Public v Private - what's the difference?

LegacyUser

Hi all,

Just found out I'm pregnant, dead excited about it but need to do my homework now!

Haven't yet told anyone (apart from himslef!) so I'm turning anonymously to boards!

What's the difference between going public and private in having a baby? How much does it cost? Do I get more scans etc...?

Thanks.

JDD

Okay, here's what I've gotten from my research.Now, this is assuming that you have the standard amount of health insurance (VHI Plan B or similar, though you should check exactly what benefits your plan covers).Private: You can either go private in public hospital, like Holles St, or in a private hospital like Mount Carmel. From what I can see, going private costs about €8,000 (5,000 on consultants fees, 3,000 on private room for 3 nights), with your health insurance covering half that cost. When you claim back your tax on the remainder (@ 20%), you'd be paying in the region of €3,200. It's a bit cheaper to go private in a public hospital than in a private one.Private gets you1) A near guarantee of seeing the same consultant throughout your pregnancy.2) A private room for 3 nights once the baby is born, or 5 nights if you have a C-section.The purported benefits of going private are the consistency of care, the fact that a consultant is going to be better academically qualified and may pick up on a complication which would slip past a doctor on call or a midwife, and the fact that you get a private room. You can also have early scans if you want. And the wait for appointments is not as long as in semi-private or public clinics.The drawbacks are;1) The cost2) Your consultant may be on holidays or off duty when you go into labour, so it may be a different consultant delivering your baby.3) If you are in a public hospital, there may be no private rooms available. They do not guarantee their availabilty. So you may end up spending a portion or the whole of your post-birth stay in a semi-private or public ward. You will still pay the same fees to the hospital.4) Specifically in relation to Mount Carmel, they do not have an emergency facility. Given that they regularly carry out c-sections, I don't really know what the true risk of this is, but I have heard stories of women having to be rushed to Holles St in emergency situations. Not ideal as you can imagine.Semi PrivateYou can go semi private in a public hospital, or indeed in a private hospital. Semi private costs vary. It's €900 altogether in Holles St (I don't know whether that's before or after the tax deduction). It's €1,300 in Mount Carmel, after the health insurance and tax deduction.Semi private gets you;a) Clinic appointments with the consultant on call. The hospital will try to ensure that you have the same consultant on each visit and on delivery day, but don't guarantee it.b) Accomodation in a semi private ward, which varies from hospital to hospital. In Mount Carmel, there are two people and four people wards. In Holles St there are four people and six people wards.Drawbacks are:Again, no guarantee of consistency of care. And no guarantee of getting a semi private ward if the hospital is busy. This is less of an issue in MC as they don't have public wards. Again, you still pay the fees if you end up in a public ward. The semi private clinics in public hospitals are usually just as busy as the public clinics (if not more so).Public:Now, this is I think how it works. You get seen by the public hospital midwives and the doctor on call at each appointment. After the birth you are placed in a public ward, which usually has about 8 people in it. You have one scan at 20-ish weeks. You're not entitled to any further scans unless there is a problem with the pregnancy. Labour ward midwives will deliver your baby, and a consultant will only attend at the very end of the delivery and usually only when there is a complication.Benefits;a) It's freeb) From what I am told the standard of care is very high in the public clinics - not much different from the semi-private or private clinics.Drawbacksa) No consistency of careb) Noisy and perhaps chaotic ward after the birthPersonally, I'm taking a fourth choice - the Domino Scheme. It's a midwives clinic that is attached to Holles St. All your appointments are with the midwives, with a consultant only getting involved if the midwives spot a problem. The advantages are that;a) The clinics are less busy and therefore you don't have to wait for your appointment;b) The midwives have a huge bank of experience which, in my opinion, probably equals that of the consultants.c) You can take the option of the "early transfer home" scheme where you are (assuming a straightforward birth) discharged 6-12 hours after the birth and the midwives come and visit you every day for 10 days after the birth to assist you with breast feeding etc. This appeals to me as I hate hospitals. d) The ethos of the Domino Scheme is to anticipate a straightforward, natural birth. So they are quite happy for you to give birth in any position (rather than on a bed on your back, which is apparently the most uncomfortable but the easiest access), and are not so ready to induce/use forceps/c-section unless it is necessary, rather than being just "hospital policy" as happens in the main hospitals.The Domino Scheme is only offered for certain cachement areas around the hospitals that provide it, so that is a drawback.

