I went private with first pregnancy and was so glad because it ended in miscarriage. Instead of going to local GP or midwives or emergency, I was able to contact my ob on his beeper at any time and he scheduled a scan for me ASAP. When I found out I had m/c, he booked me in that night for a d&c as opposed to waiting in emergency department.

We went private for DD and loved it all - personal care and own room. I know you're not guranteed private rooms but you may stay one night in a shared room thenget moved anyway.

After having DD we did consider public because provate can be expensive andI knew friends who went that way and still had good care. However, after visiting a friend in a room with 4 beds i thought NO WAY! After giving birth you're so sensitve "down there" and need to go to the toilet a lot and I wanted privacy for that. I also wanted 4 nights not 2 so I could relax and enjoy getting to know our baby and what to do rather than being rushed out.

My friend who gave birth on a Friday morning slept that arvo, had visitors as well as midwives giving overload of information on the Saturday and then home Sunday morning. Her milk hadn't even come in yet. My 5 day stay meant more time to catch up on sleep, leanr feeding techniques and enjoy the help provided by midwives.

So that's why we chose provate again - maybe small selfish reasons but good enough for me! In saying that lots of public hospitals have excellent reputations too and it can sometimes simply depend on which midwife is on duty on how good they are.