Yep for personal reasons private is the only way to go. $4000 is only the OB fees (they do differ greatly, but that is how much mine charged when I initially went private). If you don't have health insurance and you give birth in a private hosp the expenses could be up to $10,000 (not including the OB fees) especially for a c sect as then there are theatre fees, anesthetist fees, the actual stay in hosp and all that jazz.

Basically private hospitals are just nicer looking and you have more chance of getting a private room. The care is probably the same standard. Public hospitals usually have better facilities in terms of the lastest equipment, top class NICU etc as they get more funding from the government. But they'll usually turf you out quicker due to lack of beds. I'm not entirely sure if you could go as a private patient in a public hosp for an elective c sect (pretty sure you still need insurance to do that)...maybe someone else can answer that for me?