JDD

Sorry, my stupid computer doesn't separate my posts into paragraphs, even though I type them in. Hope that's understandable!!

chirogirl

Good points in the above post.

I was in the Rotunda recently for 2 weeks as an In-patient for tests. I'm within the Public system. I spent 2 nights in a semi-private ward, then once a bed became available within the public ward I was moved. The semi-private wards there accommodate 5 patients with a shared en-suite facility, compared to the public wards which accommodate 8 -10 beds. The pre-natal floor I was on only had 1 private bed. So it was given out on a first come, first served basis. So your chances were slim on getting that room. I could understand it being frustrating for private / semi-private not being allocated a bed within their chosen ward. As some ladies had to stay on the public ward until a vacant bed became available.

As for staffing, it was the same Nurses, midwives that worked between the wards and I was reviewed by my consultant every day I was in there. I can't comment on other maternity hospitals, but as a public patient I couldn't complain about the treatment, care I was given.

mikemac

Okay, here's what I've gotten from my research.Now, this is assuming that you have the standard amount of health insurance (VHI Plan B or similar, though you should check exactly what benefits your plan covers).Private: You can either go private in public hospital, like Holles St, or in a private hospital like Mount Carmel.

From what I can see, going private costs about €8,000 (5,000 on consultants fees, 3,000 on private room for 3 nights), with your health insurance covering half that cost. When you claim back your tax on the remainder (@ 20%), you'd be paying in the region of €3,200. It's a bit cheaper to go private in a public hospital than in a private one.

Private gets you
1) A near guarantee of seeing the same consultant throughout your pregnancy.
2) A private room for 3 nights once the baby is born, or 5 nights if you have a C-section.

The purported benefits of going private are the consistency of care, the fact that a consultant is going to be better academically qualified and may pick up on a complication which would slip past a doctor on call or a midwife, and the fact that you get a private room. You can also have early scans if you want.

And the wait for appointments is not as long as in semi-private or public clinics.The drawbacks are;
1) The cost
2) Your consultant may be on holidays or off duty when you go into labour, so it may be a different consultant delivering your baby.
3) If you are in a public hospital, there may be no private rooms available. They do not guarantee their availabilty. So you may end up spending a portion or the whole of your post-birth stay in a semi-private or public ward. You will still pay the same fees to the hospital.
4) Specifically in relation to Mount Carmel, they do not have an emergency facility. Given that they regularly carry out c-sections, I don't really know what the true risk of this is, but I have heard stories of women having to be rushed to Holles St in emergency situations. Not ideal as you can imagine.

Semi Private
You can go semi private in a public hospital, or indeed in a private hospital. Semi private costs vary. It's €900 altogether in Holles St (I don't know whether that's before or after the tax deduction). It's €1,300 in Mount Carmel, after the health insurance and tax deduction.

Semi private gets you;
a) Clinic appointments with the consultant on call. The hospital will try to ensure that you have the same consultant on each visit and on delivery day, but don't guarantee it.
b) Accomodation in a semi private ward, which varies from hospital to hospital. In Mount Carmel, there are two people and four people wards. In Holles St there are four people and six people wards.Drawbacks are:Again, no guarantee of consistency of care. And no guarantee of getting a semi private ward if the hospital is busy. This is less of an issue in MC as they don't have public wards.

Again, you still pay the fees if you end up in a public ward. The semi private clinics in public hospitals are usually just as busy as the public clinics (if not more so).Public:Now, this is I think how it works. You get seen by the public hospital midwives and the doctor on call at each appointment.

After the birth you are placed in a public ward, which usually has about 8 people in it. You have one scan at 20-ish weeks. You're not entitled to any further scans unless there is a problem with the pregnancy.

