Advice on current situation re public and private care

StarBright01

Hi, just looking for some tips and advice please For my sister( she’s not on boards) and I’m not sure how to advise her.

She has just found out she is pregnant and due Dec of this year with her 3rd child. She lives quite far from the hospital 1 1/2 hour drive and last two births were very fast (public) and she is very very anxious about it this time round. She felt like she wasn’t listened to asking for pain relief or when asking to get checks done to see how far dilated she was she felt she was being fobbed off. She went from 2 cm to 10 cm in 20 mins, & then told she couldn’t have anything as it was too late then. She got no 20 week scan last time & she’s quite anxious and a bit traumatised I think about the last two experiences, especially the last birth.

December is a long time away so it’s hard to know how the current situation will be with regards to COVID19. I hear at the moment there is little difference between public and private. I’m not sure if she can afford private however. I said to her maybe a chat with GP to voice concerns and anxiety about it?

shesty

Well that difference probably doesn't apply in maternity care....if she went private she would see the one consultant the whole way through and they would attend the birth.It would still be in a public hospital though, as I do not think there are any private maternity hospitals left in the country, regardless of Covid 19.

jlm29

Tbh, I don’t think covid will make much difference to maternity care either. As above, when you’re paying for private, what you’re really paying for is antenatal care, and having a consultant attend the birth. I obviously can’t speak about your sisters experience of labour, but some things will happen regardless of you being private. My last labour was super quick, there was no consultant present, but my baby kind of slipped out as soon as I was on the delivery bed. I was private and my doctor came in as soon as she was called and did my stitches, etc. Even if your sister had been private last time, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t have changed anything, because it was so quick, a consultant might not have made it there that fast? I’ve gone private on all mine, and I don’t regret it, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it If they genuinely can’t afford it.

StarBright01

jlm29 wrote: »

Tbh, I don’t think covid will make much difference to maternity care either. As above, when you’re paying for private, what you’re really paying for is antenatal care, and having a consultant attend the birth. I obviously can’t speak about your sisters experience of labour, but some things will happen regardless of you being private. My last labour was super quick, there was no consultant present, but my baby kind of slipped out as soon as I was on the delivery bed. I was private and my doctor came in as soon as she was called and did my stitches, etc. Even if your sister had been private last time, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t have changed anything, because it was so quick, a consultant might not have made it there that fast? I’ve gone private on all mine, and I don’t regret it, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it If they genuinely can’t afford it.

Thank you so much for your reply.

Out of curiosity as I genuinely don’t know, even if the doctor hasn’t arrived yet at the birth do the midwives keep them updated on the phone as to progress etc until he /she arrives or do the midwives just take the lead? Just wondering...

jlm29

StarBright01 wrote: »

Thank you so much for your reply.

Out of curiosity as I genuinely don’t know, even if the doctor hasn’t arrived yet at the birth do the midwives keep them updated on the phone as to progress etc until he /she arrives or do the midwives just take the lead? Just wondering...

In my case I arrived in at 2.15 in the morning, and the baby was born at 2.16, so there was no time for phone calls . They called her after baby was born and she came straight in.
But I’d imagine in a normal situation it’s a mix of both. The midwives do just take the lead but would be in regular contact If the doctor was busy elsewhere. It probably depends on the hospital, and how busy it is too though. And in a lot of places, if its during the night and your own consultant isn’t on call, it’s the on call consultant who will be phoned, so they might well be in the hospital anyhow.


With my first, I was in from about 7am, and she kept popping up and down to check on me, but baby wasn’t born until the evening. She was there all the time for the last couple of hours.

zapper55

I dont think going private would make any difference. In fact, I think more chance of it happening again. Consultants are usually just there at the end, if at all. It's the midwives that she needs to discuss this with.

It is a disgrace that she wasnt listened to.Which hospital is it? Most hospitals have a birth reflection service where she can talk through her concerns and see what can be done differently this time.

If they dont she could ask to speak.to the head midwife/director of.midwifery services in the hospital. Women have more rights than they realise when it comes.to their care.

Also would she consider a doula? Before I got pregnant I thought it was a bit of a wishy washy role, now I see the importance of them in being an advocate for the mother at a very vulnerable time, especially for mams that have had traumatic experiences previously.