Hi and congratulations. My experience was with the public system and I was very happy with it, I went to the birth centre attached to the main maternity hospital here in Perth. I had a small group of midwives who cared for me throughout my pregnancy (saw my gp for first 20 weeks). The midwife who delivered Sarah did some of my antenatal classes and appointments, and also discharged us. She was a lactation consultant too. This cost me nothing. I went home after one night but had midwives come and see me for 5 days. The girls in my mothers group all went private, to the same hospital. They were also happy with how their care went. I don't know about costs, but I know that there was a one off insurance fee for the ob about $900? Anyway what I'm trying to say is everybody is different and there are plenty of ways to go IYKWIM. Good luck with your choice!

Oh and my husband got to stay with me in the birth centre which was fantastic!