Labour ward midwives will deliver your baby, and a consultant will only attend at the very end of the delivery and usually only when there is a complication.
Benefits;
a) It's free
b) From what I am told the standard of care is very high in the public clinics - not much different from the semi-private or private clinics.

Drawbacks
a) No consistency of care
b) Noisy and perhaps chaotic ward after the birth

Personally, I'm taking a fourth choice - the Domino Scheme. It's a midwives clinic that is attached to Holles St.
All your appointments are with the midwives, with a consultant only getting involved if the midwives spot a problem.

The advantages are that;
a) The clinics are less busy and therefore you don't have to wait for your appointment;
b) The midwives have a huge bank of experience which, in my opinion, probably equals that of the consultants.
c) You can take the option of the "early transfer home" scheme where you are (assuming a straightforward birth) discharged 6-12 hours after the birth and the midwives come and visit you every day for 10 days after the birth to assist you with breast feeding etc. This appeals to me as I hate hospitals.
d) The ethos of the Domino Scheme is to anticipate a straightforward, natural birth. So they are quite happy for you to give birth in any position (rather than on a bed on your back, which is apparently the most uncomfortable but the easiest access), and are not so ready to induce/use forceps/c-section unless it is necessary, rather than being just "hospital policy" as happens in the main hospitals.

The Domino Scheme is only offered for certain cachement areas around the hospitals that provide it, so that is a drawback.

JDD

Thanks Mike!

How Strange

I went public in the coombe and can't praise it highly enough. Im over 35 so considered a geriatric!?! (that was actually written on my file), I saw a consultant rather than midwife at hospital appointments. I had a big scan at 12, 20 and 38 weeks. I had mini scans with the consultant. I had a perfect text book pregnancy so the scans weren't done for health reasons. All the scans were free.

The public ward had 6 beds, there were lovely women there at the same time as me and it was nice to have a chat over a cup of tea.

The labour/delivery room was huge and modern. It had a shower and toilet so I could cleanup after the birth (post tea and toast of course).

The midwives were fantastic, they listened to my preferences, treated me with the utmost respect and coached me through the whole thing. Personally I'd prefer midwives to deliver my baby than a consultant. They're more down to earth and realistic.

If/when we have another I hope to go public. We're quite comfortable financially speaking (thankfully and touch wood) and I have excellent health insurance but I don't see the point in paying for medical care that you're entitled to avail of free of charge.

I can't see how a private patient could've got a better standard of care than I did as a public patient.

liliq

I'm going semi- private combined care in Holles st... can't fault it so far. The waits haven't been too long, I've had a quick scan at each appointment (although I think I might have got lucky with this!).
I'm not too concerned about having a consultant at the birth- like JDD mentioned- the midwives have the knowledge!
The €900 in Holles st is after deductions from health insurance, but before tax relief... and includes scans, antenatal classes etc.
First time at all of this, so don't have any other experience to offer!

chirogirl

I'm also a 'geriatric' mum to be at 37!
I'm sure you'll receive good care whilst in hospital. I wish you luck and enjoy your pregnancy!

January

How Strange wrote: »

I went public in the coombe and can't praise it highly enough. Im over 35 so considered a geriatric!?! (that was actually written on my file), I saw a consultant rather than midwife at hospital appointments. I had a big scan at 12, 20 and 38 weeks. I had mini scans with the consultant. I had a perfect text book pregnancy so the scans weren't done for health reasons. All the scans were free.

The public ward had 6 beds, there were lovely women there at the same time as me and it was nice to have a chat over a cup of tea.

The labour/delivery room was huge and modern. It had a shower and toilet so I could cleanup after the birth (post tea and toast of course).

The midwives were fantastic, they listened to my preferences, treated me with the utmost respect and coached me through the whole thing. Personally I'd prefer midwives to deliver my baby than a consultant. They're more down to earth and realistic.

If/when we have another I hope to go public. We're quite comfortable financially speaking (thankfully and touch wood) and I have excellent health insurance but I don't see the point in paying for medical care that you're entitled to avail of free of charge.

