Going private, semi or public

LegacyUser

Jut wondering what do most people do when having a baby and how much would each option cost?

Beruthiel

You'd get more answers to this if you had posted in the Parenting forum.
B

deisemum

When I had my second lad I went public and had a very good experience. I got excellent care. My sister inlaws went private and didn't get any better care than I did. They weren't even guaranteed a private room either and couldn't get one for the first night so had to go to a public ward.

I was in a ward of 4 and it was nice to have other mums to talk to. Even if going private you've no guarantee that the consultant will be available to deliver your baby. Personally I feel a good midwife is all you need and if she detects a problem then she'll get the necessary help.

It still costs a lot to go private and for me I'd sooner keep that money and maybe use some of it to pay for someone to come into my home and help takeover some of the housework or even look after baby for a while during the night so I could rest or get some sleep

Ishindar

my wife went public for her 3rd child and shared a ward with about 12 others it was very noisey and like a circus tbh. Not comfortable whatsoever and really bad/no care, she had to come home after about 6 hours there. also during the pregnancy her visits to the hospital were block appointments with lots fo other women and very slow and uncomfortable.
For her 4th she went semi private and that was great in comparison. semi private cost about 600e but we get about 40% back on the med1 at the end of the year. she shared a ward with 3 others, nice and quiet and well looked after. During the pregnancy her visits to the hospital were a different area to the public and no queues and way more comfy.
for us its a no brainer to go semi...

leex

Currently 3200euro for private care with our consultant. No block appointments etc - in/out fast each time. VHI covers first 350euro (approx) of this and 41% of remainder can be claimed back on med1 so it means a net cost of 1680euro.

JuliusCaesar

Public - attended midwives clinic as didn't get on with consultant (and being a health professional myself! He didn't like being questioned) Went in for birth, again attended by midwives. Signed myself out immediately afterwards. My mother stayed with me for a week so I got a lot of rest. So it was free. Not for everyone though.

themadchef

I really think the cost of of retaining the services of a private consultant depends on what hospital youre planning to have your baby in.

I went public on my first, i spent 6 weeks in hospital in a public ward. People never respected the visiting hours and often the noise level of visiting relatives and friends would drive me insane as it was impossible to sleep day or night. Hated every minute of it and i swore private next time round.

2nd pregnancy private. cost 2k. 5 weeks in private room. honestly i was almost as miserable. So lonely. but got my sleep. I would choose it over public though only becaue i was always gonig to have a long stay.

3rd pregnancy, different consultant cost 1.5k (remember ur helath insurance covers some of this too) 5 weeks in a semi private room. (too high a risk for private room) best out of all three. shared with other long termers, the odd baby in with us along the way. Made 2 friends for life in there. Enjoyed it. Got take aways, rented DVD's, time flew.

i would tell people go public first time round, if you have no medical problems. If you think you could handle the sheer traffic of a public ward then go for it its free! It's equal treatment from a care point of view. You are not guaranteed a private room if you go private. It was amazing to see some women come in compalining "but i'm private" where's my room!

Best of luck, which ever option you go for.

laoisfan

OP - my wife and I went private (Portlaoise Hospital). took one look at the public wards and said "no way". we were fortunate that on each birth (we have 2 children) she got a private room. actually, she got the same room for both.

as regards cost - we are with Quinn Healthcare (formerly Bupa Ireland). now it just so happened that with each of our children that my wife fell pregnant in the latter half of the year and both children were both the following year. so instead of paying the whole €2000 consultant fee we asked him if we could pay half in say 2007 and the 2nd half in 2008. he was fine with this. why did we do this? well Quinn Healthcare only pay €500 toward maternity consultations in each calender year. So by splitting the payment (1 half in 1 year, the other in the next year) we were able to claim back €1000 instead. make sense? our consultant (we use same for both children) is even now recommending this to his patients too.

obviously it helped when my wife fell pregnant and when she was due i.e. if you fell pregnant in say jan-feb-mar well then it would probably not work that you could do what we did. and you would need to ok with your consultant.

i hope i made some sense (I am a man...so please forgive me) LOL

LegacyUser

My wife was a midwife and is now a public health nurse. We're covered for private, but she will go public, because the service is just as good.

The one thing to make sure of is to ensure you're booked into a teaching maternity hospital, such as the Rotunda or Holles Street. This is because, as a teaching hospital they'll be absolutely up to date on the latest medical techniques.

Whatever you do make sure, before booking your hospital, ask them what their emergency facilities are like. Rotunda and Holles Street ar every good. (I think the Coombe is quite good too). I am given to understand that a well known private maternity hospital in Dublin has none at all, and in the unlikely event that something goes awry, women in labour are packed into an ambulance and driven to Holles Street, the Coombe, or the Rotunda.

If I were a pregnant woman in difficulty, the last thing I'd want to have to do is sit in an ambulance trying to negotiate Dublin traffic. I'd book into a place that could look after me there and then.

