Pregnant - public/private - Hospital?

Pootjies

Hi there, I'm 6 weeks pregnant and soooo many questions so hopefully you can help me:
- when do you get your first real examination (GP visit was quite pathetic as she didnt do a thing!!!) incl. blood test, scan etc?
- which hospital can you recommend (Dublin city centre area)
- private/public or semi private? I have no clue!

Questions, questions, questions! Hope you can help me as I havent got a clue about Irish health system...

Thanks
Pootjies

crazy cat lady

Congratulations

There are quite a few threads on this forum about this, you should look through old pages and see if any of your questions can be answered there.

Here's a few:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055735950

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055662554

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055664237

The first Dr's appointment is just really to confirm the pregnancy. It is unlikely that you will start receiving antenatal care until you are about 16 weeks pregnant, and unless you've had a miscarriage or problems in the past, you will not have a scan until about 20-22 weeks if you go public.

Hope this helps

Pootjies

Thank you crazy cat lady, that really helps. So much to think about.. :rolleyes:
Just noticed you are nearly there... All the best for you and your little on.

jenzz

Hey congrats..

1st little man was Holles St public
2nd little lady was Holles St private....

Defo recommend the private since I have experienced both.. Your consultant is called when you go into labour so he is there to deliver. Also if you have difficulties like I did then it might just be a life saver. They also took the babies to the nursery at night so very peacful. As max of 2 per room you can have much needed rest & visiting restrictions I found were not a problem.

Best wishes anyway

crazy cat lady

jenzz wrote: »

Hey congrats..

1st little man was Holles St public
2nd little lady was Holles St private....

Defo recommend the private since I have experienced both.. Your consultant is called when you go into labour so he is there to deliver. Also if you have difficulties like I did then it might just be a life saver. They also took the babies to the nursery at night so very peacful. As max of 2 per room you can have much needed rest & visiting restrictions I found were not a problem.

Best wishes anyway

Don't be filling this girl with idea's that the consultant will be there to deliver if you go private! Usually the consultant gets there to say congratulations after the midwife has delivered! I've found with consultants delivering that you are more likely to end up with an instrumental delivery also. They don't have the time or patience to be waiting around for baby to come.

If you have difficulties, don't be under any illusion that its the consultant who's the life saver either! You'd be treated as well and recieve the most expert care regardless of whether you are lining a consultants pocket or not!

As for taking the baby away to the nursery at night... Do you really want to be separated from your baby after having it with you 24/7 for the last 9 months? Its not encouraged as much these days anyway. Babies are generally left with the mothers to encourage bonding.

You'll also find visiting restrictions are the same on all the wards in Holles St. In fact I found them more enforced on the Merrion Wing.

Oh and lets not forget that you could pay thousands to go private and still end up on an extra bed in a public ward.

Sorry but nobody should be under the illusion that just because you are a paying patient that you will recieve better care than if you go public.

crazy cat lady

crazy cat lady wrote: »

Sorry but nobody should be under the illusion that just because you are a paying patient that you will recieve better care than if you go public.

For me, there is a difference between public and private maternity care in Dublin. I can't comment on other parts of Ireland.
Bear in mind also that Holles Street subscribes to the active management of labour.

Best of luck with your decison, Pootjies!

Moonbeam

I think there is also a difference in Dublin with semi private being the best in terms of value for money.
The merrion wing in holles st is lovely and I would not want to stay anywhere else after having a child but also would rather a midwife at the birth rather then a consultant.
I do think it is a decision that is different for everyone and location does play a big part in it.

LegacyUser

Moonbeam wrote: »

I think there is also a difference in Dublin with semi private being the best in terms of value for money.
The merrion wing in holles st is lovely and I would not want to stay anywhere else after having a child but also would rather a midwife at the birth rather then a consultant.
I do think it is a decision that is different for everyone and location does play a big part in it.

to follow on from above:value of money

IT depends on the birth experience you would like. they have home births in Holles street.
you could go independent. home birth website.
it also depends on your lifestyle prior to getting pregnant if you were a diabetic, epilepsy, high BP, YOU will need to see a DR ie high risk during pregnancy if not

and you are a healthy woman you should be seen by a midwife from start to finish as outlined by KPMG report on the maternity hosp in Dublin.

public and private is about the bed you sleep in. but considering every one has left within 2days and you won't get much sleep anyways is it worth paying all that money.

with the conditions in 3 hosp in dub. i would say it isn't worth paying for a bed in any of them. as for mountC if you want a c/s my all means go there with junior docs on call at night.

same scans for pub and priv. and you are covered for 6weeks after leaving whether pub or priv.



please be careful about what info you get and from whom there is a idea going with the boom that being priv was a must.



congrats on your pregnancy

LegacyUser

Private healthcare is not a must, it's a choice.
I pay private health insurance and I earn a good wage so it's no all about cost for me. There's a reverse snobbery when it comes to private maternity care and I don't understand why. It's my money and my choice, some people spend 30k on a wedding, I don't question their choices and value for money on that.

It's also about far more than 2 nights sleep.
It's strange how in the 'real' world my family and friends tell me about having to wait for two hours for appointments in Holles St and the Coombe with standing room only yet online everyone says they're seen within 10 minutes?
In the 'real' world my sister came out of the Rotunda with MRSA, my best friend was shown to a camp bed in Holles St and a work colleague is currently in the process of suing a Dublin maternity hospital for negligence.

