[~A Poetic Winter...]

Thanks for all your responses ladies. I'm going towards public now. I've booked my first OB 13 March however i'll still keep that appointment but will ring St George and see what i need to do.

Even though i'm going to be judged (all friends have gone private) , i would much rather the money go else where - towards baby furniture etc, me staying home longer!

As its still early stages i haven't told anyone about my pregnancy, but i had had conversations with friends about private vs public, and all they say is horror stories about what they have heard from people going public.

Judged for what? Seriously it will be the least of your concerns once your in labour!

This post has been edited by twoformee: 28/02/2012, 10:18 AM

[EBeditor]

I had a friend have two babies through Hurstville private and the last at St George public - all her births were fine.

I have never heard anyone judge someone else for their choice!

The St George hospital midwife-run home birth program sounds really fantastic actually.

[JoMarch]

Ultimately it's your decision to make, however I think if the financial aspect is worrying you then I think that money might be better spent getting yourselves set up for baby's arrival than on the out of pocket costs associated with going private. We decided to have our baby in the public system based on this factor, as well as because I work in a large public hospital and am very happy with the service that it provides.

I've never really heard of people being judgemental about others choice to have their babies in the public system, I think Australia has a good public health system! Nobody I know has been judgemental about us choosing to go public, and if they did, that's their problem, and frankly it's nobody elses business! Good luck making your decision, I'm sure it will be the right one for you either way

[bjk76]

I went private, but when a friend asked for my advice about private vs public, I recommended public to her. I'd go private again, as I liked my ob and LOVED having a private room and I'm not sure whether I'd have been able to birth naturally (I had a CS after labour failed to progress past 6cm, as DS was a bit big and was having trouble engaging) so would probably have needed an ob to do a CS anyway. As I told my friend, I had thought that PHI would cover everything, including the cost of the ob, but it only covered the hospital, so it did end up quite expensive, with the higher PHI hospital cover and the obstetrician's fees, not that he was a particularly expensive one. I told her that if you don't have heaps of money and if you'd prefer to birth naturally, to go public, as the intervention rates are higher in private hospitals and you're more likely to have a CS.

[MissyK]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.

[Alacritous~Andy]

Thanks for all your responses ladies. I'm going towards public now. I've booked my first OB 13 March however i'll still keep that appointment but will ring St George and see what i need to do.

Even though i'm going to be judged (all friends have gone private) , i would much rather the money go else where - towards baby furniture etc, me staying home longer!

As its still early stages i haven't told anyone about my pregnancy, but i had had conversations with friends about private vs public, and all they say is horror stories about what they have heard from people going public.

Not that it is any consolation, but I have a horror story, and I went private. I think if anything, the fact that I had paid a fortune for private care, and still did not get the birth experience that I had hoped (and paid!) for, made me even angrier. So please don't think that private = good birth, public = bad.

I just got my BFP, and after my experiences with my first, I will be going public with this baby.

[MissyK]

Sorry to hear your experience wasn’t everything you hoped for. Thanks for sharing your story.

And your 100% correct about the private = good birth and public = bad – your spot on!

[peking homunculu...]

I also went to the RPA Birthcentre but used my PHI to pay for a private room. I had no out of pocket expenses and had a great experience in the birth centre

[Boombox]

Hello, I don't belong here either, but I was thinking you might want to look at the statistics of the hospitals you're looking at, as private tend to have much higher C/S and intervention rates. Upon searching I came across this awesome site that is excellent for comparing different hospitals in some states of Australia. Have a look at the Birth Stats section. (the data seems to be from 2006- still fairly recent, and the biggest change will likely be slightly higher C/S at most hospitals)

http://www.mybirth.com.au/

Considering your private option had 40% C/S, 75% epidural and 27% episiotomy rates (compared with 25, 42 and 7 at your public option) I know which hospital I'd choose!!

Dont let other peoples judgemental snobbery effect your decisions about your body and baby. You'll be the one with the money in the bank to spend on what you wish, AND the chance of a more natural birth as well!

[bikingbubs]

I went public first time around to test the waters and see if I was happy with my care. Then if needed I would have gone private this time around. However, I was so happy with the care I received through my pregnancy, birth & afterwards that there is no way I wouldnt go public again!! I will be placed with the same midwife too as part of their continuity program so even more excited this time around!!

Also dont quite get why you would be judged for going public? We could easily afford to go private but had heard some wonderful things about the hospital I go through so thought we could put the money for better use for things for the baby.

Oh, I also got a private room and was there for 6 nights.

This post has been edited by bikingbubs: 28/02/2012, 01:35 PM