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Original poster

Private room Vs post natal ward

53 replies

Nesski · 22/02/2021 22:46

Hello! I'm considering going into a private room if available on the day of delivery, and was wondering if anybody has any experience of both and is able to explain the differences? I'm not looking for the full private package, just the room!

I'm due 23rd June, which is 2 days after Bojo's all-restricting lifting so will assume that it will be like pre-covid. I'll be giving birth at St Thomas' in London and it seems more expensive than other suite only packages (£950 per night but others are less than £450) and wanted to know whether:

  • you get better support especially at night time
  • partner can stay with me overnight (not sure if allowed in post natal ward?)
  • better food
  • overall better service?
OP posts:
MuchTooTired · 24/02/2021 22:30

I absolutely would pay for a private room if I had any children. The ward was horrible, ended up going home a bit earlier than perhaps I should have done as there was a woman who just would not shut up the entire time. Even when she was asleep she was noisy, it was torture.

I don’t know if I’d have got any extra care, but for a bit of peace and quiet and time with my babies without stressing about others it would be worth the money.

MuchTooTired · 24/02/2021 22:34

Any more children that should be!

Moonstone1234 · 24/02/2021 22:37

Definitely definitely a private room after birth.

Moonstone1234 · 24/02/2021 22:38

@ItsSnowJokes

Round here you don't get anything other than a room by yourself. That's it. It is a hell of a lot of money for just a room (you could get a very very nice hotel room in London for £950 a night!). If you have no other risks you may be out within 6 or so hours.
Why are people SO selfish on a public ward.
ApplesandAnimals · 24/02/2021 22:44

Hi OP, congratulations on your baby!

A large contributing factor to my PND was my stay in a post natal ward for three days after giving birth. My partner wasn’t allowed in apart from 2-8 visiting hours which meant I was mostly alone with a screaming baby who I didn’t know how to look after, the midwives were overworked and impersonal, you can hear everything going on. It was very hot. The final straw was a woman placed in the cubicle next to me with the loudest snore I’ve ever heard and farting in her sleep. I discharged myself that night at 2am after 5 days of zero sleep (3 days stay and 2 days birth) saying I would kill myself or someone else if I had to stay there a second longer.

Maybe I was unlucky, but I would pay for the private room.

ChocOrange1 · 24/02/2021 22:44

I was on the ward and it wasn't great but it was fine. Definitely not worth £950 to have my own room. For one night, that's a crazy amount.

spaceghetto · 24/02/2021 22:47

I was in a side room with ds1, it was bliss. I was in a ward with ds2 and found it awful. My ds was born full term with no pain relief so was alert and awake. I had very loud comments of "I wish she would take care of her baby!" The next day, the children of said commenter kept coming in my bit of the ward, opening the curtains. If you can afford to, i'd definitely recommend it.

Tickly · 24/02/2021 22:54

I did private room on the private ward for DC 3 at a different London hospital. It was worth every penny. Private bathroom, TV to keep me entertained with trashy day time Tele, on call help with baby (planned CS so was really handy) and plenty of time for the staff to stop and chat. Food was no different because the private chef had Covid at the time but is normally a really nice menu. Oh and a fancy coffee machine and biscuits. If you can afford it do it! Also my insurance kicked in a small amount as I hadn't used a nhs bed - it was hidden in the small print so read carefully!

starfishmummy · 24/02/2021 23:24

@Crockof

Not sure about your hospital but at mine you pat £650 for the room. Everything else is the same, actually its worse as its much easier to forget about someone when they are shut away in a room.
Same at ours - all you get is the room to yourself. Food is the same, same overworked staff. And not even particularly nice rooms!!
notacooldad · 24/02/2021 23:31

Its quite a few tears ago since u did it at my local hospital but it was brilliant for the privacy and peace.
I hS a toilet attached to my room which was great as it meant I didn't have to shuffle down through the ward to the loo.
Food and checks was the same.
On the ward visitors were disrespectful to the other mothers by being loud, not obeying the max numbers to bed not leaving when they were supposed to, talking loud and over each other.
Best money I spent during the baby years!!

MrsHookey · 25/02/2021 00:34

I didn't like the private room. There was no one else about, I was dealing with a baby and was anxious that I'd no idea what I was doing, when I went to the toilet I worried about leaving the baby. It was quite a lonely experience. Next time I did the ward.

Teakind · 27/02/2021 21:39

Post natal wards would be so much better if people were more considerate! Why people thinks it’s acceptable to have loud phone calls at all hours or watch tv on their phone without headphones is beyond me. I kept thinking a midwife would tell people to keep the noise down but it never happened.

I was also kept awake all night by someone else’s baby as the poor mum was so out of it after a c section she couldn’t hear it. I kept having to fetch midwives throughout the night as the poor baby was so upset.

OP, your private option sounds delightful! I’m hoping one is available when I give birth again in May but they were all full when I had my two other children.

Redskyyy · 27/02/2021 21:47

I gave birth at St Thomas’ last April. I was put into a private room because I was on the verge of a breakdown (private as in solo room, rather than paid for). It was awful. Staff were massively overstretched and only came in when they needed to. I’d had a c section and twins and couldn’t move enough to pick babies up the first night. In the end the midwife in charge called DH on the second night and snuck him into the ward (no partners were allowed at the time) so I had some help. I think the paid for private rooms are different, and if I were going again would absolutely pay for one.

TurquoiseDress · 27/02/2021 22:17

Go for the private room...no contest!

