NHS vs Private Delivery (OB recommendations)

[Chickpealover]

Hi all - very new to navigating the maternity path as we're pregnant with our first one. Still very early days but trying to find a good consultant, who is willing to give Epidural etc. if requested - we've heard stories that on NHS getting an Epidural can be tricky (not sure if true) - so considering Lindo Wing among few other private wings.
We've not ruled out NHS yet as Private is quite pricey (!) and considering these hospitals below - any recommendation on which ones have good consultant-led deliveries (NHS hospitals or any Private OB recommendations)?

NHS:
UCLH
Chelsea & Westminster
St. Mary's

Private OB recs:
St. Mary's (Lindo)
Queen Charlotte

Thank you v much!

Not directly answering you questions, but the decision re provision of an epidural is nothing to do with the obstetrician - it's an anaesthetic decision. There also well defined time targets for responding to the request for an epidural

I would strongly recommend avoiding UCLH. Worse that the NHS for organisation - I had to chase up every appointment multiple times. Then, 4 days before I was due to deliver, they cancelled my booking. Unbelievable - I was left scrabbling around for an alternative hospital.

I ended up with an ELCS at the Portland. It’s the same price as UCLH for delivery and I wish I’d gone there straight away. So much better in terms of organisation, support, professionalism - plus many more services on offer.

Ah, to clarify my above post , I was referring to the private Fitzrovia Suite at UCLH,, not their NHS offering. Sorry I misread your original post.

Thank you, @Bxb88 that’s helpful to know - we won’t be looking at Fitzrovia suite as I’ve read other similar reviews, too.

and thanks @Greybeardy understood. I’m reading there are a lot of reviews on how people have had to convince the doctors/ team to give the epidural - and Nhs isn’t keen to administer this usually..but perhaps it’s slightly out of context..

It is rare that you can’t get an epidural in the NHS but fast labours and availability of an anaesthetist can be a barrier. There is no general trend to not want to use epidurals. That said the care is vastly better if there are any real problems so I would suggest NHS but being vocal about your concerns.

Not sure what you’ve read, but it doesn’t sound terribly helpful. Epidurals for analgesia make up a significant part of the anaesthetists work load. There are some reasons that it may not be possible/appropriate to site one but those aren’t that common. One of my particular bugbears is when the MWs don’t tell us there’s someone requesting an epidural - we can only respond to requests we know about! The time for an anaesthetist to respond only starts ticking once we know about the request.
it may be worth looking at the labourpains website - it has a lot of information re pain relief in labour (epidurals don’t always work so it may be helpful to be aware of the other options).

I would say stick to Mary’s or charlottes for private and not the Portman as if anything goes wrong you and baby both have access to nhs itu. Not to be a Debbie downer but it happens.

back in the day I chose nhs Chelsea for my baby over Mary’s and charlottes. Although I’ve no memory why now.

If you opt for nhs, your care will be determined by need. You will start with midwife led through your gp and then they will refer you to consultant led care. You can within reason choose which hospital

I had both of mine privately at Queen Charlotte's (I knew I was having caesarians). My private healthcare paid for the birth onwards but the antenatal care was through the NHS.

No complaints. Not a massive room and they'd said on the tour that my husband could stay over and then slightly reneged on it. They took the babies into the nursery so I could have a rest.

I toured the Lindo and wasn't impressed (I know, it's good enough for the Royals...). Felt a bit old and tatty. The Portland didn't appeal to me as I'd rather have the NHS section near to hand (although I can't imagine the transfer takes long given their closeness to UCLH).

Thank you, all. Really helpful. Unfortunately, the pregnancy was not meant to be so we are going to be fully equipped when we are here again. I am liking the option of private, with NHS nearby (or ideally, within NHS). St Mary's / Queen Charlotte / Chelsea & Westminster are most likely. Thank you, again, for your helpful comments :)