I can't see how a private patient could've got a better standard of care than I did as a public patient.

There is one room on the public ward in the Coombe that only has 4 beds and I was lucky enough to get in there, nice and quiet and the mums were all lovely

Had a great time in the Coombe public too and would certainly recommend it to anyone.

Quins5

Hi ladies
Great info, thanks a million. Does anyone know anything of going public in the CUMH, Iv heard its fantastic care even though the poor nurses and midwives are worked off their feet.

Each of my sisters went private but that was back in the day when it made a difference seeing as there was the Bons, St finbarrs and Erinville etc.

How big are the wards, Iv visited friends who have all been in rooms of 2, is tihs normal? I never really took any notice back then!

I had a scan at 8wks in the EPU (due to 1st pregnancy mc), have the big scan in 1.5 wks and cant wait! Ive also been signed up to antenatal classed come sept/oct and breastfeeding clinics! The nurse asked me what I wanted to be included in and then ticked all the boxes for me, hilarious, she was lovely! (im 12 weeks on wed :D:D)
I too am a geriatric 35yrs
x

Hannibal Smith

this thread should be a sticky it's so good

Lisha

HI All,

Im just going to add my own experience from CUMH.

I had my first child in Late 2007 privately in CUMH. (Cost 2000euro) My first appointmrnt was at 16wks(THis normal for private), Cons definaltely felt i was young(29) haelthy with no complications, so I felt rushed at appointments. Usually waited 3+ hours at appointments. Scans not very clear. But at labour I was slow to diLAATE , (failed induction) baby heart beat went into distress, and was sectioned by Cons very quickly. Got Private 2bed, got moved to single after 2nights, which great as I there 3more nights.

My second was born in early 2010, I went public in CUMH.

REasons for going public were, a/ cost now 3000euro, b/ first app/scan would be at 17wks, going public first app/scan was at 12weeks.

Going public you still get a nominated cons that by law must see you at least once ussually at first app. I saw her for all bar last 2appointments. I felt much better listened togenerally was happier with cons. I had 2 bleeds and went to emergenchy room, was scanned both those times too. Had scans at all bar last appointment. I actually had all my appointments in Mallow hospital in evenings which really suited me a s I work in Limerick. I loved not having to travel to CUMH,no waiting (But did for bleeds obv) Once again my waters went without labour starting, I went to hospital, was told would prob need section, I REFUSED IT. Had very bizarre labour, did have vag birth but it was very rough I was so sorry I did not take section. But this was my choice and not down to cons. I was in double room, so I was lucky.

I founfd midwives in CUMH really fabulous. The food is rotten though.
It wa explained to me that its really first come first serve, a public patient wont be lrft on trolley if a single bed is available. Floor 2 seems to be mainly public patients, these rooms are either doubles or 4s. Floor3 seems to be for private patients, rooms here are 2s or 1s.

So I was happy with public service. But as I ve 2 healthy babies, Ive nothing to complain about.

Best of luck with ye're pregnancies...

Ms2011

mikemac wrote: »

d) The ethos of the Domino Scheme is to anticipate a straightforward, natural birth.

I was very interested in taking part in the Domino Scheme but I didn't realise it was only for natural births. If you want pain relief like an epidural can you not participate in the Domino Scheme???

sud1

I went private in cork... the fee is €2600 this is due to this pregnancy being my second with this consultant new patients are €3000...with the 20% tax back it works out a little over €2000...I am 17 weeks now and I have had 2 appointments with the consultant one at 8 weeks and another at 13..a dating scan in cumh at 12 weeks(you get this whether you are public or private) so that is 3 scans so far this is very reassuring and one of the main reasons for going private...I have another appointment in 3 weeks which will be for the anomaly scan..after that i will have an appointment at 26 32 36 38 40 weeks as far as i can remember one of these will include a 4d scan...appointment times are great at a time that suits me and in and out in less then an hour at the very most...
the last time i was only in hospital for one night after the birth this was in a private room on my own i found this was great for the night i went in in labour...
all in all i have had a good experience but in saying that i have heard equally positive stories of people going public so it really is personal choice at the end of the day..

