private birth London

[Anna0221]

Hi Everyone,

I've just found out I'm pregnant and currently considering my birth options. Ideally I would like to opt for a c-section and a private hospital/private wing attached to NHS. So far I've emailed the Portland and the Kensington Wing. I pretty much ruled out the Portland as the basic fee is £11,500 (versus £8,150 for Kensington Wing). I also had a look at Lindo Wing and Queen Charlotte & Chelsea Hospital (I think they operate under the same company group?). The fees at QC&C seem low in comparison to the others (in the region of £6k for a c-section) but I wonder if there are some additional hidden costs that are included in the other packages. I'm aware of the additional cost per night's stay etc. Which one out of the two (Kensington and QC&C) would you recommend and why? In terms of consultants I was thinking Mr Guy Thorpe-Beeston in Kensigton or Bryony Jones at QC&C. I'm so confused, any advice would be much appreciated!

@Vsebu8 sorry for the slow reply.

I gave birth in the midwife led unit at the Portland recently and wasn't impressed.

The overall birthing experience was very medicalised and ended up with an emergency c section.

I arrived at the hospital in the morning already 5cm dilated and at this stage I've asked for an epidural, which slow down the all process. I found the staff quite unsupportive of the birth plan. They did end up ignoring totally during the c section very sadly.

I would say is very much like anywhere else, you get the nice midwives and some that are not so nice. Unfortunately, the nice one were not there for my birth.

The good thing was that my husband could stay by my side at all the time which was precious during the 2 days in hospital recovering from the c section.

The final bill was very high because a consultant was required for the c section- which led you to question the ethos behind medical decisions.

Hope it helps!

Many thanks @Grainedesesame, really appreciate you have shared your experience. Sorry to hear that, hope now is all going well with you and the baby.
One of their midwives called me the other day for a free "meet and greet" intro, and to be honest I already was not impressed the way she handled it on the phone. Very cold tone and seemed to be in a hurry to kill the conversation. Your kind review really helps to broaden the picture.
So I started to look for a consultant, but I will need a hospital anyway and my options are still either Portland or St Thomas. So I guess it will be a gamble with the midwives in both options..

@Vsebu8 what are the new policies? can partners no longer stay?

Ah just looked and your partner needs to leave after 4 hours. i don't get it - you're in a private room and he's already been there so what difference does it make?

Not London but Surrey. I had c section private two years ago. I only started seeing consultants after 28 weeks as I was abroad before then. Started with Lindo Wing then transferred to Royal Surrey. But whether it was Lindo, Royal Surrey or Portsmouth, when all was added up, it came to £37,000. By choice I stayed 2 nights rather than 1. Good luck

Does anyone know if you would still be entitled to NHS postnatal care if going private for the birth? I.e. midwife visit at home etc. Also, can I get the flu vaccine on the NHS? As I understand it they are recommended for pregnant women. Thanks!

@Anna0221

Does anyone know if you would still be entitled to NHS postnatal care if going private for the birth? I.e. midwife visit at home etc. Also, can I get the flu vaccine on the NHS? As I understand it they are recommended for pregnant women. Thanks!

Yes you are entitled. Last time (2018) I got postnatal care including visits and removal of staples at home from midwife on NHS, everything else on private. This time, I got 2 scans on NHS including the anomaly scan, and will get vaccines (flu and pertussis) and postnatal care on NHS. You can even get some of the blood tests on NHS and others on private, and I was offered more scans for placenta previa on NHS but I was ok to remain with private for that. The more you split the more it can get confusing for you (e.g. I had two blood draws checking almost same thing - risk of DS - but of course the private one was the more accurate/more indepth analysis so I didnt mind. And it was my choice sort of)

@GingerScallop

Not London but Surrey. I had c section private two years ago. I only started seeing consultants after 28 weeks as I was abroad before then. Started with Lindo Wing then transferred to Royal Surrey. But whether it was Lindo, Royal Surrey or Portsmouth, when all was added up, it came to £37,000. By choice I stayed 2 nights rather than 1. Good luck

Do I read this right £37,000?! This is nearly double everything else I’ve seen staying ~£20k

Cazza21 Yes it was £37,000. Just went through Lindo Wing quote then (2018). Standard room was £7435 per night and £1175 every extra night. C-section deposit was £9785. Then there were bloods, scans, etc. Royal Surrey was a tad cheaper with C section at £7+ and first night at £4750. I dont know how it all stacked up (it might be that my insurance paid for flight for me and DH which they did for the early parts of my pregnancy when I had to fly 3 times from my country to another in that region for antenatal care. Or it might be because was an older mum with a range of risk factors including complicated fibroids).

Is anyone else on here going with St Thomas private wing? I'm wondering if you know of any upcoming changes to their visiting rules (currently partners can only stay 4 hours after birth:( )? It doesn't really make sense as you're obviously in a private room so it's not like you have partners visiting on the ward. I had a look and other private hospitals are still allowing partners to stay overnight. I was thinking of changing hospitals but that would mean switching my consultant as well which I don't really want to do.

@Anna0221 I am in NHS with them, as still in the decision process whether to move private.. Tbh the only difference in St Thomas private vs NHS is a private postnatal ward and your individual consultant care with a midwife. All other facilities (and imposed restrictions) they share with NHS. Even a private consultant appointment that I had was there in the NHS facilities.
In the private wing they told me that they don't know themselves how the things develop, as just follow the guidelines. I don't know why, but it seems that their guidelines are the strictest in london. Given the current situation with covid, I wouldn't expect any improvements in the coming months..
I think your consultant should deliver in Portland as well, so you can switch there and have your partner around all the time.

