you are registered to deliver at Queen Charlotte's. If you don't like or feel comfortable with your gp, switch gp's now. I can highly recommend my gp's who are in W3 if you are nearby to that. Otherwise, do a lot of research and be prepared for a different way of doing things than in the usa. Put aside some of the money that you've saved to help equalise things where necessary.

sofia--there's an identical thread under "pregnancy" in which I mentioned your name! I'm glad you were able to highlight my point about St Mary's (NHS) being so lousy.

I know you say "save your money" etc, but it sounds like you had a hell of a time getting out of the gp-led system and also switching hospitals halfway through yr 2nd pregnancy. Don't you think if you'd actually found a private hospital or wing you actually liked, and a non-patronizing consultant you liked, such as one of the good guys at the Lindo Wing, you could have happily stuck with the private option and been saved the grief of FIGHTING for everything you wanted? Don't you think in a way the NHS was responsible for all the fighting you had to do, and your need to extricate yourself from the bad GP-led care--that all of that was part and parcel of the NHS? So maybe a (good) private birth experience really WOULD have been worth it for you, esp. if your parents could and were willing to pay.

i say this because a lot of people on here keep defending the NHS, but then qualifying it with all their bad experiences. There's a lot of dismissal here of private care, but from people who haven't actually used it.

Whereas I feel I've been making an effort (on the other thread) to give a more balanced opinion that acknowledges the pros and cons of each. I used private care but would have used NHS if my insurance hadn't covered every penny of the birth and hospital stay because the NHS gives excellent medical care. But I think for someone who HAS good insurance and/or the money for a private birth, it's definitely worth considering, and there are definitely some benefits which I know about because I've actually used the system.

I had my dd on the NHS and cannot fault the support I received. I had my ante-natal care at St.Thomas's (we left London when I was 34 weeks) and thought they were fantastic. I have a terrible blood test phobia and they spent LOADS of time trying to help me manage the phobia prior to my labour. I always got to see the same midwife (it had been my concern in a large London hozzy that I would be seen by loads of different people) and she was thoroughly supportive. The only aspect of private care that would have been appealling would have been a private room just after the birth.
I had my dd in the South West and the care we got there was great too.