Private vs NHS in SW London - Chelsea & West

[citymonkey]

Hi all

I am in the very early stages of my first pregnancy. I think I am 4weeks, 5days (based on first day of last period). I got my BFP on Sunday after our first cycle of trying so am still gobsmacked, just hoping it sticks.

I am already starting to think about healthcare options (I am a real planner!), I think reading a lot on these forums about people's bad experiences has scared me! I am quite a worrier so think would really benefit from continuity of care which I am not sure I would get on NHS.

I live about 5 mins drive from the Chelsea & Westminster.

What are people's views on the private vs NHS experience? I would really like to hear from anyone who has done both.

Also, what does it cost privately? I have a figure of £10k in my head though not sure where I got that from...

Helloooo...

Hi

I am seeing the high risk ante natal team at C&W. I did consider private but the consultant I wanted privately (Mark Johnson) is seeing me on the NHS. The person doing my scans is another excellent consultant who is also available privately. I can't fault my care whatsoever. I am seen every two weeks and get whatever tests or scans I want. I did pay for a private scan at the Fetal Medicine Centre for reassurance.

However, my experience may not be typical of a low risk preg. I am very glad I opted for NHS at the C&W.

From the threads I have read, people seem very happy with private care but maybe ask yourself why you want to go privately.

Re continuity of care - yes, you are right. You may well not see the same midwife. Ditto consultant if you need one. I have had the same people throughout.

Well at this stage obviously I don't know whether am high or low risk. From what I know (not much) of private vs. NHS, the things I would hope to get in private sector which I assume I might not get on the NHS are:

• continuity of care; I am a REAL worrier (to the point of insomnia) and think my pregnancy would be a lot more stress free if I saw the same person throughout and, ideally, that person was there at delivery

• from what I have read, the birth experience can be quite rushed / pressured / not calm if you happen to need to give birth on a day when they are v busy. Also sounds stupid at this stage, but I also like the idea of just checking into one room for the birth and then not having to move until I leave hosp (I have read of people being transferred from room to birthing room to ward)

• antenatal care likely better privately

To be honest though, the first thing on the list above is probably the one that would be most important to me. Not sure whether I would think it was worth £10k of importance though!

TBH I would have changed to private had my care not been as good as it has been.

I also had good ante-natal care (not C&W) with my first preg but the post-natal ward was diabolical. Hot, not enough midwives, midwives didn't seem clued up on spotting that my baby was seriously ill.

So, you could consider NHS ante-natal to start with and swap to private if you are unhappy. If you are happy with NHS, you could ask to get moved to the private post-natal ward at C&W - around 900 a night. But, you can't book in advance. Depends on availability on the day.

Also, if you are worried and want more scans, go to the Fetal Medicine Centre.

Private MW is an option - around £5k.

£10k is approx for natural birth. It is around £15 for CS.

It is tricky... Though we can afford it I can't help think that it is such a lot of money! Also, as my husband says, once you go private there is no going back! Though I'm not really sure if that has to be true.

I am just really keen (as is everyone I guess) for a calm and stress-free pregnancy as possible.

I am 38+1 have been at C+W NHS since the beginning and they're brilliant. I'm low risk first pregnancy but whenever I've had a concern or questioned something they've referred me straight away to scan/obstetrician/anaesthetist etc.

I haven't seen the same midwife every appointment but the continuity is there in the notes and they're all lovely (PINE TEAM).

The ward obviously is different and I don't have experience of that yet but I suppose that might be the crunch point... Up until now everything has been spot on.

It is not true that once you go private you can't go back. You can have all the extra scans and blood tests you want (because after all, they're the only things that really give answers) privately on top of your NHS care. That's what I do - I have been high risk for my last two pregnancies and the NHS is very much "bare minimum" and not interested in reassurance scans etc, only scans with real medical need. So I take what the NHS gives me, and supplement it with excellent private scans and bloodwork (e.g. at the Fetal Medicine Centre). The NHS is absolutely fine with this - never had so much as a raised eyebrow, in fact I think they expect it.

I'm actually considering going private for the birth (much, much cheaper than all your antenatal care privately) because the NHS postnatal wards in London are all so utterly appalling. Until that point, so long as you're at a decent hospital (and I would include C&W in that - I had fantastic care there for an operation I needed during this pregnancy) the antenatal care would be pretty good.

So mix and match - best of both worlds and a heck of a lot cheaper! The only downside is that you're less likely to be seeing the same person each time, although chances are high you'll start to see the same people a lot more than once.

I had my DS (in 2007) and DD at C&W. In both cases I was happy with the antenatal care (oak team). I did go for a couple of private scans for reassurance.

With DS the birth was ok - ended up in EMCS but I felt I was getting a very high level of care all the way BUT the post natal ward was an unpleasant experience.

With DD I wanted to go part private as I knew that I was going to be stuck in the postnatal ward for 2 nights. I took a gamble and opted to go private after the birth. In other words once DD was delivered we called the Kensington wing to see if they had a free room and they did. It was August 2010 and they had a lot of empty rooms.
I spent 2 days in the Kensington wing recovering and it was amazing! Total cost came to about 2000 pounds.

It was a gamble as you cannot be guaranteed a room, but it paid off for me.

Thanks guys, this is really helpful. I think I am the sort of person who needs a lot of 'reassurance' type attention, which likely (and totally understandably) the NHS cannot provide due to stretching of resources / foucussing on serious medical issues (hopefully won't have any of those but you don't know I guess).

The antenatal care and birth would be the bits I'd want covered privately (says she having no idea of what it would be like post birth) I think.

Is it possible to see how I get on with the NHS and then opt later for a private birth if I think that is the right thing for me? Or would waiting mean I am less likely to be able to get booked in?

I am having my care under Keith Duncan (who also does his own scans which is what appealed to me) and will have baby at C&W. So far very happy although only at 21 weeks so can't comment on the birth or care after birth.

I think the issue with switching later is that the consultants get booked up very early so you may miss out on the ones you would prefer to see.

I phoned up at similar stage to you to make sure I had the choice of who I wanted.

Good Luck

"citymoney", you should book a private consultant now as some of the most popular ones (Tatler rated) get booked up very quickly. i called one when i was less than 5 weeks pregnant and he was fully booked for the following 10 months(ridiculous!). you can still go on NHS (just do not tell them). i tested both options. i found NHS care inadequate and not meeting my expectations/ standards (i am not a Brit and neither is my husband, and we appreciate extra tests and extra diligence, and are not used to be seen by nurses). anyway, i firmly decided that the private option was the only option for me at whatever the cost is. i am happy with quality of care thus far. if you want further thoughts you can send me a PM as some people are quite sensitive on these threads...