Maternity insurance for future complications

[EPfds]

I need some advice: I lost a baby on the NHS, which provided appalling, almost non-existent care throughout my pregnancy, which resulted in a premature birth and neonatal death of my baby.
I want to go private with future pregnancies since I’ve lost all trust in NHS mat services and know I will need specialist consultant oversight/treatment throughout the pregnancy, much of which will be preventative, so not what the NHS normally does: waiting until a problem happens and trying to fix it after things went wrong.
I can’t afford paying thousands for private consultants and am now wondering whether I can take out private health insurance that would cover such maternity care.
I’ve tried looking up quotes but they all only included acute medical treatments in the case of illness, not covering a pre-existing condition such as an incompetent cervix that needs to be measured weekly, or a preventative cervical stitch.

If anyone has taken out such an insurance or knows more about this I’d be most grateful.

Won't you get special care (albeit from the nhs) due to your previous complications?

I'm not sure if there is insurance you can get but you can pay privately.

I have no idea, in theory yes, probably, but I think as classed as high risk last time too and every single one of my consultant appointments was cancelled by my hospital due to staff shortages. This was 8 years ago, and now, given the pandemic, I doubt things will have improved, millions of patients are waiting for appointments and I can’t risk being robbed off again.

Is there someone you can speak to? Do you have a bereavement midwife? I lost a baby at full term, not attributable to nhs fault but i know much closer consultant care is offered in subsequent pregnancies so perhaps the same applies to you? I understand this is not affected by the pandemic. Go private if you wish but it might be something to consider.

Health insurance doesn't cover pregnancy usually - none of mine ever have . The only one that does is company provided expat insurance typically

I don't think a policy would cover what you're asking for

I'm not sure what you are looking for exists? And often pre existing medical conditions would be exempt from medical insurance policies such as the cervix issue.
Insurance is for things that you don't know for certain is going to happen, not for planned events.

Could you ask the private maternity hospital you are thinking of using if they do a payment plan, or take a bank loan?
If there is an emergency and you or the baby need intensive care during the pregnancy or labour will you be OK for that to be through the NHS?

Sorry for your loss in your previous pregnancy, it must be very difficult to contemplate going through another one. I hope it all works out for you.

Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely you'll be able to find such cover - insurers see pregnancy as a planned event, not a unexpected medical/health condition that you can insure against. The only policies that normally cover this would be, as a PP said, some generous company ex-pat cover.

You can have private treatment, of course, but it will need to be paid for.

I doubt you will be able to get insurance to cover a pre existing condition, and if you do it will be very very expensive. I would be speaking to your doctor re what can be done differently this time perhaps?

Unfortunately that doesn’t exist. You will get some private medical policies that cover pregnancy complications or emergency treatment during/after pregnancy, but none that cover routine pregnancy and childbirth. I think your only option is to go to private and agree a payment plan for the costs.

Ten years in insurance here

Insurance, for the vast vast majority of the time, covers fortuitous events ie no pre existing health conditions

I presume for incompetent cervix you'd need scans from maybe 12weeks through to 30weeks, or similar? Once you get pregnant you should get told what the care plan will be, ie scans at week12 and every fortnight thereafter, or similar. Could you get as much as poss on the NHS and then get private scans to fill in the gaps if you think there are any? Would be much cheaper that way.

Note that I don't know what your consultant would offer in terms of scans to measure cervical length, it probably depends on your history and health board. I was just inventing numbers but once you're pregnant you will be able to find out.

You'd also have to find a good private scan place that will do cervical length. May be worth travelling to a good one.

Yes this is roughly the care plan I need, at the very least bi-weekly (likely more frequently from 20 weeks onwards) cervical scans.
I just can’t see how I will get to the right place I need to be at in time on the NHS, the first appointment will be at 12 to 16 weeks with a - for cases like mine entirely useless - midwife, who’d then have to refer me to a specialist clinic, which might take weeks/months, and that’s not even factoring in appointment cancellations.
I sadly think that if I can’t insure myself for such care it’ll be too risky/expensive for me to get pregnant in England again. Thanks for your input, appreciated.

I'm so sorry for your loss and completely understand why you feel like this. But I think some of your assumptions here are wrong:

I just can’t see how I will get to the right place I need to be at in time on the NHS, the first appointment will be at 12 to 16 weeks with a - for cases like mine entirely useless - midwife, who’d then have to refer me to a specialist clinic, which might take weeks/months, and that’s not even factoring in appointment cancellations.

You'd have a booking appointment before 12 weeks, and the referral should be done then. My SIL had regular scans and a stitch for incompetent cervix and all was arranged in good time and she found them very proactive. She also found her care and the attitude of HCPs very different as a mother who had suffered a late loss, though I appreciate that no one can guarantee that in advance for each individual.

Very sorry to hear about your baby. I don’t have a bereavement midwife, no, I haven’t been in touch with anyone involved in my care since I was discharged from hospital after giving birth. I might ask my GP if they can advise.

@Hardbackwriter

I'm so sorry for your loss and completely understand why you feel like this. But I think some of your assumptions here are wrong:

I just can’t see how I will get to the right place I need to be at in time on the NHS, the first appointment will be at 12 to 16 weeks with a - for cases like mine entirely useless - midwife, who’d then have to refer me to a specialist clinic, which might take weeks/months, and that’s not even factoring in appointment cancellations.

