Private hospitals in London

[Ellsbells3032]

Anyone have any experience with private hospitals in London. I seem to have mine narrowed down to three:

1. St Thomas - close to mine and my husbands work so easy for appointments but about a 50 minute drive from home. But excellent neonatal care etc
2. Portland Street - little more expensive than the other two but their package includes physio which would be good for me as hypermobile but worried as the neonatal facilities are private if babu needs extra care for like three months could bankrupt us. It's only about a 25 min drive from us and most of the local doctors here deliver there plus only about 20 mins from both our work offices
3. Queen Charlotte - about a half hour drive from home but an hour from either of our offices at least. But has excellent neonatal care.

Anyone had any experiences or advice. Plus any consultant names would be really useful. Thanks

Thanks that was so so helpful. I had ruled our lindo wing. I've been there for surgery before and was really unimpressed with nursing and was made to feel like they only cared about what I could pay there (bear in mind I've been in virtually every private hospital in London and never been made to feel that way) but also being there would remind me too much of one of the worst times of my life. Plus very inconvenient for both of us.

To answer a few questions not pregnant atm. TTC and looking to move so need to know how much money to put aside.

Could you tell me who your consultant was at St Thomas. All my friends and family have been under one person who rumour is is planning to retire soon so is a no go.

My only concern is a slightly longer journey when my family have all had really fast labours. Eek

I had both of my children privately at Queen Charlotte's.

I knew in advance I had to have caesarians due to restricted hip mobility from childhood arthritis. As a result, my health insurance paid for me to go privately from the point of delivery onwards and I was an NHS patient for all antenatal appointments.

It wasn't particularly local to me but I liked it as it was modern and clean, plus had a wider hospital if further back up was needed (I also looked round the Lindo Wing). Professor Phil Bennett was my consultant both times. It was ten years ago so things may have changed but good points - everything was straightforward, good level of post delivery care and a private room (albeit small and had a lovely view of the barbed wire wall at Wormwood Scrubs).

I'd say the downside was that they'd said they encourage partners to stay overnight when we had looked round, but in fact, there was no real facility for this in the room and they strongly discouraged it. Not a huge deal but something to bear in mind - would have been useful to have had his help at night to pass me the baby as was really painful to twist around after the caesarian. That said, there was a night nursery so you could get a bit of sleep.

All in all, I'd definitely choose it again.

I’m seeing Con Kelleher 💕

Honestly, I can’t praise the guy enough!

Portland was like a weekend away in a luxury hotel. It was very special
BUT
I had a massive amount of retained placenta, which when was discovered (by theNHS), they were utterly appalled that a midwife could miss fact that exiting placenta must have been very obviously a fraction of what it should have been

So that tainted my view very seriously

@Katrinawaves

Very similar experience.
What year?’ Mine was 2010

@Bringringbring. This was in 2001

Portland is mainly staffed by agency midwives.

Op I’m baffled you aren’t pregnant but upthread you say “you’ve been through a lot to have a child”.

And the fact you are TTC but considering this level of detail.

In short - I’m a little concerned where your head is at. Are you ok?

@bringringbring12 why is it a cause for concern if OP is trying to be proactive and responsibly manage her finances in preparing for pregnancy?

Private birth is a lot of money and the amounts vary considerably between hospital and obstetricians.

Being informed before making decisions that can’t easily be undone (buying a house/getting pregnant) only seems responsible to me 🤷‍♀️ This ‘detail’ as you put it, could be the difference of £15,000

Thank you for your concern. Honestly I am fine. My husband is currently undergoing treatment following childhood cancer. We are very hopeful to get there soon and his physician is very positive of a good outcome on this front in the not too distant future.
Tbh we are considering this now for a number of reasons

1. We are in lockdown and I'm bored
2. We are looking to buy a house and want to know how much funds we need to put aside which will vary depending on the hospital and consultant.
3. I was told this week the consultant my family have always been under is planning to retire so got me thinking
4. Due to a number of health conditions I would want to meet with a consultant once lock down is over to discuss what precautions I need to take. Therefore to decide on a consultant I need to pick a hospital.

Honestly i am just a planner by nature, my husband is aware. I'm not booking anything. I am just thr sort that likes to know what she's going into and review all the options. That takes time.

Have also heard amazing things about Con Kelleher at St Thomas

@figey... when are due? I'm 32 weeks and just chosen Guys & St Thomas private...

I was originally going for King's as was that little bit cheaper but then they said because of corona they couldn't guarantee a private room - which kind of defeats the purpose.

I do really like the look of Queen Charlottes as there is a nursery and lots of support with breast feeding, but bar nursery (am having a c section so hopefully wont be too tired to look after the baby!) does Guys & St Thomas give really good after care as well? i have my first appointment tomorrow so will ask lots of questions

@abelmartinez please let me know your thoughts. I've narrowed it down to St Thomas or Queen Charlotte but would love some thoughts

I’d go private in a heartbeat if I could afford it. Why would anyone who could afford to go private use the NHS? I’m not bashing them by any means they do their best but they’re overstretched which doesn’t always result in the best care, would be a long way off private care I say good luck to you (sorry can’t recommend a hospital I’m up north and never heard of any of them)

@Ellsbells3032

I'm going to go for St Thomas because it's cheaper than Queen Charlotte (about £3-4k!) and I was recommended a doctor there which my friend raved about - also he has really good reviews. And you get to look at the Houses of Parliament which is nice :)

If I was going for a Vaginal birth rather than a Belly Birth, then i might choose Queen Charlotte as the nursery is a great extra for giving you a break if you are exhausted, but hoping that after a 30 minute operation I'm not too poop'd!

I wouldn't go for the Portland, no emergancy NHS care scares me a bit... obviously comfort and special care is nice... but for me the main thing to go private was for safety and to guarantee a c section..

I do actually have an elected section booked at St Marys/ NHS. And they really have been super amazing. If it wasn't for corona, i would have stuck with them and tried to get a private room at Lindo on the day. But if not i think they would have been really good

@abelmartinez I work in the area so the view isn't so exciting for me but it also means that appointments during the pregnancy are much easier for me. The only reason that's swaying me is that if I am home during rush hour and go into. Labour it could take me two hours to get there but an hour to queen Charlotte. But Queen Charlotte is further from my office and harder to get to via public transport for me. Out of rush hour they're only about 25 and 35 minutes away so not much difference. But my family has very short active labour's lol

Strongly recommend that you read This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay before you make a decision.

OP I think you may have name changed and not changed back to comment on here.
Not sure if that affects you outing wise so giving you the heads up 👍

Oh I did thank you. Its fine I got notified anyway

I did the Portland.

NICU was about 1k for half a day that he was in it. Yes. There is one, it’s a total lie there isn’t.

Do it,Don’t be bullied into using the nhs.

I had an unlimited budget and this was my choice, I viewed them all.

I had an elective cesarian.

yes location is important too. queen charlotte is 10 mins from me and st george's 25 mins.. hopefully that time wont be deal breaker if i go into labour early..

if you can should get taxis to the hospital though during corona, not worth risk on london transport

@HarrietM87 what's this is going to hurt?