Private or Public (birth)

I'm assuming that you are a first time mum Marbil? My children are aged 18 and 9, I didn't feel particularly confident of my abilities when I had my daughter - as there was such a big gap in pregnancies. I went public at Holles St and yes the ward was a bit noisy but your baby learns very quickly to sleep thru ANYTHING! Any worries that you have are quickly ironed out by 'old hands' as previously mentioned and if you decide to breast-feed, the company and support is great - the midwifes were fantastic, especially the night staff. Most of your visitors would be coming in the afternoon or evening and a private room could be very lonely for you. I don't know which maternity hospital you're attending but I'm sure they would allow you to have a look around before the birth, to decide which is the best option for you. At the end of the day, raising a baby is expensive and I would save the VHI money for other things. Congratulations to you and your partner and the best of luck with whatever you decide.
 
nelly said:
interesting to see that if you go public - ok it may be a bit of a cattle mart you get your scans done on each visit.
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Nelly - are you outside of Dublin?- none of the Dublin Hospitals(that I am aware of) will scan per visit.
 
CharlieC said:
We had a look at the public ward and looked a bit of a cattle mart. They get the scan free.
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i thought this is what you meant?

My sis is a mw in a dublin hosp and she recommends public because they will scan you if they are worried about you on whatever visit and not if you are progressing normally. The care you receive from the staff should be the same (although there are more patients in the public queue so to speak so you may not get a lot of time so they encourage folks write down all info so they can ask questions etc), so from that point of view you should not see any difference in care.
finally regarding the "more empathy" - i would not bank on that...
 
nelly said:
i thought this is what you meant?

My sis is a mw in a dublin hosp and she recommends public because they will scan you if they are worried about you on whatever visit and not if you are progressing normally. The care you receive from the staff should be the same (although there are more patients in the public queue so to speak so you may not get a lot of time so they encourage folks write down all info so they can ask questions etc), so from that point of view you should not see any difference in care.
finally regarding the "more empathy" - i would not bank on that...
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Ok so they do not scan you every visit, only if there is a concern- slightly different then getting a scan in public on every visit.

The private ob scanned my wife on every visit and she never had complications

The 'more empathy' comment is based upon my own experiences and would be of greater significance to first timers
 
if birth goes fine,then private ward is great,however if there should be any problem during the birth,public hospitals ARE far better to look after you or your child,
 
I went private on first and public on my second. Where i live (cork) if something goes wrong during the labour, you're brought to one of the public hospitals because they don't have the facilities to deal with such problems in the Bonds (private hospital). I know of two of the gynaecologists that work in the Bonds - their wives also went public. I personally will be going public again if i have any more.
 
just the drinking on the ward - this happened in a hosp in Cork where a crowd brought in cans to "wet the babies head" and were very loud..:confused:
People signed themselves out before the "crowd" were asked to leave - I could imagine my hubbie losing it if i were recuperating - public or private this should not be tolerated.
 
Private for me. We paid my Consultant €2,500 and reclaimed 42% of that from Revenue.

If we had another child, i would definitely go private again.

My reasons for going private.

I wanted

1. set times to see my own consultant - only waited 20mins max.

2. Appointments in the evenings - didn't want to take time off work.

3. Enough time with my consultant - he was lovely and took loads of time to answer all my questions and those of my husband.

4. a private room - i like my privacy and didn't feel that a public or semi-private ward would give me that.

5. A scan at every visit.

6. the security of knowing a specific consultant was looking after me.


Johnnyboy, correct me if i'm wrong but when you mention private hospitals, i take it you mean, the likes of Mount Carmel. I think most Women going private would be attending the private section of a public hospital and therefore would get the same care as a public patient.
 
Things can go wrong particularly if its your first birth. Heard too many stories of public patients ending up with bad results - wouldn't risk a child's future to save a few euros. You're missing the point if you're focussing in on private rooms and craic -this is serious business!
 
buyingabroad said:
Things can go wrong particularly if its your first birth. Heard too many stories of public patients ending up with bad results - wouldn't risk a child's future to save a few euros. You're missing the point if you're focussing in on private rooms and craic -this is serious business!
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Things can go wrong for a private patient too.

This is something we've been looking into recently and from what I can gather the only differences between private and public is
You'll see the same consultant at every visit
Private room (if one is available)
Consultant will attend the birth.

Its my understanding that once you're in the labour ward most of the work/supervision will be done by the midwives, regardless of whether you're public or private you'll get the same care from them. If you go private the consultant will be present at the birth but as stated earlier only in a spectator capacity. As a public patient if there is a problem the hospital consultant will attend.

On that basis we have decided when the time comes to go semi-private.
 
A question regarding claiming expenses on the med-1. I'm expecting our first child next Spring, and we have decided to go private, however I'm still in two minds about changing to semi-private. Anyway, my husband and I are both working full-time but neither of us is taxed on the higher tax-band (very close to it, but still under the threshold). How will this affect the expenses claim? Surely we wouldn't get most of the expenses back as we're not paying 42% tax on our wages....

Advice very much appreciated!
 
That's what I imagined was the case. Thanks for the clarification.

Is it possible to find out how much this would be?
 
ulcercentral said:
That's what I imagined was the case. Thanks for the clarification.

Is it possible to find out how much this would be?
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Total cost less anything paid by VHI/Bupa less €200 @ 20%
 
I'm expecting a child in October and opted for semi private. The advantage over public is less waiting time for appointments and more comfortable environment than the public area. Sharing with 2 or 3 others will not bother me as I think it'll be nice to have some company in the long days/nights outside of visiting hours. Cost was €500 and the care has been excellent. Glad I didn't pay €2,500 for private
 
Thanks for the insight Anitac.

I decided to change to semi-private, and they were able to fit me in a few weeks earlier for my first ante-natal appointment so it's all good!

Thanks again
UC
 
Anitac said:
I'm expecting a child in October and opted for semi private. The advantage over public is less waiting time for appointments and more comfortable environment than the public area. Sharing with 2 or 3 others will not bother me as I think it'll be nice to have some company in the long days/nights outside of visiting hours. Cost was €500 and the care has been excellent. Glad I didn't pay €2,500 for private
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You don't pay the full cost if you factor in what you get back. (42%)

My wife went private and we got most of it back. We paid 2,000 and received the 42% back, so it really only cost just over a 1,000. The peace of mind it gave my wife was definitely worth it as she was very relaxed before and after the birth because she was in comfort in her own private area.

She had great regular check ups with scans everytime and pictures to accompany them. She then had a great stay in a private room with en-suite and complete privacy.

While we walked the corridors (which you do) - we couldn't believe the public wards, full of noisy people and herded in like cattle. Overall, as you get most of your outlay back, private was the way to go for us.

For our next child we will definitely do the same.
 
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