I'm going private to have our baby. I like the idea that i know i'll have the same carer all the way through & that i'll get a private room. I have a back issue so i felt more reassured having the one carer.
Our biggest cost will be the Ob fees plus travellingto the city also. My PHI has an excess too. I've built up enough bons points to cover that though i thnk. As long as bubs is on our PHI before the birth we pay nothing while in hospital.
I've actually had people trying to convince me to go public & it's made me feel a bit guilty for wanting to go private. I know a few people who have had their babies at my chosen hospital & have given it great reviews. I feel very confident in the choice of hospital we've made.
My 5 have all been public. With the first two I was fair young and it was not really something I had considered in depth.
The following three however, I went public because Nepean and Nepean Private are on the same grounds - and both use the same NICU (Nepean Public). What made the difference was the NICU was 5 steps away from the birthing suite at the public, where its a walk across 2 hospitals from the private. We only needed the NICU once with baby #4, he had a collapsed lung and could not breath properly, so it was a decision that justified itself in the end.
The care levels varied some, depending really on the staff at the time. My labours are very long and its not uncommon for me to go through two shift changes, although I have had midwives stay a second shift for me so that I would not have to get used to a whole new bunch of people.
One thing I learnt was that even in the public system, never be afraid to ask. My sister asked for a different midwife once after the one she had botched the pethidine injection, proceeded to be rude about it while she was bleeding profusely from the site and then disposed of the used needle in the normal waste basket. Also because I am trypanophobic, the Nepean Hospital used to get the pathologist from upstairs to come down specifically for my canula placement. They are fairly good when it comes to the requests of a labouring woman.
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