Private obstetrician & medicare safety net

[HotI]

My pregnancy was 'high risk' just based on the potential for issues due to my medical condition, going public was better because many unexpected extras were covered without extra costs. I was able to get care during pregnancy when there were issues, but not with the same carer each time. Next time i'm going with an independent midwife. I would recommend an IM over an Ob.

[LionsandBears]

Thanks Kate. That's reassuring.

I have a thread about public too: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...d.php?t=154153

We'll still have our IM, it would just be for birth instead of the whole pregnancy. TBH, I'd prefer just our IM. She's great, she knows our history, we have hour long appts in our living room which DH can attend without taking time off work. It was her advocacy that meant we ended up with a vaginal breech and not a c/s.

It's for the just-in-case scenario. Just in case we have a m/c, what happens if you're in the public system and need a D&C? Just in case bub is sick, does a private OB make any difference?
If I want/need inducing or a c/s, what's the difference between private and public? The main benefit I can see is continuity of care. We were lucky with the last bub to get a consultant who can do vaginal breech. That may not happen again.

Aargh - it's all doing my head in. Why can't you engage an IM for everything and just call in an OB when it's needed?

[Miss E]

We'll still have our IM, it would just be for birth instead of the whole pregnancy. TBH, I'd prefer just our IM. She's great, she knows our history, we have hour long appts in our living room which DH can attend without taking time off work. It was her advocacy that meant we ended up with a vaginal breech and not a c/s.

It's for the just-in-case scenario. Just in case we have a m/c, what happens if you're in the public system and need a D&C? Just in case bub is sick, does a private OB make any difference?
If I want/need inducing or a c/s, what's the difference between private and public? The main benefit I can see is continuity of care. We were lucky with the last bub to get a consultant who can do vaginal breech. That may not happen again.

Aargh - it's all doing my head in. Why can't you engage an IM for everything and just call in an OB when it's needed?

For me it was continuity of care, the fact that I could stay in hospital for longer and get more help with breastfeeding and that DH could stay with us, that made it worth the money. And I have to say after having a CS, it was great to have DH with us cos he was able to care for DS that first night while I was still bed ridden.

I have a friend who had a very similar labour and emergency CS to me in a public hospital. She had to wait 5 hours for her epidural after she'd requested it because the aneathisist wasn't available and ended up having 2 shots of pethidine in the meantime. I had my epidural being administered within 20 mins of asking for it in the Private hospital. Also, because her DH couldn't stay with them the first night, her little girl had to spend her first night in the nursery simply because she was bed ridden and couldn't care for her.

That said, I think our public system is very good and I'm not sure if I will be willing to fork out the money for private next time around... If you have an IM and go public you will be able to just call in an OB when it is needed, it's just you won't necessarily get to choose which one iykwim?

HTH

[Loula]

Why can't you engage an IM for everything and just call in an OB when it's needed?

Im sure my OB would be happy to do this