Cost of private room

[nellyrose]

Due to have my second baby early 2022 , last baby was a csection stayed in for 2 nights and was horrific staying there after coming out a family member told me i could of paid for a private room !

Got me thinking this baby if i have to stay i would like to try and pay for a private room if one is available, on the hospital website it says they are subject to availability.

Does anyone know the rough cost of a private room ? Will be giving birth in Hampshire area

TIA

It completely depends on the hospital. Hospitals charge wildly different prices and have wildly different options available. Also it doesn't seem to be at all common outside London.

Fwiw: I delivered on the NHS at Queen Charlotte's, Hammersmith, and then spent a fabulous night in a room on their private maternity ward for £600. Worth every fucking penny.

If it just says "private room dependent on availability", that doesn't mean a room on the private (i.e. paid for) medical ward. It just means a sole occupancy room on the NHS, and they are generally kept for women who have had complex births, or whose babies are in NICU, or other medical/social/psychological reasons.

It depends if a private room is available, because they prioritise medical need for individual rooms - twin births, baby in SCBU so they want to avoid mum being in an open ward with everyone else's baby etc. You may find that you're willing to pay but there are no rooms available for you to purchase. I guess I'm saying don't get your hopes up.

As pp says it depends on the hospital. I gave birth in London and the private room wasn't very expensive, but you couldn't book it in advance and it was a "first come, first served" basis so the chance of it being available was low.

They’re £160 a night in the nearest maternity hospital to me.

I was hoping for this also but our hospital doesn’t do this anymore

Winchester is £60 or £80 a night if I remember correctly. But there is a high chance of them telling you you need to move if they need the room for someone that needs it. I was in for 6 nights with DS and only 1 of those nights they had a spare room that could be rented

At my hospital it depended on availability and any complications in birth then it would be a no
I recall it was around £100 a night and husband could stay

No one is going to be able to tell you this unless you name the specific hospitals you’re considering. Some don’t charge and it’s luck of the draw, some do and it’s not a lot because it’s still NHS, some will transfer to their private maternity wings if they’re not full with private patients and that’s going to be expensive.

@BuffySummersReportingforSanity

If it just says "private room dependent on availability", that doesn't mean a room on the private (i.e. paid for) medical ward. It just means a sole occupancy room on the NHS, and they are generally kept for women who have had complex births, or whose babies are in NICU, or other medical/social/psychological reasons.

This. I gave birth at a hospital that also had a private wing. I think you could pay c.500 to move their for the night. They also, however, had a selection of NHS rooms including one that was for just one person. You don't pay for it as it's allocated based on clinical need (which might be physical need or a mental health need)

Yep, some - mostly central London - hospitals have fully private maternity services, and you can pretty much guarantee a private room and good care on the private postnatal ward, but expect to pay handsomely, and other hospitals have sole-occupancy rooms in NHS postnatal wards which in theory you can pay a fee to use, generally a lower fee, but there are often none available as they are all occupied by women deemed to need them medically.

If you're planning on a vaginal delivery, I'd probably do your best to just not go to postnatal at all. They'll often discharge you straight from delivery for an uncomplicated subsequent birth. If you are planning on an ELCS your best shot is probably to arrange to have your care at a London hospital with a private wing.

*there!

Phone up your hospital and ask as the price varies so much.
I was able to book a room years ago both times with my kids but as other said if anyone needed it more than me they quite rightly got the room. I didnt get in invoiced until a week later.
If I had my time again I would do it all over again.
I was in 4 nights with ds1 and 1 night with ds2.
Well worth it.

At my hospital the private rooms are now reserved for covid patients.

Thanks everyone, I am aware one may not be available for me that's why i said try and get one and how they are subject to availability Hoping for a VBAC anyway so hopefully might not need to stay overnight if giving birth in the morning

The cheapest one at mine (not Hampshire but not million miles away) was £300 a night.

@Buyitinbamboo

Winchester is £60 or £80 a night if I remember correctly. But there is a high chance of them telling you you need to move if they need the room for someone that needs it. I was in for 6 nights with DS and only 1 of those nights they had a spare room that could be rented

Thank you, Winchester will more than likely be where i have my baby

When I had to transfer in to hospital from home I asked about it straight away and I kept asking as last time it was awful on the ward and in 10 days I didn't manage to get private room even for one night and I don't think I was persistent enough. They had one ready for me this time and completely changed the experience for the better.

Queen Alexander- Portsmouth is now £150 a night. But due to covid the rooms are being used more for isolation or of course if they are needed by someone with a greater need. I spoke to my midwife and the chances are slim of getting one at the moment but I would hope by 2022 it would have changed

www.porthosp.nhs.uk/departments/maternity/assets/Amenity%20beds%20150%20Dec%202015.pdf

In my hospital it's £180 a night. There is no private wing.
I'll see how I go, if only staying one night and not getting much sleep anyway I might just stick with the ward even if a private room is available.

Wow I feel very lucky now to have had my own room and bathroom on the midwife led unit at my hospital.

They’re £200 per night at my local hospital. You can be kicked out of them even once you’ve paid for them though - happened to my sister when a woman gave birth with some kind of SS involvement and my Dsis was bundled out in the middle of the night and moved to the general ward.

Winchester was £150 a night back in 2019, they told us when we did the tour. But I assume now they are used for covid isolation, as I know they’re limited to the amount of rooms.