Private Maternity in the UK

[horsejessnut]

Hello,

If you choose to use private maternity services in the UK do you need to inform the NHS?

Like would I need to (and could I?) register with an NHS midwife if I'm going to use private care?

I tried to google but had no luck. Any experiences welcome.

Thanks,
Grace

No it would only be worth informing your gp that you've gone private, as they wouldn't automatically have access to your records online.

And yes, you can register with nhs and private. It could get a bit complicated regarding different advice from different midwives etc, and if you bought a private midwife to your hospital appointments or to your labour at a hospital, they'd be there purely as a birth partner/support and not in the capacity of a midwife once they step onto hospital premises.

Maternity care risks being extraordinarily expensive. Have you got insurance cover? See what that includes (eg prenatal checks with midwife, vaccinations, bloods, scans, emergency care) but definitely let your GP know, but they don't lead on antenatal care, it's a separate service

I'd be cautious about a delivery in a private maternity place, many are very limited in what care they can provide and you'd have to be transferred to NHS hospital anyway if you needed a C section, or baby needed extra care.

Thanks for your thoughts and advice!

I am considering it because i changed jobs and my insurance now covers private maternity from the first appointment which surprised me but seems to be true. I had a tough experience last time which I hope would be improved by more continuity of care.

I am in London and I was thinking St Thomas's private because it is part of an NHS hospital, and if anything goes wrong they have very good facilities.

When you say to inform the GP - does that mean I wouldn't register with a midwife? Last time the GP just told me to go online and fill in a form, not sure they even wrote anything down on their end.

I'd be cautious about delivering in an NHS hospital, after the Ockenden report and this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n1jv7xxpwo

Following as in same position.

I did mix and match at Queen Charlotte's, it was very straightforward (consultants are the same people i think?) So St THomas' will probably be similar. E.g. i had an issue identified during a private appt so they transferred me to "nhs care" which was literally the same thing but not billable to BUPA (my medical insurance maxed out at 10k hence using nhs for some of it)

This is just not true. And Lol at that thought that private maternity hospitals don’t do c sections 😂

The majority of private maternity care is in the private wing of a NHS hospital. Even where it’s not, private hospitals typically have theatres and provide c sections. What they may be lacking is access to specialist services like NICU, but even the Portland has a NICU that can look after babies from 28 weeks. Any private obstetrician will be able to talk through the instances where baby, mum or both can be transferred to nhs care (which may be just down the corridor) if specialist care is required.

You don’t see anyone trotting out similar lines about standalone midwife led birthing units where you can’t even access an epidural.

I didn’t register with a nhs midwife. I signed up with a private obstetrician and they informed my GP that I was under their care. I believe they also sent an update post birth. This is so that all medical records are on your nhs record for future reference.

I also mixed and matched - was in the NHS but was going to have a private delivery. However, both times I went into labour 6 weeks early and so went straight to the NHS hospital as the private consultants had been clear that if I did have very premature babies (I was high risk), the babies would wind up in the NHS system anyway.

I would absolutely without a shadow of a doubt go private if you've got insurance to cover it, and St T is an excellent choice as you've got all the NHS facilities there - intensive care etc - if needed.

I used a mix and delivered at St Thomas's (staying in the Westminster Suite). The baby was prem so was an nhs patient in nicu.

The private consultant will write to your GP to inform them they’re doing your maternity care. After the baby is born they also take care of transferring you back to for post natal midwife and then health visitor. So you don’t need to do anything. You can register with NHS first though if you want some time to research hospitals and consultants and transfer later (or not at all).

I had mine privately at Chelsea & Westminster so private wing of an NHS hospital which I’d consider to be the best of both worlds. There is the unlikely risk that a fully private hospital couldn’t handle an emergency e.g. The Portland has SCBU but not NICU but research this for yourself and definitely don’t listen to posters who clearly know nothing about private maternity. For starters you’re not getting transferred for a section, private has a far higher number of electives (where do you think the awful phrase too posh to push comes from?!) and seemingly a lower threshold for emergency sections too.

This is so interesting, thank you everyone for sharing your experiences.

So it sounds like I could sign up with a midwife if I want, but if if I intend to be private consultant-led the whole way through, I can just register privately and they'll inform my GP (will I get to avoid BadgerNotes this time?!)

6 weeks early sounds stressful @SummerInSun I hope you and your little one are doing okay now. It sounds like perhaps it's worth it to be registered with the midwives as well just in case.

I will likely have a c section as I had an emergency one last time and the scar area is a bit of a mess.

No idea what Badger Notes is? Is that a good thing?!

You don’t want to duplicate register because the NHS will know you’re pregnant as the consultant will write to your GP. I personally wouldn’t want to waste time duplicating appointments and the private will be preferable as they’ll be with your consultant every time, you get more scans, a choice of times, you can also call your consultant directly (they give you their mobile number) and arrange and appointment whenever you have a concern. So to me it makes sense to just be in one system and not sure why you’d waste time going to the midwives too, especially for those just dip your urine do your blood pressure appointments.

If you’re worried about early delivery then go for an NHS hospital, with a NICU, ST Thomas’ would be a good shout, so no issues even as a private patient because baby will be treated on the NHS without needing a transfer. It’s all pretty joined up and works very seamlessly. Like the NHS hearing check ladies come to you in the private wing etc. NHS Midwives will call you after discharge, no chance of escaping the health visitor!

That's great advice @InTheRainOnATrain I will do that.

Badger notes is a godforsaken maternity notes app that the NHS must have paid a fortune for, but never worked successfully for me. It would entice me by indicating there was an appointment, but could not tell me the precise date, time or even type of appointment - all those fields were blank. I had to email every single time to check and waste everyone's time.

I did a combination at Queen Charlotte's. NHS antenatal care and my health insurance paid for the delivery onwards privately (I knew I was having a caesarian).

I'd also try to ignore some of the scare mongering about private deliveries. I went round the Portland and Lindo and would have been happy at those as well. The big London private hospitals have emergency procedures in place if needed. And I know plenty of friends who had appalling experiences delivering in the NHS.