Private Delivery N.Ireland

[NIFEM]

Hi ladies this is proving to be a complete minefield to get my head around, can you help me!

Is it possible to have a private female doctor or female midwife deliver your baby in Northern Ireland so that you know who it will be and have a relationship with her before the big day. Or, alternatively, are there any private midwives that would offer home delivery options or accompany you to the birth as in midwives.com who are all over UK and Ireland but not NI!!

I've reached out to Kingsbridge but they only do antenatal and it's a male doctor.

Any Private obstetricians I’ve seen have been male- I was helping my sister try and find someone who could get her sorted with a Harmony Test and I happened to notice they were all men!

Are you based in Belfast? Through the NHS you can’t guarantee you’ll get a specific midwife that’s already looked after you (I’m sure you know this), but there’s small MW led units who have a very homely atmosphere with a small team of midwives. I had my pre and post-natal care with the MWs from Lagan Valley MLU and frequently saw the same MW, just not always. There’s also the Mater in North Belfast which is similar.

The only male doctor that I saw during both my births (one in the Royal, the other in the Ulster) was the male anaesthetist during my second delivery, for about 20 minutes while he put a canula in my hand for pain relief. The rest of time I had one mw and a student who were both incredible and really supportive- I wanted to name DS after the mw who delivered him, but DH wouldn’t let me.

I only have great things to say about the Ulster- great care, fantastic facilities and private rooms.

@TerribleCustomerCervix

Any Private obstetricians I’ve seen have been male- I was helping my sister try and find someone who could get her sorted with a Harmony Test and I happened to notice they were all men!

Are you based in Belfast? Through the NHS you can’t guarantee you’ll get a specific midwife that’s already looked after you (I’m sure you know this), but there’s small MW led units who have a very homely atmosphere with a small team of midwives. I had my pre and post-natal care with the MWs from Lagan Valley MLU and frequently saw the same MW, just not always. There’s also the Mater in North Belfast which is similar.

The only male doctor that I saw during both my births (one in the Royal, the other in the Ulster) was the male anaesthetist during my second delivery, for about 20 minutes while he put a canula in my hand for pain relief. The rest of time I had one mw and a student who were both incredible and really supportive- I wanted to name DS after the mw who delivered him, but DH wouldn’t let me.

I only have great things to say about the Ulster- great care, fantastic facilities and private rooms.

I am dying to know who the midwife was!

OP, there is a doctor called Allyson Hunter in the royal who used to do private work, I don't know if she still does. She is really lovely! Perhaps you could ring the Royal and ask. Another option is a homebirth, you would meet your community team in advance of the birth. Good luck!

Well I wanted to call DS Louis

DH might as well not have been there, she was honestly incredible!

Aw that is so lovely! I worked in the Ulster at one stage so I was being nosey Lovely place!

Suggest you get in touch with the Private Midwives organisation www.privatemidwives.com

Thanks ladies my friend just said Ulster Home from Home was great. I'll check out private midwives site thanks for that too! It's not that I dont like men but, well ... experience of being female combined with medical expertise seem to be better to my mind! This is my first time using this site I'm so glad I've joined!

Also I contacted Kingsbridge and they said only Dr Glen was doing antenatal and that Dr Alyson Hunter or Dr Priscilla Devaseelan were not mentioned but I'll enquire. Theres a Dr Sara Shahid in Hillsborough Practice I've emailed about.

@NIFEM

Thanks ladies my friend just said Ulster Home from Home was great. I'll check out private midwives site thanks for that too! It's not that I dont like men but, well ... experience of being female combined with medical expertise seem to be better to my mind! This is my first time using this site I'm so glad I've joined!

Honestly I get that- I don’t have issues with dealing with male doctors for anything else, but for giving birth I felt really strongly that I only wanted women involved where possible.

I was asked at the Ulster if a male student could sit in- I was high on gas and told the MW that men had no business being part of the process She nodded politely and that was the end of it.

Interested to hear what the story is with the Hillsborough clinic- I’m local and didn’t know they had an obstetrician.

Glad to hear you feel like you have plenty of options!