Private Consultants during pregnancy?

[Newcastle16]

Hi,

I'm from Ireland and have had lots of complications with ovarian cysts etc, at home the majority of people go private for their pregnancy and I would like to explore this option in the UK but can find very little information on it.

Is anyone able to help me about private consultants for pregnancy? Also getting a private room in the hospital?

I don't know much about having a private consultant except from speaking to someone who did do this - you will need to check if it is the case for everyone but she could not go to an NHS hospital to give birth, as the consultant was not able to work there, so she had to consider private hospitals such as the Portland. Very expensive and you should check out all the info you can for private hospitals as the facilities may not actually be as good in emergency situations as a larger NHS hospital, nor may the mortality rates etc be as good (presumably for that reason).

A compromise may be to get an early private scan at somewhere like the Fetal Medicine Centre and if you feel you need it they can continue to scan/see you throughout the pregnancy if they/you wish. You can continue NHS care alongside this so that if you want, the baby can be born in an NHS hospital (make sure that the NHS side are up to date with any special info well before the birth though).

Private rooms in NHS hospitals usually depend on availability which they can't usually guarantee. Cost also differs wildly, £250 per night in UCH, £40 in Woolwich for example. I don't know if you would be interested in a natural birth but it is handy to know that birthing centres usually have very nice rooms that you can stay in after you have had your baby (if they are not needed by another labouring mum) these are often as good as private rooms but free - depends on you having drug/intervention free birth though, there are no doctors in a birthing centre and a private consultant would certainly not feature!

Good luck !

Where are you in the UK?

In London (and I am sure elsewhere) some of the NHS hospitals have private facilities eg St Marys (which is ideal if you want to give birth privately but in big teaching hospital) and some private hospitals eg St John and St Elizabeth or the Portland have ante-natal/birth provisions. It is very expensive though.

A compromise can be to have NHS care but supplement this with private consultations. My experience of hospital or "consultant" care on the NHS is seeing various different registrars, and only getting to see consultant if something really out of the ordinary happens.

re: private rooms in NHS hospitals, some have but depends on availability so no guarantee even if you are prepared to pay. Need to ask at hospital what their policy is.

Hi - I am currently getting private care at the Lindo Wing, which is attached to St. Mary's Hospital. My consultant is Lorin Lakasing, who has been excellent so far (I am 27 weeks). She was recommended to me by my doctor and so I contacted her directly to set up an appointment, but I believe you could also find a consultant by contacting the Lindo Wing. (If you search for Lindo Wing on the MN discussion boards, you'll come up with a number of other consultants recommended by other MNers.) I also had a recommendation for a consultant at the Portland, but they do not have full facilities in case something goes wrong and therefore would have to transfer you, so DH and I felt more comfortable with the Lindo Wing.

As other posts mentioned, it is rather expensive, and you are required to pay hefty deposits for both the consultant and the Lindo Wing itself in advance, which work out to about £7,000 total. All in, the cost will probably be about £10,000 to £12,000, maybe more. If you have private health insurance, you should check with them to see what they cover - policies differ (for example, some will not cover an elective CS; some only cover costs to a certain cap; some, such as mine, will cover the costs but not the deposits themselves, so you will be out of pocket for the deposits until after the baby arrives, etc.).

My understanding is that consultants can book up very quickly, so if you want to go private you should make an appointment as soon as possible. How far along are you? The guideline I have heard is to try to book by 10-14 weeks, but that doesn't mean that a consultant will not have space around your due date if you are already further along than that.

I'm not sure what the situation is at other private hospitals, but I am fairly certain that all rooms at both the Portland and the Lindo Wing are private.

I hope that helps - happy to give more information if you'd like!

Sorry, I assumed you were in London, but I just realised you didn't say where you were located!