Thanks very much for the info @Vsebu8. I want to go private as I'm opting for a c-section (I know you can elect this on the NHS but I've heard that in the current climate they can cancel it using covid as an excuse) and I want some privacy after. I also know that you can pay extra for a private room on the NHS but I don't think they can guarantee in advance that one will be available (not knowing would make me anxious). They do seem ridiculously strict though, all the other private hospitals allow partners and even the majority of NHS ones. Very annoying! Yes, he works at Portland too but the fact that it's fully private meaning if anything happened I would have to be transferred to an NHS hospital puts me off. That plus the fact it's a lot more expensive.

Hi @Anna0221 I was just discharged from the Westminster suite last week. The facilities have moved back to the 12th floor and although the visiting restrictions are still in place, I believe these are likely to be relaxed in the next week or so. Even though it wasn’t ideal, the midwives and maternity assistants were absolutely fantastic and there to help with everything. No one really knows how things will go with COVID so I think it was reassuring that even with the strictest restrictions the care is still great and you have everything you need.

@Anna0221 indeed, I would go straight to private for the c-section and understand all your concerns, as I actually have the same thoughts (i.e. private ward after delivery is smth I would pay extra for sure). I was also comparing Portland and SThomas, and actually the price difference did not appear that big.. at least for the basic consultant led package. For example, St Thomas charges separately for baby checks and also smth else.. so you need to add up to their package price.
As per Portland's private status and emergencies, I think this is something to ask your consultant for sure, so he can give some genuine opinion as delivers in both hospitals.

@Scrambledbeans congratulations! did you have a natural delivery there? just want to understand how they manage it on the private side, as really want to get to the birth center

@Vsebu8, I think my consultant's strong preference is St Thomas so, ideally, I want to stick with them. Yes, definitely try to book a private room if you decide to go with the NHS. I've heard that the NHS postnatal ward at St Thomas gets very busy and the care can be lacking due to understaffing.

Congrats @Scrambledbeans! Thank you for the info, that's really reassuring to hear!

I’m booked in for the Westminster suite for delivery in late November. I’ve been seeing my consultant in his consulting room in Marylebone, which has meant I have been able to avoid the hospital all together.
I chose to go in to the hospital to have my glucose test, rather than having that privately, because I wanted to actually see the hospital before I gave birth and practice getting there.
I’ve heard rumours that because Westminster is on the 12th floor and separated from the rest of the maternity services, they have a bit more flexibility with visits. There was potential for my husband to stay with me the whole time, so long as he didn’t come and go from the hospital, he would be ‘locked in’ with me. Not sure if this will remain the case given the current spike.

Just a post to make you aware that if your pregnancy, Labour or birth becomes complicated you'll incur the vast majority the fees and then probably have to be transferred to an NHS high risk centre like Kings anyway (though you'd probably still get a private room after birth).

£37,000 for 2 nights!

Bear in mind that you just don't know what's going to happen. My first birth resulted in a 10 night stay and baby on special care. You don't want to be in a separate hospital to your child.

Personally I would be far too cautious of the risks of private, even though it's a nicer experience for the mum for that first week.

This is a bit of a left field option, and may be just for others reading rather than OP to consider, but if you are low risk, have you considered a home birth with a private midwife? You get the continuity of care and you can have your partner with you as much as you want. A private midwife will get to know you through pregnancy and then do post natal care too.

I know it’s not for everyone but I thought worth mentioning as a possibility. It feels from some of the posts on this thread that it would fill the need to have a known caregiver, a comfortable environment, and no restrictions on your partner.

@YukoandHiro, as far as I know St Thomas is a highly specialist/high risk hospital so I don't believe I would need to be transferred anywhere. As it's an NHS hospital surely I could just be moved to the NHS ward in case some further treatment was needed and I didn't want to pay for it privately.

@Dailyhandtowelwash, I think that's a good option for those opting for natural birth. As I'm having a c-section, that wouldn't work for me.

@Anna0221 @Vsebu8 St Thomas ladies just checking to see if you’d received any updates from your consultants or the hospital since Sunday’s announcement? I had my booking appointment yesterday and the midwife had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned Boris’ comments about rapid testing to allow husbands improved access during / after birth...

Sorry haven’t read through all replies but I
chose Lindo because of the NHS NICU facilities next door. I was under consultant care from 6 weeks with planned c section delivery, all tests done at FMC. Total cost inclusive of everything tests, consultant, hospital plus 2 extra nights stay was around 24k

@Figey, no updates unfortunately. From what I can see on their website right now they're allowing partners for the whole duration of birth and 4 hours after (+ 2 hour visiting slots the following days). When are you due? Fingers crossed they're a bit more flexible and the info on their website is just the 'official' info.

Just wanted to ask about The Portland on this thread and how much it ended up being just for the hospital fees. I am going to go private for my 2nd child, due in October and will have an elective c section. It seems like The Portland is more value for money than the private wings in NHS Hospitals as it sounds like the staff are overworked and not as caring. Please correct me if I am wrong, this could be an outcome of the pandemic. I need to chose between The Portland and the Lindo wing