My dilemma - Public or private care during pregnancy - doing my head in
OK, I've been going round and round in circles on this and it's doing my head in. I just can't make up my mind on which way to move forward with my pregnancy care. I have private health insurance so I can go either way. Excuse my stream of consciousness below, but I just need to get this all out.
My pros for Public
- I get to deliver at the Royal Women's Hospital - it's very new and very beautiful. It's also the best maternity hospital in Victoria and if anything (god forbid) goes wrong then I am in the best place to sort it out.
- Midwife led care - I understand the research that midwife led care for uncomplicated pregnancies is the best way to go. I am hoping (as I'm sure everyone does) that my pregnancy is very straight forward with no problems.
- The Royal Women's provides a midwife community clinic 2 mins walk from my house and also very close to work. This means that apart from my first appointment at the Royal Women's, all of my appointments during my pregnancy will be at the Community Clinic. I am also hoping that because it is a small clinic, I will see mostly the same staff.
- It is all free, leaving me more money to spend on our new addition to the family.
- Low intervention rates - I am very aware of their different philosophy to pregnancy and very much want a natural birth.
My againsts for Public
- Being rushed. This is my first pregnancy and I don't really have any close friends that have been pregnant. Hence, I have little clue what I'm doing. I want continuity of care and someone who is there 'for me'. I'm not sure that the Public system won't provide this, but I know how very busy and stretched they are.
My pros for Private / Obstetrician led care
- OB's provide more of a specialist care in case something goes wrong. Also, they are more on the look out for things that might go wrong.
- I get to see the same OB for my appointments
- Frances Perry House (where I would go) is very beautiful and comes highly recommended
- I know it's probably a bit shallow, but I love the idea of going to a swish hotel after birth
- We can afford it, making it an option
My against's for Private / OB led care
- High intervention rate - I don't want drugs / a cesarean unless it is absolutely necessary. This is a big one for me.
- The OB isn't really there for the whole birth to explain it to me anyway.
- It costs a lot of money, which could be better spent
Husband sees both sides, but thinks that is we can afford it surely we should have the best care, which in his view is 'private'. But I'm not so sure it is the best care, for me anyway. However, he'll back whatever call I make.
Other options
- Independent midwife - This interests me, but for the life of me I can't find any based in Melbourne's West. Any suggestions would be super!
- Doula - See above.
Some questions...
Can I start down the public path, but if my pregnancy is complicated move to an OB to help me through? I know it can be very hard to get one after 8 weeks of pregnancy so don't want to miss out on the good ones !
And here's me making a decision...!
I think I'd like to stick with The Women's for now, but meet with a doula and talk to them about the whole thing.
I think that I'm thinking too much about this! However I hate indecision and like to be very organised and know what I'm doing.
Can you be a private patient in a public hospital?? I have a feeling you can and then you can extend your stay if you do not want to be rushed and kind of get the best of both worlds. Have a look into it. I am not sure of all the pros and cons of this but will ask some people who have done this.
if i were you, i would make a decision and stick with it. i wouldn't be changing haf way through as i think this will only stress you out even more.
do you know anyone who has used any of the obs you would consider using that you could have a chat to?
From my experience I would go public with a doula (what I'll be doing next time). I went public with a midwife who was allocated to me, but I didn't find she gave me enough support during the actual labour, and I ended up with a c-section - not to say this wouldn't have happened anyway, but I might have had less regrets about it. I'm almost 100% sure that the labour wouldn't have been any different with a private ob (I had the same choice as you with private health) and stories from my friends made me wonder why you pay all this money to an ob who tells you to hold on until he gets there for the birth- it's not like you need him unless there are difficulties, and you'll get an ob in a public hospital if that happens anyway. By that time you're probably so over it you don't care who your ob is!
Food for thought, have you taken into account the different nursing care you will recieve in public hospital versus private. In a public hospital there is a set nurse to patient ratio which the hospital should obey. Not all private hospitals have the same ratios so i would be asking this before i booked into a private hospital as you do not want to be sharing your nurse with anymore patients than you have to. Especially important during labour and post natal care, if you need help breast feeding etc you don't want to have to wait forever for your nurse to be available.
My dilemma - Public or private care during pregnancy - doing my head in
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