By the same token, every single person who has commented on the fact that I'm going to a private hospital has never actually had a procedure or even set foot in Mount Carmel.
I don't want to come across as oversensitive, I'm just tired of people passing remarks and commenting on something that is OUR choice after doing OUR research with OUR money.

http://www.independent.ie/health/latest-news/mothers-and-babies-at-risk-in-ward-crisis-1991628.html

hallelujajordan

crazy cat lady wrote: »

Don't be filling this girl with idea's that the consultant will be there to deliver if you go private! Usually the consultant gets there to say congratulations after the midwife has delivered! I've found with consultants delivering that you are more likely to end up with an instrumental delivery also. They don't have the time or patience to be waiting around for baby to come.

If you have difficulties, don't be under any illusion that its the consultant who's the life saver either! You'd be treated as well and recieve the most expert care regardless of whether you are lining a consultants pocket or not!

As for taking the baby away to the nursery at night... Do you really want to be separated from your baby after having it with you 24/7 for the last 9 months? Its not encouraged as much these days anyway. Babies are generally left with the mothers to encourage bonding.

You'll also find visiting restrictions are the same on all the wards in Holles St. In fact I found them more enforced on the Merrion Wing.

Oh and lets not forget that you could pay thousands to go private and still end up on an extra bed in a public ward.

Sorry but nobody should be under the illusion that just because you are a paying patient that you will recieve better care than if you go public.

Both my girls were born in Holles Street and on both we were private . . . Our consultant was not present for either delivery (on holidays) but an alternative was. Both girls were born by emergency section after protracted labour.

I don't believe that in either case we would have received less medical care in the public system or that my kids would have had a better/worse chance of survival.

However, after both deliveries my wife was hospitalised for 6 days and I can say with absolute confidence that the aftercare provided on the Merrion Wing was better and that this facilitated a more rapid recovery. I take your point about the need to bond but I also believe that such bonding is facilitated by a well rested mother and I know my wife was very pleased to get a couple of well deserved good nights sleep.

MUM22

Congratulations!
It's such an exciting time for you & your partner.

From my own personal experience I'd go private. I went public with my first, it was horrendous. I felt there was no personal interest in me or my baby, all the midwives are so busy they don't have much time to listen until it's too late. Then it's panic. I know I'm not the first it's happened to.
On my second I went private in the Coombe and had a great experience. It is expensive but absolutely worth it. My consultant was so interested in every part of my pregnancy. Very patient, caring man. I went into the coombe at 6.30 in the morning. The midwife let my consultant know I was in and he rang my mobile straightaway to see how I was doing.

Called in shortly and organised my pain relief immediately. Nothing was a problem. I felt so relaxed and confident knowing he was in charge of me and my baby's arrival. He was giving instructions and they were being followed immediately.
I know private care is expensive and people often think it's a status thing but I think it's a necessity, unfortunately.
Best of luck with your pregnancy

beachbabe

As has been said allready, plenty of threads on this subject. I went private to the coombe, mainly because I had a high risk pregnancy and seeing the same person at every visit was important to me, as when you are public you will not see the same person every time. The public clinics always seemed busy, not enough room for everyone to sit while waiting etc.
If you decide to go private, I would go private to one of the maternity hospitals, not mount carmel. The reason being the maternity hospitals have doctors and anaesthetists on call and on the premises all the time. I do not think the same is true of mount carmel. They have doc's on call but not on site. The maternity hospitals all have excellent icu's, hopefully you will not need them, but nice to know they are there!
Good luck.

jimmyendless

My wife and I have two little ones. First one was public and second was a home birth. Had a great experience with the home birth. If there is no complications with the pregnancy it is a great way to go.

In CUMH with the first we had no input and we were basically ignored and bossed around by the staff on numerous different decisions. I was kicked out after the birth at 3am to leave mama and baby to fend for themselves after a really long labour.

Baby had trouble feeding at the start and every midwife had a different solution, so mama and baby didn't know what was going on at all. First morning at home, baby latched and never had a problem after that.

It seems now a days that a lot of hospitals are trying to force labours into certain timeframes not allowing them to run there natural course. Childbirth is a natural occurrence and does not need to be seen as a surgical operation.

Much higher chance of a natural birth at home. Second baby is nine months now and has never been in a hospital. Two midwifes were on hand at the birth and were great.

Course its not for everyone though. We were a 15min drive to hospital if it became necessary.

Arkmar

Hi guys, just reading up on all your posts, and I can see arguments for both public and private. I have health insurance but cannot afford to go the extra cost of private care. Has anyone had any experience on going Semi-Private? I was thinking of going back to the Coombe as I had my first baby there and was a public patient and other than being in a room with 6 other mammys (one of whom kept me up all night coughing and spitting) I found everything ok. But then again I didn't know what to expect so therefore I couldn't judge the standard of care. Is there any real difference in going Semi-Private other than you may or may not get a room to share with only one other mammy? Also does the health insurance cover everything for Semi-Private??? Who can tell me these things?

Moonbeam

It depends on your health insurance.

You pay 500 euro(holles st),then check the ante natal cover on your insurance and see what the amount is and they will give you back that.Then if there is a remainder then claim it against your med 1.

You are never guaranteed your private or semi private room.The biggest difference I noticed was continuity of care,you get to pick your own consultant and you see that person at every visit.Queues are a lot shorter too.

RubyBlu

Go public and spend the 3.5K on yourselves!!! Use it to buy some unpaid leave so that you both can spend lots of time with your little baby.
I found public fantastic.
Your insurance won't fully cover private anyway. It will only pay for the hospital room and you may never see your consultant.:)

hiltonhater

hi
havent posted much on here but for me personally i would stick with public at the moment. i was going private in the rotunda as i personally know most of the staff (work reasons) and i was advised by one of the top sonographers in the place that no matter what you book right now, it wont make much difference.
if you are going private and paying to get a private room then you can almost forget it. theres a baby boom at the moment and its literally, pardon my terminology, first come first served with beds right now and for the forseeable future. Same will be for consultants and midwives so i saved myself the cash and am receiving just as good treatment going public.