Baby on Way - Public or Private?

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daveco23

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Hi,
Mrs Daveco23 is expecting in september, in the process of deciding whether to go public or private. Currently on VHI Plan b which does not cover maternity care (!), so will be paying private maternity costs in full if we go down that route.
Its not a case of not being able to afford it, but 3k will buy an awful lot of pampers.. Am wondering if it is worth it? What is public maternity care like? Any pros and cons would be appreciated.
Baby will be born in Dublin by the way.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

Congrats Daveco23! We had this dilemma last year, we lived quite close to a maternity hospital with a good reputation and weren't convinced of the need to "go private". My wife went public and couldn't fault the care she got at the time. Mrs C is expecting again this year and this time we "had" to go private as there was such a waiting list for the public service that she wouldn't have had a scan until week 20 (at least)! Which is a nonsense really. There's an awful lot of snobbery associated with whether you go private or public but to my mind the care is the same.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

I had all 3 in Holles St through the public system and was very happy each time. Only drawbacks were the queing times for consultants but with a good read this was ok! Unless you really want your own space I personally don't see the need to go private.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

AFAIK if you are nto scheduled for a scan -till week 20 for example you can always tell a little white lie and say you have had stomach cramping and arrive at the hospital - you will be scanned then (prob won't recieve the pic but will get what you want). Public and private have much the same care - a good midwife is better than an overworked junior doctor?
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

Went public both times in Cork and can't fault the care, the food and surroundings were pretty grim though, in fact to be honest the food was inedible and I had to ask people the bring in food when they were calling.
The big difference seems to be accomodation and also when you go private you are given appointments with your consultant for all antenatal appointments but when going public you can see any doctor who is available or usually just midwives.
To my mind the midwives often know more anyway.....

If I were to have another baby I would go public again but I also know people who would not consider public.
Depends on the person.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

Hi DaveCo,

congratulations! I dont have any kids yet, so my view is from seeing my sisters give birth.

One gave birth in a public hospital and had a terrible experience (not saying that it was typical for a public hospital - just her experience). Her waters broke, and 2 days later she still hadnt given birth. The staff were completely over loaded and too busy to give her much attention or explain what was happening. In the end she had an emergency cesearean.
That could have happened in any hospital, but the bad thing was the lack of attention or explanations. The nurses were very nice and professional, but just too busy.
Once she had given birth, the semi-private room she had booked was unavailable, so she was in a ward with 7 other new mothers and babies. After such a harrowing experience of course she just wanted to relax and sleep, but the boyfriends of the other mums were in the ward watching the footie on the television, and their other older kids running around, causing bedlam. Absolute nightmare.
For her second child she gave birth in a private hospital and said she cannot put the difference into words.

Thats just one experience - I know plenty of other people who have been perfectly satisfied with public hospitals. I would suggest your partner looks around the wards of where she is planning to give birth, and see if she can picture herself content there, given the number of people per room, noise levels etc.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

nelly said:
AFAIK if you are nto scheduled for a scan -till week 20 for example you can always tell a little white lie and say you have had stomach cramping and arrive at the hospital - you will be scanned then (prob won't recieve the pic but will get what you want).
Click to expand...

Our family doctor suggested this and we went to the hospital only to be dressed down by a very rude and inconsiderate consultant for wasting his time, as he saw it. My wife gave him a good earful!
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

ragazza said:
Hi DaveCo,

After such a harrowing experience of course she just wanted to relax and sleep, but the boyfriends of the other mums were in the ward watching the footie on the television, and their other older kids running around, causing bedlam. Absolute nightmare.
Click to expand...

That's down to bad hospital management- I know our local hospital has very strict guidelines on visiting for the maternity ward. Most hospitals now have a complaints procedure/ customer feedback facility where that sort of carry on should noted and objected to.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

A number of friends who went private ended up in public wards anyway after the birth because of lack of capacity in the private rooms....Have heard lots of positives about public..Only negatives are the queues for checkups..
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

Thanks for the opinions!
Carpenter, I agree with the snobbery - people did a double take when we mentioned we were even thinking of not going private!
Booking in apt in Holles st today, so will get a feel for the place and see what kind of bedlam we will have to deal with.
Wife is in week 12, so hopefully will get scan sometime soon.
Thanks again, and keep the opinions coming!
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