LordSutch

Can't speak highly enough of the Domino/Midwife scheme in Hollis St, its not for all pregnancies & you must live in a catchment area, but if you do qualify for the scheme, we would highly recommend it. Professional midwives, nice delivery room, great follow up service too, with midwives calling out to your house for a week or ten days after the birth.

Recommended.

JDD

Ms2011 wrote: »

I was very interested in taking part in the Domino Scheme but I didn't realise it was only for natural births. If you want pain relief like an epidural can you not participate in the Domino Scheme???

Hi Mrs2011, I was concerned about that too, and asked the midwives at my booking appointment. The midwife told me "if you want an epidural, you can have it, there's no problem with that". She said that the ethos is just to go into the birth with the best expectations, and with the view that you're going to try to do it naturally, but if it doesn't turn out that way and the pain is getting to much or is exhausting you, then an epi is on hand.

Ms2011

JDD wrote: »

Hi Mrs2011, I was concerned about that too, and asked the midwives at my booking appointment. The midwife told me "if you want an epidural, you can have it, there's no problem with that". She said that the ethos is just to go into the birth with the best expectations, and with the view that you're going to try to do it naturally, but if it doesn't turn out that way and the pain is getting to much or is exhausting you, then an epi is on hand.

Thanks for that, that puts my mind more at ease

JDD

*Bump* for the newbies.

LegacyUser

JDD wrote: »

Hi Mrs2011, I was concerned about that too, and asked the midwives at my booking appointment. The midwife told me "if you want an epidural, you can have it, there's no problem with that". She said that the ethos is just to go into the birth with the best expectations, and with the view that you're going to try to do it naturally, but if it doesn't turn out that way and the pain is getting to much or is exhausting you, then an epi is on hand.

Hey, my self and my wife were very interested in the Domino scheme (and are in the catchment area) but when she phoned a little while ago to enquire about the scheme they mentioned it was a "natural birth process" a couple of times. So she asked does that mean there is no epidural she was told no, that meant a natural birth without epidural.

This is our first and given that the whole process is a bit of an unknown for us in the terms of what sort of pain levels she might be going through this put her right off. Is it possible that this was just a mix up as in the person on the phone thought we definitely want to have epidural no matter what or has the policy changed maybe?

On the back of that call she has basically dismissed the domino option completely but we both really liked the sound of it from the more personal, friendly process point of view..

JDD

I think it's all a matter of language and how you put your expectations to the midwife on call.

The domino scheme is all about the "natural birth process" alright, but that means a lot more than just epidural vs no epidural. The domino midwives encourage you to go through the early stages of labour at home - i.e. the time where you are having contractions but aren't yet dilating. This early stage can last a good few hours and they encourage you to try walking, hot baths/showers, bouncing on a birthing ball etc to help with the pain.

This is different to the normal hospital ethos which usually tells you to come in when your contractions are regular - which can happen hours before you start dilating. The problem with that is that you are taking up a bed, and run the risk of the doctors on call deciding that your labour is not progressing at the average rate, and start interfering by giving you drugs to speed up the labour, or breaking your waters which has the same effect (but hugely increases the pain factor).

Once you are in hospital, and are dilating, again it can take up to day to get from 1cm to 10cm dilated (the pushing stage). It can be very tiring if the labour goes on that long, and in those circumstances the domino midwives are very open to a labouring mother having the epidural. Sometimes it's the only way you'll have enough energy to actually push the baby out!

I think the domino midwives just don't want someone who has definitely decided that they absolutely cannot go without the epidural signing up to the scheme. One of the reasons is that the scheme encourages early discharge, which is difficult when a mother is recovering some feeling in her lower half after an epidural.

I'm on the domino scheme, and I haven't ruled out the epidural. I know it's there if I want it, but I really want to try all the other methods of pain relief (gas and air, different birthing positions, not breaking the waters until they're ready to break, hypnobirthing etc) before I turn to it.

If your partner puts it that way, I don't think the midwives would have any problem.

