I suppose I should give an update on this. Can't believe I opened this thread a year and a half ago!
In the end we went semi private in Mount Carmel. The main reason was that we couldn't get the consultant that had been recommended to us in the Rotunda but we had heard good things about one in Mount Carmel.
The experience was extremely positive. The appointments and scans were easy to arrange (including Saturday morning scans which was handy for me) and never had to wait more than 20mins. The facilities are comfortable and we found the staff great. To be honest, everything went so smoothly for the pregnancy that I was beginning to regret going there as every scan and appointment was so quick with never any issues. The one or two first time parent scares that we had were dealt with brilliantly including middle of the night scans and phone calls from our consultant reassuring us that everything was fine.
However, after a painless pregnancy (For me anyway. The wife was pretty sick!!), the birth ended up with complications. My wife went two weeks over and had to be induced. Even then the hospital were great. My wife didn't want to be induced but the consultant scheduled her in when she was 13 days over I think. We turned up but when the consultant saw that my wife wasn't keen on being induced (Damn google!!), she had no problem sending her home for another 24 hours to give the baby every chance.
In the end, she had to be induced. Despite everyones best efforts and my wife against it, we ended up having an emergency c section that night. The baby was born with breathing difficulties and was rushed off to the neo natal unit before we even got to hold her. That first night was probably the scariest night of my life. However once again, I can't speak highly enough of the medical staff. My wife and I were given a private room where we could be alone. We were given regular updates from the doctors and I was allowed into the neo natal unit once the baby was stabilised to take a picture to show my wife.
In the end, mother and baby spent 8 nights in hospital but both made full recoveries. My daughter spent most of that time in incubator but the staff were great with regard to making sure my wife could try breastfeeding and by supporting both of them. My daughter is now 8 months old and is flying!
From what I can gather, maternity care in most hospitals is top notch with great staff. I would never tell people that they should go to Mount Carmel over somewhere else. I just heard things about it before going that proved far from true. The medical facilities and staff are top notch. A traumatic experience was eased considerably given the support by staff and by the quality of the accomodation. Everything was just so quiet and calm compared to the maternity hospitals I had seen.
The best part was that after 20 years of never claiming from health insurance, I got to claim 6 nights accomadation and medical expenses for wife and baby so I ended up getting a bargain!!