Travelling for private maternity

[Mushroo]

I’m thinking about childbirth options and one option is private. I’m looking into this because having never used the NHS for anything, as an onlooker it just seems like I can’t trust them to have capacity at the minute. I hate not being listened to, feeling like I’m on a conveyor belt and the thought of a post natal ward really fills me with dread.

So for these reasons I’m looking at the Lindo wing. On the website the prices seem to be under £10k, is that about right in practice?

The other big issue is that I’m based in Manchester, and obviously, I won’t know when I’ll go into labour so travelling down would be hard (and then travelling back with a newborn).

Has anyone done this? Am I being ridiculous entertaining the idea? We don’t know anyone in London we could stay with so would be reliant on hotels / air bnb.

I think I’m leaning towards private midwife at a local hospital and a postnatal package

Yep, this would be my choice too. I'd have a look and see if you can find some great lactation consultants near you as well in case you find you need them.

dd had her two at the Chelsey and Westminster private maternity wing.
with her second, she went into labor early monday am (we left the driveway 0800). traffic was unbelievable...
she lived 7.5 miles away, her dear partner had to use mi6 style driving skills, no joke. she was on all 4's in the back of the land rover, with her head out the window, panting and screaming as we crossed the vauxhall bridge.
good memories.

nearly born in the elevator up to the ward.
decent care, good restaurant across the street (italian).

I think it’s worth noting that the wards are so hot because newborn babies get cold very easily. Having had 2 summer babies, it was incredibly hot but it’s not to do with it being the NHS.

I had babies 5 years apart, one in a MLU and one on labour ward. Both times I had a very clean room and was able to stay, shower in the en-suite etc after birth and then moved on to a ward for about 8 hours. Last time there was just one other person in the ward but it was only big enough for 4 anyway. Just to say it’s not always hellish.

I'd always say go local.

My babies came fast! Thankfully our amazing NHS hospital is just 10 mins away. Any further and my second would have been born in the car park.

I was also discharged from labour ward / birth centre.

The birth centre was amazing. I couldn't have an epidural, but I didn't need one and not having one meant I got out of hospital really quick.

I'd never go private for delivery though. Any slight thing goes wrong and they can't cope with it.

Private hospital will probably agree to induce you at your convenience. If you really want an epidural and private room afterwards it’s probably your best bet for that
a private midwife/doula can only support you, they are not allowed to provide any of the actual care in an nhs hospital.

Defo try and go local if you can.

Even though I only lived 2 miles from my local hospital, DS was born as I was being wheeled out of the lift into the delivery suite 🤦🏻‍♀️ 50 minute labour. I'd be well pissed off if I'd paid a penny for anything private in those circumstances!!

I would definitely pay for a private room afterwards though - and a doula or midwife for support. I had a private room (for free) when one of my babies was born early and taken to the icu. It was such a better experience having some privacy and quiet.

@Mushroo a friend gave birth at the Portland last year, straight forward birth, elective c section and it was £22,500 in total. They don't add costs for things such as blood tests etc onto the website and they quickly add up. She said it was worth every penny though, so I think if you can afford it go for it!

@Mushroo that being said, my husband is a doctor within the NHS and he didn't entertain the idea of going private due to lack of quick access to neonatal doctors etc.

You can't take your private midwife to an NHS hospital as a midwife. They can only act as support for you. You'd still have to be under the care of an NHS midwife. If you want an epidural then the home birth that they would usually facilitate is presumably out of the question.

I honestly wouldn't waste your money. Your care will be no different and the NHS has many amazing resources to help in the postnatal period with breastfeeding and the like. I suppose some of it is dependent on area, but still.

Postnatal ward can be a little stressful, but you may not even go there. They're usually very on the ball and discharge people asap. Even section ladies don't stay in for much more than a day, if possible.

Gosh, the amount of horsehit being trotted out on this thread..!

To dispel a few myths - you get trotted back to the NHS if anything goes wrong… other than the Portland (which has its own NICU and ICU), all the other private maternity units are within NHS hospitals. If anything goes wrong, you will be looked after by your consultant in the first instance and then given the option of going to the NHS if you don’t want the cost (in reality, wheeled down a corridor just like if you were on the NHS delivery ward) or staying private if you can pay or have it covered by your insurance

If your baby needs NICU, the distance from maternity to NICU is the same

when you are discharged, they hand over to the NHS health visitor team who treat you like any other new mum

”It’s just better food”. It is definitely better food but it’s also a much higher staff ratio, private rooms with extra beds for a partner, nurses to help you have a shower, physios to get you up and moving and check you over. If you’re that way inclined (I wasn’t but I know some are…) you can leave the baby with a midwife and go to the cafe (or restaurant over the road)
But if you want 2 midwives with you from early labour onwards, you’ll have them. If you want an epidural, the anaesthetist is there straight away. If you find it too much and want a section, you get one.

If that matters to you, it’s worth every penny

I had a high risk pregnancy followed by ELCS at the private wing of the Chelsea and Westminster, and it was faultless care. I was under Mina Savidou who is one of the leading Fetal Medicine consultants in the UK, and the whole bill (including more blood tests and scans than a normal pregnancy) came to just over £17k

There is flexibility to a degree with scans and tests. She will tell you the week you need to be seen but will be very accommodating for the day and time so it’s feasible they could be arranged to fit with your work visits, or done locally with reports sent to the consultant

I would recommend C&W for many reasons, but the fact it has its own car park puts it at a massive advantage over the Portland..!

Except that’s not true. Only the Portland has its own nicu and have neonatal doctors. other private maternity wings are in NHS hospitals and the baby is an nhs patient and under exactly the same care as babies born on the nhs in the same hospital

Your care is different, you are buying one to one midwifery care. A guarantee that you’ll have a midwife with you and won’t be sharing her or him with other patients. You’re buying a guaranteed epidural if and when you want it without waiting. And post natally you are again guaranteed you’re not sharing one midwife between numerous other mums and therefore changes of them having time to support you breastfeeding is much higher. It’s not comparable. I have done both

Of course they can. Even the Portland has both maternal and baby icu

all other private units are in NHS hospitals