[Relly23]

So i've noticed some of the 'mums to be' in my due date group have started to plan birthing.

I'm currently 14 weeks, and I will be contacting the antenatal at 16. I haven't even decided on public or private yet, although public does sound good - all that extra money for bub. So, I was wondering, what's your experience?

Going public vs private? (or if you've done both, which did you prefer?)
Did you use a doula or just the support of your partner? (would love to hear of women who used a doula, i've been reading into it and it looks fantastic).
The decision to have an epi?

I'm just completely in the dark here (except for what mum has told me - in which, she said private and public were a similar experience for her, and she definitely preferred her natural births to the C-sections, as the recovery time was much quicker)

[Chief Pancake Ma...]

If you wanted to go private you needed to have obsetrics cover with your private health insurance for 3 months before you became pregnant so if you havent already got it you will need to go public.

[Relly23]

I have cover, but I hear it is still a decent out of pocket expense.

[feliz6]

If youre already 14 weeks you might find it difficult to get into a private obs of your choice. Believe most private obs would have alreAdy seen clients/ patients before the 14th week. People start booking in very very early. Yes there are costs to going private the largest of which is the obs management fee.

[SCARFACE CLAW]

You've most likely left it much too late to book in for private - most women book in with their obstetricians at 4-6 weeks!

[fooiesmum]

Hi,

I'm not sure where you are located and location has a huge part in what services are available to you.

If you're looking for midwife led care though a public hospital and birthing in a birth centre you may find that these services are now fully booked out and not available to you (they are usually booked out at about 6 weeks pregnant)

If for some reason you are classed as "high risk" you might not have an option if going public and you will be refereed to the OB's clinic at a major tertiary hospital.

If you choose to go private with an OB you might find that their books are already closed to new patients for the month that you are due - and yes there will be out of pocket costs, upwards of $3000 at minimum.

You need to start looking at what you'd like and go from there.

There are lots of choices open to you - HTH

[Beancat]

I would be very surprised if you get into a private ob at weeks. Clients cannot get into my ob by 5-6 weeks and i hear that is pretty much the same for most of the good obs in Melbourne (not sure where you are).

who has been doing your pre-natal care until now - GP?? Speak to who ever you have been seeing and they can give you the run down.

Persoanlly I would never go public in Melbourne. I have heard too many horror stories and the general level of support is just not there, which you need if you are a first time mum. You may be discharged after 24 hours whereas in private you will get 3-4 nights.

I am currently pregnant with my 3rd and am going private for the third time, and it will be my 3rd ceasar. Recovery with the cesear was fine....things have changed alot since your Mum had her ceasears. I was back walking and driving at 2.5 weeks post partum with both pregnancies. I am not saying have an elective ceasar, but if you have to have an emergency cesear or a ceasar for medical reasons dont be scared, they are quite ok.

My advice would be dont get too hung up on the actual birth plan itself. Things can change very quickly. Its important to know your preferences but you need to be flexible and keep your eye on the end prize which is the health of you and your baby. Focussing on the actual birth is a bit like focussing all of your energy on the wedding and not the marraige if you know what I mean.

[Pompol]

Location is a massive factor OP!

If you happen to be rural, I didn't see my OB either time until after 20 weeks because he didn't want to see me until then. My OB will take a patient for the birth if he's seen them only once - so I had friends who did shared care with the midwife clinic, saw the clinic all pregnancy and then popped in to see him at 37ish weeks to tick that box.

And our local hospital, public as no private maternity here, has very nice single rooms for private patients and waives the excess to encourage people to use PHI. So, I had two babies, the first who was in special care for 3 days, and not a cent out of pocket other than the costs of consultations at his rooms and his management fee.

But if you're city based, it's a whole other scenario!

[elmo_mum]

also, depending where you are, some PUBLIC hospitals wont accept you as they are full!!!

- some hospitals fill up by 6 weeks!!!!

your gp (assuming thats who is giing you care) should have told you to book into a hospital asap!!

my friend found out she was pg at 14wks, and had troubles getting in... its only cos she "lied" (the ob told her to) she was able to get care - she was due end of april, but cos her ob told her to say she was due beginnnig of ,ay she was able to get seen

[dirtgirl]

Hi OP....as PPs have mentioned, the type of care you can access will probably be dictated by your location at this stage.

As far as my experience is concerned, I had both of my births through the public system ( I had PHI, but didn't end up using it because the local public hospital is literally 5 minutes away and has a fabulous maternity service). Both of my pregnancies were managed through a shared care arrangement with my GP and midwives from the hospital. I had a great experience both times - the midwives were fantastic. That said, both my pregnancies and births were text-book - no complications, easy births. If there had been any complications, I'm not sure if my experience would have been as great.

At 14 weeks, I would suggest you get things sorted asap, as you may have already passed the window for certain antenatal testing if you're after it.

Good luck!