[you can always tell a little white lie and say you have had stomach cramping and arrive at the hospital - you will be scanned then/QUOTE]
I strongly disapprove of this kind of 'me-fein' attitude. Anyone can book in for a private scan and pay around €100 to get one done if you don't want to wait for a public one.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

Anyone can book in for a private scan and pay around €100 to get one done if you don't want to wait for a public one

Didn't know that - thanks.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

It may even cost less- your wifes GP should be able to give her a letter referring her to a private hospital to have one done within a matter of days. Also its probably a reclaimable expense on the med1 form.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

ragazza said:
Once she had given birth, the semi-private room she had booked was unavailable, so she was in a ward with 7 other new mothers and babies. After such a harrowing experience of course she just wanted to relax and sleep, but the boyfriends of the other mums were in the ward watching the footie on the television, and their other older kids running around, causing bedlam. Absolute nightmare.
Click to expand...

Sounds familiar.
When our son was born, the two of them were in a semi-private ward with 5 other beds. One night, my wife phoned me in an upset sate as there was a crowd of visitors around the next bed, pushing into her space, braying loudly and drinking champagne.

Some of the mothers in the room seemed obsessed about getting into the Merrion Wing, and being borderline abusive to the staff cos there were no spaces available.

My wife was content to stay where she was as she needed support and reassurance from the nurses for breast-feeding. If she had been in a private room, she may not have persevered or succeeded.

After a couple of days of getting on with it and not pestering staff, she was getting first refusal on space in the Merrion Wing, much to the chargin of other mothers. Each time she declined as she preferred, on balance, to have support to hand.

When she was there again two years later, she stayed semi-private, was remembered by staff and was again given first refusal on a private room. Again, she declined.

There is a balanced decision to be made. My wife made subjective decisions. Others would be influenced by different criteria.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

You can claim back 42% of the OBs fees on the Med1 right?
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

Dont want to alarm you first baby went public wife had a very hard time and damaged her very badly internally.
Went private on baby two and three only for we went private with our own gyno I would have lost both baby number 3 and wife.
I know if we were public for number 3 they wouldnt have been able to pre empt the problems.

Again dont want to alarm you thankfully these types of problems are few and far between and the majority of births run smoothly.

Best of Luck
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

tyrell these stories DO alarm and really for every awful public story there is a private one. If there is no reason to be worried about a pregnncy delivery then public is fine.
I have 2 sisters midwives and they reckon the care depends on the STAFF.
also i do agree that nurses remember previous clients so before you are snotty with the civil service remember you could need them again.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

If you can afford it, I'd say Private. There are worse ways of spending c2500 (before tax relief) Went with it for #1 and also for #2 (WIP)

Mrs AJC had emergency cesearean with consultant she knew. She was also able to get scans more or less as often as needed (as early as week 10 with #2 after miscarriage)

Not slagging of public - in the end it's the same nurses anyway - but especially if you feel that there might be any complications - then the extra funds is worth it.
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

I went semi-private in the Bons in Cork and would recommend it highly. did it for both pregnacies and felt it was worth the expense (remeber you can slain back the excess on your MED1 form at marginal rate of tax).
Had an exceptionally nice consultant who put both me and my husband at ease and if i had a third child would go this route again.
I am not faulting the care given in public hospitals and in some cases the care is exactly the same for public/private care but definately the Bons in Cork gets my vote! I budgeted for the costs and thought of it as the same price as an annual holiday and felt it was important to me. It wasn't a snobbery thing in my case as I preferred the consultant route/bons hospital and had the savings to cover it! I think it is a personal decision and there is no right/wrong answer to this!
 
Re: Baby on Way - Public or Private??

I went private on both my pregnancies. The first to a private hospital and the second to a maternity hospital. My advice would be to go to a maternity hospital if you can ... not just a maternity wing of a normal hospital. They know what they are doing and they no if something is not right. Secondly I would try to find a very good gp who will do as much of the routine stuff as possible under the combined care scheme. Regardless whether you are a public or private patient by the very nature of obstetrics the consultant is likely to be called away during office hours to deliver a baby. If you can get your gp to do the blood work it will save you having to queue up in the hospital to have it done. Finally as a private patient you are paying for the consultants expertise. You need a consultant that you like and that you trust to deliver your baby. As a private patient you pay for the consultant to attend the delivery of your baby. That is not to say that the midwife would not do as good a job or even better but it's comforting to know that everything is in good order down there when you're done.
 
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