You'd have a booking appointment before 12 weeks, and the referral should be done then. My SIL had regular scans and a stitch for incompetent cervix and all was arranged in good time and she found them very proactive. She also found her care and the attitude of HCPs very different as a mother who had suffered a late loss, though I appreciate that no one can guarantee that in advance for each individual.

Hi, that’s reassuring to hear about your SIL but you see, everyone involved in my care last time round knew I had an incompetent cervix, due to previous cervical surgery. But because first time mothers are routinely only getting midwife-led care until 5,6 months into the pregnancy on the NHS - at least that was the case when I was pregnant - nobody provided the care I needed and the midwives never referred me on. There’s hoping that having lost a baby avoidably might speed up referrals in future but even the consultant appointments I had were cancelled, because it was a busy London hospital and they just didn’t have time to see me. I suspect you’re right, nobody will be able to make assurances for individuals. But if I can’t get guarantees for an entirely consultant-led care plan with most appointments happening in the first two trimesters rather than the last I think getting pregnant again here will be too risky. Thanks for your input.

I don't think what you are looking for exists. There just wouldn't be a market where people pay hundreds in premiums to claim thousands in medical fees. You could pay for private antenatal care and see a consultant throughout, but it's not cheap. You could have nhs care but supplement with additional scans (proper medical scans at the feral medicine centre or similar, not window on the world type places) and tests such as nipt. Or accept nhs care but be prepared to be a very pushy self-advocate if needed.

I had a complication noticed at my 20 week scan and was put under consultant nhs care very quickly. I ended up swapping to private care but that was really because my local hospital had a very poor reputation for post-natal care (I had been planning a home birth until things got complicated) and going private let me choose my hospital.

My cousin lost a baby, possibly due to incompetent cervix. She received a follow up meeting with the consultant, who outlined the care plan for any future pregnancy. When she gets pregnant again, she's been told to let the midwives know asap. They'll then immediately put her on the consultant list, and the care plan will be actioned straight away. So extra care starts immediately. She gets extra scans though I'm not sure how often.

This is in Scotland but I can't imagine England being wildly different. Just call the midwife as soon as you know you're pregnant, explain what happened last time, ask them when they'll refer you to the consultant and when they'll tell you the care plan etc. Don't be afraid to politely demand to know everything. They get better at this stuff all the time.

Another option might be to have care at another NHS hospital. You don't need to go to your local one, you could go to another one close by?
Perhaps start by having a chat with your GP, ask them if you can discuss your options with someone before you get pregnant, or a bereavement midwife as suggested above. I think all this is worth exploring before you decide about another pregnancy.
You could also contact SANDS or Bliss charities who might be able to suggest some options.

I just can’t see how I will get to the right place I need to be at in time on the NHS, the first appointment will be at 12 to 16 weeks with a - for cases like mine entirely useless - midwife, who’d then have to refer me to a specialist clinic, which might take weeks/months, and that’s not even factoring in appointment cancellations this bit of your post shouldn't be what happens at all, you should be able to have the appointments you need in a timely manner with the NHS, although I appreciate your experiences to date may have shattered your trust in this.

OP my NHS booking appt was at 8 weeks, with a midwife, but she then referred me straight to obstetrician as I'd had previous gynae surgery that needed to be checked. Yes, that first appt is with a midwife but it's to pick up anything that's likely to be a problem so that referrals can be made.
I'm so sorry about your loss - a friend went thru similar and was very closely monitored for her next pregnancy with very regular appts and scans. She had a healthy baby girl.

Can you speak to your GP for reassurance about the timeframes etc?

Hi, have you thought about going for pre conception counselling - not at your local hospital perhaps but at somewhere that specialises in preterm birth. The charity Tommy’s should be able to help with a list of clinics. Places like St Thomas’s, Queen Charlottes, Manchester, Birmingham women’s, etc

Also preterm birth prevention has changed a lot in the last 8 years - much more direct input and guidance. Good luck OP. Didn’t say the above counselling should be available on the NHS. You can book for pregnancy anywhere you like in England, it doesn’t need to be your local hospital.

Just seen this was eight years ago that you lost your baby. I am certain things have improved! Don't give up!
My cousin lost her baby mid pandemic and the care was brilliant. It sounds as if you were unlucky. Are you still in the same area, or can you ask for a consultant at a different hospital etc?

Hey, I'm so sorry for what happened to your baby, that is beyond awful and the NHS has a lot to answer for.

I had a private birth (emergency c section) for my first birth and it was 22k. I am insured now by Bupa global with the top package (think it's called Bupa Global Elite) for private maternity, I am 32 with no medical problems and it's about £900 per month with a 10 month exclusion clause on maternity (from the date you take the insurance out, they only pay for maternity from 10 months from this date). So per year it's £10,800 which is how long I will have it for. So we will save around 11k by doing it via insurance for our second baby. I hope that helps.

@brushlaptop do you really not have to keep paying the premiums throughout the time of the pregnancy as well? That would be closer to two years, even if you were very fortunate in timing your conception.

You can be referred to the hospital before your booking in and 12 week scan scan. I did it through the bereavement midwife by calling her soon after I found out I am pregnant again but I'm not sure how you get in touch with the bereavement midwife in your area. Do you have a Sands charity group near you? Or otherwise contact the hospital. There is definitely provision for this especially if you have a high risk pregnancy or previous loss.