Hospital Confusion

obnicc

Hi guys!

Apologies if there is a similar tread!

I am expecting baby number 2, only recently found out, but I had such an awful experience in the Coombe when I had my little girl that I'm pretty much terrified already.

Would love anyone's opinions/experiences with the other maternity hospitals in dublin or portlaoise hospital in kildare?

January

Have nothing but good memories about my birth experience in the Coombe and bad memories about the Rotunda so I'm not much help.

You'll hear horror stories about every single hospital. Someone has one, believe me. Your birth in the Coombe could be completely different this time if you choose to go back to them, but I understand why you don't want to.

dharma200

Starting off the whole thing with fear is not great eh... There is a good book called childbirth without fear that I found very helpful... I know after I had a yuk experience in hospital after my first born, I decided my only option was home birth for my subsequent two births... But that's another story altogether.... Consider all your options, I have friends who had a wonderful experience in the same hospital that I can't step foot in without panic attacks, so it's all very subjective, but remember the most important thing is you feel comfortable and not afraid... Fear can be a real hindrance in the birthing process x

obnicc

Fear is really not what I want to be feeling right now, I want to put my mind at ease so I can enjoy being pregnant!

I'm curious about portlaoise hospital as I'm living in kildare. I'm not sure if I would be able for home birth as I had to give in to getting an epidural with my first although she's almost 7 now, I'm hoping this experience will be different.

Moonbeam

I live in Kildare too so Dublin and Mullingar would be my options, I had 3 in Holes St with out many issues.
If I was going private I would go to mount Carmel but it is very far away,it really depends on what your bad experience was.

obnicc

Moonbeam wrote: »

I live in Kildare too so Dublin and Mullingar would be my options, I had 3 in Holes St with out many issues.
If I was going private I would go to mount Carmel but it is very far away,it really depends on what your bad experience was.

I have aviva health insurance and I know it covers 3 nights in a private room in maternity hospitals but not sure of the details and what exactly it covers.

I was only 20 when I had my daughter who is now 7. I went into hospital not knowing what was going on, the midwife broke my waters without asking or telling me what she was doing until after, it was a lot of things that made it a bad experience but mainly down to the midwife and me not feeling like I had any say in things or any option. It was very scary for me.

Moonbeam

It would still cost you at least 1500 on top of your health insurance.

obnicc

Moonbeam wrote: »

It would still cost you at least 1500 on top of your health insurance.

Really? Even just semi private? My health insurance plan is one of those ventures around family planning and maternity cover, I remember the leaflet saying no excess on the room but I guess that would be too good to be true.

January

obnicc wrote: »

Really? Even just semi private? My health insurance plan is one of those ventures around family planning and maternity cover, I remember the leaflet saying no excess on the room but I guess that would be too good to be true.

It's consultant fee's and scans etc you have to pay for. Inpatient fee's are usually covered by the insurance but not consultant fee's. You can claim a portion of your consultant fee's back on your MED1 form.

obnicc

January wrote: »

It's consultant fee's and scans etc you have to pay for. Inpatient fee's are usually covered by the insurance but not consultant fee's. You can claim a portion of your consultant fee's back on your MED1 form.

That's not too bad, I'm not due until may next year so lots of time to save

I think the med1 gives 20% back on medical expenses, every little helps!

I'm leaning towards portlaoise hospital after doing a bit of reading up.

January

I'm not sure if fee's have to be paid up front or if it's a half now half after birth type set up consultants have.

obnicc

I have an appointment with my GP on Tuesday so I'll bombard him with questions about it lol

Moonbeam

I would choose a maternity hospital over a general one but you will be transferred if there are issues. Also go with what is handiest and nearest to you.

obnicc

Moonbeam wrote: »

I would choose a maternity hospital over a general one but you will be transferred if there are issues. Also go with what is handiest and nearest to you.

That's why I'm confused, I don't really know anything about the hospitals, is portlaoise a general hospital with a maternity unit?

January

Yes a general hospital with a maternity unit attached.

obnicc

January wrote: »

Yes a general hospital with a maternity unit attached.

Thank you for your help

traineeacc

I have no complaints about my personal experience in the Coombe however you will always hear good bad indifferent report. I think its really important to feel confident going to the hospital so there is no pressure to go there again. At the end of the day they all perform the same function so try not to worry too much

nikpmup

When I was making my decision, I googled the hospital stats - I found a page that had listed all the mat hospitals statistics on things like assisted births, c-sections, interventions etc. I picked the one that had the lowest overall rate of all of these things.

krankykitty

nikpmup wrote: »

When I was making my decision, I googled the hospital stats - I found a page that had listed all the mat hospitals statistics on things like assisted births, c-sections, interventions etc. I picked the one that had the lowest overall rate of all of these things.

I found that website very useful too to get an idea of the hospital policies ..

http:// http://www.bump2babe.ie/statistics/

obnicc

krankykitty wrote: »

I found that website very useful too to get an idea of the hospital policies ..

http:// http://www.bump2babe.ie/statistics/

That's a good website, lots of information on there. I saw my doctor on Tuesday and spoke to him about things and decided to go to portlaoise hospital, hopefully everything will be routine and ok