Maternity private room

[busymum06]

Hi I'm due to give birth early next year and I would like to buy a private room for once I've had baby. With my first child I had a bad experience staying in the ward so this time round I want to make it a stress free experience as much as possible and also have abit of privacy for after I give birth. Has anyone paid for a private room after birth at St georges hospital before? How much do they charge? How was your experience? Thanks x

Hello - mine was a different hospital, but I wasn’t able to pay for a private room because they were all being used. I was very disappointed! Just to warn you.

@busymum06 i would
recommend actually asking the hospital. They can clarify

I will be asking the hospital I just wanted to ask on this app to hear about people's experience first.

Oh no thanks for the heads up I've heard the rooms are given on a first come first served basis.

I took the only private en suite room on the ward because I had the norovirus (that was fun on top of a c-section !) They obviously didn't want me infecting the ward so I had to go into that room to quarantine. The hospital said they stopped charging for rooms because they needed them available for patients in need.

@Phunny Same as me, we had hoped but no rooms available at the time. tbh it wasn’t as bad as I thought but still couldn’t wait to get home

I think a lot of hospitals are currently using them for COVID quarantine.

Mine was not George's but not far away and was £300 a night for the cheapest one.
Worth every penny of debt. I desperately wanted a private room the first time even just for one night but none available the whole 10 days I was in.

You might also find yourself turfed out of it and put back into the ward if a patient they deem in more need of it arrives. I hadn’t paid for one but I was given one when kept overnight in triage then in the morning after a ‘vulnerable’ patient arrived I was back in the ward. Thankfully I got a space in labour ward shortly after.

If it's that important to you I'd suggest just going private.

Highly unlikely you will be able to pay for one at an nhs hospital, they are used first and foremost for patients where it's really necessary.

The prices at St Georges used to be on the website. Last year it was £150 for room without an ensuite, £200 for ensuite, if i remember. I will see if i can find a link.

They are given to mums for free if they have covid or if their baby is in the NICU (i had one for 5 days) as obviously it isn't nice to be on the ward if your baby is poorly. So they are not always available.

Have you thought of a home birth instead?

I did make sure I kept asking about it when I was in labour and stating that I wanted a private room after and it was ready for me straight away after but its very much luck of if there's a free one.
I was also put in one (for free) for my ectopic as it was apparently the only vaguely appropriate place in hospital with a free bed so I think they're needed for all sorts of situations.

Ok, so the link has definitely disappeared off the website as it is nowhere to be found.If you've got any questions about the room specifically, happy to answer though.

Not the hospital you want, but I was able to get one. It was well worth it, no one snacking on biscuits and snoring in the middle of the night! No midwives running around. No noisy families. Just baby, peace, quiet (to a degree!) and en-suite.

In theory it's possible at my local hospital but both times they were being used by people with a medical need. In fact, first time the poor woman next to me in the ward had her twins in the SCBU but couldn't get one and I felt very sorry for her having to see everyone else with their babies.

Lots of my friends have done this in NHS hospitals, just depends how busy it is. This is what I also plan to do so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed! Definitely worth calling them, it's on my to-do list this week!

Similar to everyone else on this thread - the hospital where I'm giving birth offers them (£175 a night) but priority is given to mums in medical need or those with children in SCBU. I am crossing fingers there will be one available for me when I need!

I booked one at my hospital due to my mental health, and I ended up on the public ward for the 3 days I was in postnatal because the private rooms were all being used for Covid cases and mask/test refusers who had to be assumed to be positive.

Hi, after a very bad experience with my first I paid for one with my second. When I got to the hospital I already told them I wanted a private room afterwards. My DH kept reminding them throughout labour and they made sure one was free when the baby was born. It was so worth every penny. We had peace and quietness, just me and my baby. It was a beautiful night and I highly recommend it. Just be pushy and keep asking to make sure you get one.

I also had a terrible experience on ward first time round and wanted a private room for my second. I investigated and it was £110 per night. I couldn't book in advance (obviously as didn't know when would need it!) and it was done on a first come first served basis, so I could only have it if it happened to be free that night. I was told to tell the midwives when I came into hospital that I wanted it.

However, I ended up having a (planned) c section anyway, so I wasn't allowed a private room - they said something like i needed a closer eye kept on me following c section (I think - bit hazy on the exact details!). So I was on the ward anyway (and it wasn't as bad as the first time actually but still pretty bad... just one night this time though thank goodness!). Anyway, hope that helps. This was summer 2020 though, so going by the recent price increases on everything, it's probably 10x the cost now 🙈

Oh and in Surrey so may be cheaper in some parts of the country (?)

I’m so glad the hospital I go to has no wards and only private rooms. They should all follow suit.

Is there one with a similar policy nearby you can use instead?

They are first come and first served, but will be prioritised for patients who need privacy, eg covid, gastric / contagious issues, bad outcomes etc

I had one due to being covid positive in labour and they wanted to keep me away from everyone else. It was a much, much better experience than my previous post natal ward stay. Thankfully my covid was mild so it felt entirely precautionary to me.