(This particular private hospital is a favourite with South Dublin wealthy women who use their pregnancy and birth as yet another weapon in their "keep up with the Jones's" arsenal. Little do they know that their choice of hospital reveals their lack of knowledge...

Hope this helps!

LegacyUser

Hi regarding Quinn, they told me that i couldnt claim half in one year 2006 and half in another :2007 for cost of private birth because the cover is per pregnancy , not per calendar year; even though i had 2 separate bills from my consultant. just wondering if they can do this. (iwas on healthmanager)(

laoisfan wrote: »

OP - my wife and I went private (Portlaoise Hospital). took one look at the public wards and said "no way". we were fortunate that on each birth (we have 2 children) she got a private room. actually, she got the same room for both.

as regards cost - we are with Quinn Healthcare (formerly Bupa Ireland). now it just so happened that with each of our children that my wife fell pregnant in the latter half of the year and both children were both the following year. so instead of paying the whole €2000 consultant fee we asked him if we could pay half in say 2007 and the 2nd half in 2008. he was fine with this. why did we do this? well Quinn Healthcare only pay €500 toward maternity consultations in each calender year. So by splitting the payment (1 half in 1 year, the other in the next year) we were able to claim back €1000 instead. make sense? our consultant (we use same for both children) is even now recommending this to his patients too.

obviously it helped when my wife fell pregnant and when she was due i.e. if you fell pregnant in say jan-feb-mar well then it would probably not work that you could do what we did. and you would need to ok with your consultant.

i hope i made some sense (I am a man...so please forgive me) LOL

leanbh

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leanbh

This post has been deleted.

Lizzykins

I think someone earlier was referring to Mount Carmel as the South Dublin private maternity hospital. I went there for my 4 children. Ok it did cost a fair amount although as others have made the point-you can claim much of it back on tax. I would not go anywhere else to have a baby. Care was second to none. I had a forceps delivery on the first as baby went into distress. He was kept in while they ran a battery of tests on him. No issue with the expertise of the staff at all. Happily all turned out well. Mount Carmel does sections and some of my friends have had same there.

There were minor problems with my next two children and again all went well. 10 years after the birth of the last I had number four at the age of 41. Higher risk perhaps but again the care was marvellous. My own mother now deceased swore by Holles St but I'm glad I went where I did and I'm telling my own 15 year old to go there when she has a baby. Hopefully not for the next 10 years or so!

Lizzykins

Oh and a PS. I'm not wealthy - south Dublin I'll admit to! Definitely well up on the facilities of the hospitals in Dublin though. Mount Carmel definitely doesnt pack women off in ambulances to the Coombe.Maybe in the 60s when it was a nursing home.

Redpunto

I went public with my 2 in the Rotunda and when it comes to the labour day there is no ;ess quality of care than with private or semi. The difference with public is the block appointments with whatever doctor calls you in, i dont think i ever got the same doctor twice and with the ward afterwards. FOr my last I was in a ward with 10 other women and didnt find it offputting at all. Becuase of the number of women in the ward the nurse is always in and out compared if you were on your own in a room they wont be in as frequently.

I also had combined care which everyone is entitled to with my doc which means every other visit i go to my GP. I found it great not having to get into town for every apointment and obviuolsy is quicker going to the doc as well.

Victor

leanbh wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You will have to check what your policy says.

Certainly, tax wise, you can pay in either the year the care was given or the money was paid.

Toots

Husband wrote: »

My wife was a midwife and is now a public health nurse. We're covered for private, but she will go public, because the service is just as good.

The one thing to make sure of is to ensure you're booked into a teaching maternity hospital, such as the Rotunda or Holles Street. This is because, as a teaching hospital they'll be absolutely up to date on the latest medical techniques.

Whatever you do make sure, before booking your hospital, ask them what their emergency facilities are like. Rotunda and Holles Street ar every good. (I think the Coombe is quite good too). I am given to understand that a well known private maternity hospital in Dublin has none at all, and in the unlikely event that something goes awry, women in labour are packed into an ambulance and driven to Holles Street, the Coombe, or the Rotunda.

If I were a pregnant woman in difficulty, the last thing I'd want to have to do is sit in an ambulance trying to negotiate Dublin traffic. I'd book into a place that could look after me there and then.

(This particular private hospital is a favourite with South Dublin wealthy women who use their pregnancy and birth as yet another weapon in their "keep up with the Jones's" arsenal. Little do they know that their choice of hospital reveals their lack of knowledge...

Hope this helps!

I was born in the hospital you're obviously referring to, and I think you've been mis-informed. My sis in law went public for her first baby and swore she'd never repeat it. She was stuck in a ward with twelve other women and they didn't have a bed for her so she was wheeled in on a trolley after giving birth and plonked in between two other beds!!

Second baby, she went to Mount Carmel. The labour started normally, but the baby went into distress and she had to have an emergency C-Section. The baby also had trouble breathing once he was born and was in intensive care. Everything was handled in the hospital and she never had to be moved anywhere. She's expecting her third now and is planning to go back there for this baby. She said she couldn't give enough praise for the staff there, and so did my own mother who had us all there too.