[digitaldorothy]

Hi ladies,
Just wondering have you decided whether to go public or private ? What are your reasons for your decision?

[Leafprincess]

Private


We have health insurance & I want my own room where I won't be turfed out within 48 hours

[Miss Monica]

Private.

Going to the same OB and hospital as for the first two.
But... I plan to get an independent midwife this time too. And possibly a doula.

Lots to discuss as the months roll by...

[butterflydreamin...]

Public - I will more then likely be considered high risk as I have rheumatoid arthritis.

[JuniorGandR]

We're going Private. Same OB and hospital as for #1 - love my OB. We have PHI and I would like the private room and the option to stay in for 4 nights if I want to, not be turfed out. It took a bit of effort to sort out BF with #1 so the support is invaluable. It does hurt, not having the option of a water birth, and having to the pay the ob fee but for me the positives outweigh the negatives.

[digitaldorothy]

Thanks for your comments.

Well, even though we have private insurance, I found out that there would be approx $5000 to pay in the town I live in! I'm not sure whether it is worth it, or better to put the money towards other baby stuff.......

[Chief Pancake Ma...]

Hopefully when the time comes I am going public. Once I add up the extra cost of 12months+ top level health insurance, OB management fees and all the other out of pockets it is a lot of extra money($5000-$6000). If I want a fancy room and nice food Hubby can send me to a 5 star hotel for a week for lots less money, as it happens I just want a healthy baby. I am willing to just have an average room and food for a few days if I get to come home with my baby.

I also dont need to be best buddies with my helath care professionals - I just need them to do their job. As for Obstetricians. If I am low risk then i dont really need one, if I am high risk, I will be allocated one, if there are complications, an Ob will be called - and will probably arrive quicker than a private one on call.

As for baby, the hospital is attached to a neonatal intensive care unit and there is no way I could afford the private costs of emergency paediatric care.

So in a nut shell that is why i am going public.

[NICOLE83]

Digital Dorothy - I will be going private too. Went private for #1 & #2 and planned private for #3 however 4 weeks out from giving birth the hospital phoned me to say even with my PHI we would be out of pocket $5000 as we weren't in top cover so had no choice but to go public. The birth in the public system was great probably my best but unfortunately my stay afterwards was not so good. 6 hours after giving birth they came in and told me i was going home, luckily i was able to have my private OB and she said no way! I had tested + for strep B and because of this bub was meant to be monitored for 24hours, also had lots of bleeding and clots and was having alot of trouble BF which i had done fairly easily with both #1 & #2. We ended up staying for 3 days but i was left alone as this was my 3rd child. It wasn't until a week later that the health nurse on a home visit noticed DS had a tongue tie (hence the problems latching on). Sorry for the long post that is just my personal experience, at the end of the day i have heard many positive public birth stories and so long as bub and mum are healthy that's all that matters. Good luck with your decision.

[Hollag26]

Hi

I am going private. It is such a personal decision.
I used to work for the public health system in Maternity and Pedeatrics and while the staff are fantastic i feel the level of care you receive has to much variance.

[tres-chic]

I went private for numbers two and three because my first experience, which was in a public hospital in Sydney, was absolutely horrific. Was denied an epidural, had a young, inexperienced midwife who was plain mean and then went into a shared ward with a complete nutjob.

My two private births (with an OB who I'm still a wee bit in love with) were heaven in comparison.