Public or Private ELCS? What's best?

[hburymama]

I have the opportunity (for medical reasons) to have an elective CS privately and paid for by health insurance - however, due to mixed opinions, i am unsure as to whether or not I should take it.
This is second ELCS for me and for various reasons I was bitterly disappointed with my first experience at the Whittington.
I am 25 weeks pregnant and booked in with UCH, but confused as to whether it really is worth it to swap care later on in pregnancy to a private hospital. Is private all that it's cracked up to be? And should I just stay where the care is in one central place? Any experiences, comparisons, recommendations for St John's & St Lizzies, St Mary's and UCH very much appreciated.

No experience of St J&L, St Mary or UCH (I went to Portland), but I'd definitely go private again. I think the actual medical care is just as good on NHS, but obviously private has a higher staff to patient ratio, so, compared to my friends' experience, mind was a lot less stressful and I felt cared for and looked after. Keep in mind though that the insurance won't pay for everything (there are caps on certain things), and no antenatal care was covered at all for me.

Thanks very much to both QTpie and MisSalLaneous. I appreciate your feedback. Will determine which consultant/hospital to go to and contact BUPA re: what caps they implement.

One thing to perhaps bear in mind that the consultants who perform c-sections in private hospitals are usually the same as those in NHS hospitals and are often not around on call out of hours in a private hospital if something does go wrong due to their NHS commitments.

In a private hospital you can certainly get better food and feel more looked after but in my experience nurses/midwives in private hospitals are often less upto date with latest procedures etc.

Good luck with your decision.

I had an NHS ECLS at the C&W, followed by a private ECLS (well, in effect, it was in Belgium and I had good insurance allowing for a private single rather than double room etc). tbh I found both a positive experience, but I suppose that I have to say that the private one was better in the sense that the consultant both performed the op and stitched me up (at the C&W a junior did the latter, and I had a definite 'ridge'). And obviously it is a luxury to have your own room and bathroom. But frankly if I had to pay something like £15k for the privilege I'm not sure I would - I also have very fond memories of a lovely and very funny American woman in the post-natal ward at the C&W who kept us all entertained - things like that you can't pay for.

Why dont you look at the Lansdell Suite, St Thomas' hospital, I would recommend it.The facility is very good at a reasonable cost. I had my third c section with Mr Kunde. He is a top-notch obstetrician and surgeon and provided exceptionally good care throughout my pregnancy. Our friends recommended him and my husband and I were very pleased with the care we got and scar is perfect!

I had a private EMCS but originally booked for an elective just had to bring it forward some hence emergency at the Lindo wing I could not recommend it highly enough, and if I were to have another it would be here or nowhere!! Ins paid most of mine and they were fabulous an liaising with PPP and sorting bill which was done very smoothly. Really fantastic experience!!

Other than being guaranteed that your El. CS and spinal epidural are undertaken by a Consultant Obstetrican & a Consultant Anaesthetists rather than training grade Dr's, the biggest difference between both options is the quality of the postnatal care.
The MW to client ratio in the private sector maybe be 1 MW to every 2 or 3 mothers and babies, whereas in the NHS it can be 1:10-12. As a result the private sector midwives will have significantly more time to assist and support you and the baby after the birth (eg. more focussed care for breast feeding/bathing/changing nappies/more rapid response to requests for post-op pain relief etc). In addition most private units like the Portland will have nursery facilities to give mother's the option of getting some sleep in the immediate post-op period.
Unfortunately such is the drive for financial saving's in our NHS units, I'm sure most NHS postnatal ward matrons would envy the MW staffing levels in the private sector.
However all these come at a price and I would advise you check with your insurers and the finance dept. of your local private maternity unit what is and is not covered. Most insurance company policies will cover the bulk of the hospital's fees and the majority of the medical fees but not all! Hope that helps

If you go for the public option is there a viewing gallery?

Either way best of luck.

I would highly recommend having a private ELCS at Watford General where you'll get the best of both worlds, fantastic consultant care, a dedicated midwife with you who you meet a number of times before the delivery, consultant anaethetists, lovely postnatal rooms and care with the guarantee that you're in an excellent NHS hospital should you or the baby need special care. It's also by far the cheapest of the private options with a ELCS and 4 night stay costing approx £6k

What you're paying for, really, is good after care.

I had my baby by elective at UCH in late 2008. The consultants are pretty much top notch, theatre staff excellent, midwive care very good compared to many other big NHS hospitals. In terms of self-medicating, they were great. I was offered morphine for 24 hours. I requested more in the next 24 hours and got it without fuss. The only downside was that they turfed me out so quickly - 48 hours on the nose!

Portland will transfer to UCH for any complications they can't manage (special baby care, for instance), so perhaps worth considering them if you want the hotel-room experience?