Private or Public?

[didispunk]

I was just wondering who is going Private or Public and why?

I had DS public and loved it thought the support was brilliant as he was in special care etc.. Everyone is asking me why i wouldnt go private this time.. I am not sure why i would,, I had my own room etc.. what is the difference.. your OBGYN migth not even be there for the birth?

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[ShootingStar]

I went public with DS and am going public again. I found our hospital public system to be wonderful. The midwives were all so lovely and caring. Even though i was in a room with one other person (as it was a busy time of year) it really didnt bother me as we had our own section off kinda areas. Reason im going public is i cant see much difference in public and private except you have to pay a whole lot of money.. money i personally would rather spend on my family.

[NaeNae]

We're going public but only because we do not have health insurance (12 month wait for pregnacy stuff anyway) I am not sure if we get a choice if we had health ins ... had friends who have had children in our two closest hospitals both public and no complaints so why pay extra??!!

nae x

[meow]

I'm going public- at a birthing centre. I prefer public for the lower levels of intervention rates. I'm also really healthy and well and don't feel any need to see a doctor through my pregnancy... we can have one if the birth isn't going well but I personally don't need one for pre-natal care.
The added bonus is our pregnancy care is free and we've then been able to spend some money on a doula

[BellyBelly]

When I had my two (5 & 3) I went private as I had the insurance and I thought it was the best money could buy. But what I didn't understand was the difference between best technology and best care. There is a thread here somewhere which shows the stats of outcomes of birth for private vs public, with private having higher rates of interventions, from c/s to instrumental delivery and episiotomy.

I guess I also made the decision as I wanted a little luxury in a hospital like a private room, hubby could stay etc but next time I will have the ultimate luxury, ultimate privacy and ultimate people around me - birth at home, in water. Now that is what makes me think I am getting the best money can buy

[dee73]

I went private the first time and had no worries whatsoever. This time though we are going with an ob simply because we have moved and our local public hospital now is not so good (know a few people who've had bad experiences there...). I researched my ob and chose one with low intervention and so far so good. I think if you have a good public hospital near you then there's no reason to go private, I wouldn't be if we still lived near the good one.

[8weeks]

We are going public, partly because of the 12 month health insurance gap and partly because we don't see the point in going to a private hospital. The perks of a private hospital just don't seem to be enough to convince me to spend big dollars.

[New Dawn]

I have gone public with all my children and go again they have been great with all of then so I dont see why I should have to pay a hospital to have my baby when I could have it for free down the road. Plus up here if they have any problems up here with you or the baby they ship you over to the public anyway.

[fionas]

I went private because I have health insurance and never use it so seemed silly not to use it for my pregnancy. Plus, I was told that if I went public I could spend literally hours waiting around at each appointment - which I knew would irritate me big time. I also wanted to see one doctor throughout and didn't want to have to explain my history each time. Added to that, I'm a freak who just doesn't cope with shared rooms. I can't even cope with a shared room on a Girls Weekend Away so the chances of me being able to relax just after giving birth with a total stranger in the room were zero. So to me it was well worth the dollars. But yes, there's lots of very good reasons for going public - the low intervention rate being the most compelling and if I didn't already have private health insurance and didn't have a sharing room phobia, I wouldn't be spending that money going private.

Horses for courses!

[BellyBelly]

I would often spend hours waiting for my Ob too And he missed both the births! With the strangers at birth comment, no matter if you go private or public, you will be labouring with strangers anyway, an Ob will only come should there be a complication. A midwife caught Marisa and a fill-in Ob caught Elijah. Obstetric care does not offer continuity of care in labour. Midwives you wont know, you may or may not like and will have more influence in the outcome of your birth as they are there during your whole labour (or 2 or 3 over shifts).

I figure, in my home, in my jamies and no waiting, a midwife will come to me!

Not dissing anyone's choices - just stating the differences because I never knew all this

[meow]

I'll be getting my own room going public- the birth centre is only made up of rooms with double beds for your partner to stay too. I think this is really important from a post-natal depression point of view for Dads too- they seem to get very overlooked.

Otherwise, home birth is the ultimate for privacy and choice but it's a private option given you have to pay your own way.

[fionas]

Forgot to say, I went public when I had a miscarriage. Waited around for hours and hours and hours and the quality of care was not good IMO - I realise that they had other priorities given that they couldn't do much because it was an early miscarriage. Then when I went back to assess whether I needed a D&C, I again had to wait around for hours, plus get changed in some cubicle, put on a gown with no back so my arse was hanging out and walk back to the consulting room carrying my cltohes and handbag. While strange men (not doctors) were wandering around the cubicles! I know this is not representative of public hospital care but that also put me off big time.

I agree homebirth is a terrific option but it's not for me. I want the security of knowing drugs are on hand.