TurquoiseDress · 27/02/2021 22:22

Now I've actually read your post Grin

Wow £950 a night, that is hefty...not sure what it is in the rest of SE London. is this private part/wing of St Thomas'?

On balance, having spent 2 fucking dreadful nights on the post-natal ward after my first, I think I'd gladly pay any money for a private room!

2nd time round having a private room i.e. not shared with anybody else, had my own bathroom- it made such an amazing difference!
Luckily the ward did not seem that busy compared with when I had my first, the midwives were actually friendly & helpful, with a couple of totally lovely ones

Original poster
Nesski · 02/03/2021 04:57

@TurquoiseDress yes a lot of money, to be honest there might not even be room and I think it will all depend on what time I'd be transferred/how many hours I can use it. But, I just don't want to be in a room with lots of other people, would like the extra care, attention and food!

OP posts:
Original poster
Nesski · 02/03/2021 05:01

And sorry @TurquoiseDress yes a suite in the private part of St Thomas'!

@Teakind yes exactly and if we are still not able to have visitors I'm sure there will be a lot of phone calls going on in the ward and then 3 different people's birth experiences on tap the whole time!!

OP posts:
sakura1982 · 13/03/2021 18:12

I have a ELCS at St Thomas’s 4 y ago and it was worth it to stay in the suite private rooms. These are not just empty rooms but come with midwife care , services and the food almost like the hotel. They don’t have nursery onsite and only 6 rooms there though postnatal stay was great. Private birth at st Thomas’s I d not recommend, it’s just the consultant you are paying for and your chosen date & time really, the team of doctors is same as for NHS birth amd the anaesthetist is a consultant too. The midwife who was supposed to monitor me in the recovery room just disappeared and was coming and going and was not a resident in a hospital nor didn’t know I was a private patient. The consultant Dr Oteng is not good for c sections- the incision is too high n too wide, he may be good for holistic natural deliveries. I got the feedback from two other Obst doctors who deliver in Portland. Now I’m looking into Sir Stanley Layton wing or Kensington Wing.

Glenpatrick · 23/03/2021 21:42

I did the private rooms in queen charlottes in Dec 2019 - 100% worth it. Was on the public ward after delivery for about 6/7 hours and it was awful, the midwifes were so stretched & the noise/consideration from the others on the ward wasn’t great either 😬 we kept asking for the room from when I was in recovery probably every hour until I got moved (they had rooms but lack of staff meant they couldn’t take me earlier, not sure what it would be like now). Having my own space/own bathroom/space for DH to stay over if he wanted and having the midwifes able to take the baby at night to go to the nursery & not have to do night feeds was bliss. I had an induction that ended in a episiotomy (almost an emcs) so I needed the rest and help

GrumpyHoonMain · 23/03/2021 21:46

@Nesski

Hello! I'm considering going into a private room if available on the day of delivery, and was wondering if anybody has any experience of both and is able to explain the differences? I'm not looking for the full private package, just the room!

I'm due 23rd June, which is 2 days after Bojo's all-restricting lifting so will assume that it will be like pre-covid. I'll be giving birth at St Thomas' in London and it seems more expensive than other suite only packages (£950 per night but others are less than £450) and wanted to know whether:

  • you get better support especially at night time
  • partner can stay with me overnight (not sure if allowed in post natal ward?)
  • better food
  • overall better service?
In most maternity wards private rooms are fine, but post natal requires you to be easily accessible to nurses and so you might find you can’t book them unless you or your childs have a medical problem.
GrumpyHoonMain · 23/03/2021 21:47

I mean you can book them but you might not be able to use them, as they’ll go to someone who has a medical need.

Zitouna · 27/03/2021 19:26

Hello! I had my first in St Thomas’s in 2017, and whilst I didn’t pay for a private room, the midwife led unit was quiet so I got to stay in the private room after (for 2 nights) rather than go on to the ward.
We were re-admitted (jaundice) 3 days later onto the post-natal ward, and it was genuinely one of the 7 circles of hell - noisy, stressful, no space for DH to be comfortable, about 10,000 degrees...

So, the private room was a LOT nicer. Spacious, quiet, private, a comfy sofa bed for DH. Midwife care about the same in both, tho obvs I wasn’t paying.

I did opt for a homebirth second time tho as I didn’t like hospital in general!

user1471592953 · 27/03/2021 19:34

I was on the PN ward with DC1. Six nights of no sleep partly because of DC1 but mainly because of inconsiderate people on mobile phones at all hours. Hell.

I paid for a private room for DC2. Two nights of peace with the ability to sleep when not feeding. Priceless.

Tillymintsmama · 27/03/2021 19:38

I would, if you can afford it easily. I was on a postnatal ward for 36 hours after an emergency C section; it was like Beirut. Dreadful.

I thankfully got moved to another wing which was for women who had given birth on the midwife led unit and had private rooms. That was blissful.

SallyCinnamon3009 · 27/03/2021 19:52

I was put in a private side room following DS2s birth earlier this year. I think it was because the covid swab hadn't come back as negative by the time I went in the ward.

It was lovely. Same meals, drinks as on the main ward but it was just nice having our own space. I'd had a spinal following a retained placenta and wasn't allowed out of bed for first hour so it felt a bit like room service. At the trust where I gave birth the rooms are £50 I think.

It's not like being in a hotel, it wasn't decorated nicer or like being in a private hospital. I still had to use shared toilet etc, but the privacy and having more than a curtain between me and the rest of the ward was lovely