advice on public hospitals

[first time and clueless]

hi all,

as per my name FT & C i know nothing of this baby/birth/pregnancy thing!

Mine was not planned and thus i do not have private insurance settled. Does anyone know if you can get a private room in a public hospital if you are not privately insured? Does that make sense?

Specifically speaking i will probably be delivering at the John Hunter Hospital near Newcastle NSW

[Amaunet]

I'm not sure about John Hunter, but at my local public hossy (Gosford) its usually ppl who have had c-sections who get the private rooms. If you have a vaginal birth I don't think you actually stay in hospital for very long. Hopefully some Newcastle gals will drop in with more specific advice - I know they have a chatter thread in the local member discussion section so maybe drop in there too.

Congrats on your pregnancy and welcome to BellyBelly!

[Schmickers]

In public hospitals, single rooms are allocated based in clinical grounds - so people who are particularly unwell (recovering from a caesarean) or who need to be isolated due to infection of some sort.

[Visitor7]

Welcome to BellyBelly!
I don't know about that hospital personally either. I know quite a few women up here (Cairns) who went private at the public hospital and they all got their own rooms. I think it's just luck of the draw though.

[Kazbah]

Welcome FT&C - hopefully soon you'll not be &C!

If you were able to afford a private room, then that's not a problem if its needed. If you're after a longer hospital stay, then a private hospital is the way to go - usually a 5-day stay instead of an overnight stay.

[meow]

Does the hospital have a birth centre? We went through a birth centre last time and you have your own room with double bed so you and your partner can both stay.