Private Birth or stick with NHS?

[cordsg]

Hi there. I'm based in Central London and am trying to understand the pros and cons for each.

What exactly are you getting if you go private that you wont get on NHS?

Is it worth it or is the benefit marginal?

What private hospital are you thinking of?
I was in the same situ and opted for queen charlotte's NHS delivery but private aftercare and some antenatal care.

Reasoning - i was intending to go private for the whole thing but started seeing the NHS consultant and found the care so bloody amazing that i didn't want to jinx it and change if that makes sense?

If its chelsea and westminster i think NHS care can be mixed so would go private, queen charlotte's NHS is good as mentioned, had a couple of appointments at the Portland and they seemed good but not anything amazingly special. Have no knowledge of St Mary's beyond their RMC.

In future i will take the same mix and match approach, NHS consultant (cuz they will be 8k+ alone) private add ons like extra scans. Actual delivery makes no difference in my view but private post natal so much better as own room / loads of midwife support.

nhs hospitals can vary in quality but London i think we have some really good nhs options.

I second queen Charlotte's private post birth care. You get almost 1-1 post birth mid wife support . I don't see the point of paying for private birth. A birth is a birth as far as I'm concerned - you don't get a less qualified surgeon because they are nhs.

I will say that the Antinatal appointments at Queen Charlotte were never on time . Almost always an hour later than scheduled. Plus in summer it's baking in the whole hospital except the private rooms which have individual ac

I hear good things about the Portland and some people pay for ongoing paediatric support which I guess if you're a first time mum is handy

I went to the Westminster Suite at St Thomas’ and saw Con Kelleher throughout. Great experience.