Private labour wards in Kent

[K8eee]

Dh has briefly spoken about us paying for me to go to a private labour ward but we have no idea how much it costs, where the nearest ones are (or if you have the opportunity to use an NHS but in a private ward) and how does it work if you do use a private hospital do you treat it the same that you just turn up when you go into labour as obviously you can't predict when baby will arrive!

Bump

To be clear - do you want the full private experience (consultant at birth / independent midwife) or a private room with bathroom ?
The full private with a consultant would cost several thousands and don't think there are full private maternity facilities in Kent (happy to stand corrected) so you would have to travel to London (eg the Portland, Lindo wing etc). travel time would be a factor
I am not sure of the availability of independent midwives given the recent changes on insurance cover; this is where an independent midwife will oversee care & delivery usually in your home.
alternatively local maternity units usually have some single rooms (some with, some without own bathroom) - called amenity rooms I think. These are availability on first come, first serve basis for a daily rate (our local hospital is £25-50). Everything else is standard NHS. disadvantage is you can't book and priority is given to mothers having caesars, multiple births, problems etc. I indicated I wanted a single room and ended up with one for free as I had a emergency caesar. contact your midwife or local hospital for more details
Good luck!

Are you anywhere near Tunbridge Wells as the newly built Pembury Hospital only has single rooms.

I've just googled it and the journey is an hour. My main concern is how it would work if I went into labour and how do I get there in time?

im 39 weeks and going to pembury in Tonbridge wells.
couldn't put up with an experience like last time!

As good as Pembury sounds, we had to drive an hour to Tunbridge Wells (all country roads our end) every week for NCT class and I found that horrendous enough! Couldn't imagine doing that journey in labour!