Ms2011

Is the scheme offered to you or do you have to inquire. I had my bloods done on Monday at my Health Clinic and am in the hospital on Friday for my first scan but there has been no mention of the Domino Scheme to me as yet other than some leaflets that came with my first letter about my hospital dates.

JDD

Hi Mrs 2011

I'm lucky in that my doctor suggested the midwives clinic at my first appointment with him at 5 weeks. He also suggested that I might like the domino scheme that they provide - you can opt for the community midwife care without having to go with the "natural birth" "early transfer home" ethos of the domino scheme. In those cases, you attend the midwives for your prenatal appointments but get transferred back into the main public stream for the actual birth (or semi private or private if you've opted for that).

After that I really had to do the research and booking in myself.

It may be that midwife clinic/domino scheme is not offered at your local hospital. As far as I know it's offered at Holles St, the Rotunda, the Coombe and Drogheda. It was offered in Wexford but the scheme has only recently been discontinued. I don't know of any other hospitals that offer it.

You also have to live within a fairly restricted cachement area of the offering hospital to avail of the domino scheme (though not the care of the community midwife clinic). This is because the midwives will come visit you for five days after the birth, and they don't have the staff to enable them to be travelling to outlying areas.

Ms2011

JDD wrote: »

It may be that midwife clinic/domino scheme is not offered at your local hospital. As far as I know it's offered at Holles St, the Rotunda, the Coombe and Drogheda. It was offered in Wexford but the scheme has only recently been discontinued. I don't know of any other hospitals that offer it.

You also have to live within a fairly restricted cachement area of the offering hospital to avail of the domino scheme (though not the care of the community midwife clinic). This is because the midwives will come visit you for five days after the birth, and they don't have the staff to enable them to be travelling to outlying areas.

I'm going to the Coombe and live in D22 so I'm definately eligible for the scheme. I think I'll enquire when I'm in the hospital tomorrow. Thanks for the info!

AineK77

Hi all - am expecting (a bit of a surprise) for January-ish 2013 due to have my first scan in three weeks time anyhuw I am trying to decide about Private or Public - I was all for Public as from the bit of research I have done it really doesn't make much of a difference in CUMH. Only thing is my friend who is GP thinks that for my first and if the money is there I should go Private for extra reassurance, himself is leaving the decision up to me but I think he would prefer if we went private but I am a bit more practical and think it's a lot of money to spend if there is no real difference. First off can anyone tell me what it will cost me after tax is claimed back, I know it's 20% back on consultant fees but does private health insurance cover any of this also (my healthcare says it covers up to €846 consultant fees including epidural) and any recommendations on a consultant. I have a list of a few and Barry O'Reilly is listed on my appointment card for dating scan - I am not fussed about seeing the same doctor to be honest and the chances are you could pay all this money and they won't be there anyway but I would just like some more feedback on this as I know it's been discussed a lot. Friends have gone private and public and have said there's no real difference but I suppose the advise from my friend the doc is just making me think some more about it......thanks folks!!

pwurple

Hi Aine, I went public in CUMH and was happy with it. Barry O'Reilly was on my red book, but I don't think I ever saw him. It was midwives most of the way.

At the same time I was pregnant my best buddy was also expecting and she went private. We compared often. Here are the differences we found.

Waiting times in the hospital/consultants clinic. With public, Always ask for the first appointment when they rebook you. 8am. You will be out by 10 with that. Later appointments (after 9) and you end up being 3 or 4 hours in there. My friend was usually waiting less than half an hour, and done in about an hour.

Scans. On public I had scans at 9 weeks (for ectopic), 14 weeks, and then every week after 36 weeks. My friend had scans once a month, every visit.

Delivery. My delivery was fine, midwives all the way, got an epidural, normal birth with no interventions. I saw a consultant once on their morning rounds when they popped in for 5 mins and checked that all was fine. My friend had a planned c section due to previous history. She checked in the morning before to her room to get settled. All went well.

Room. I was in a 2 bed room for 6 nights after the birth. It was handy to have another girl there so we could keep an eye on the others baby while we had a shower or popped to the loo. I found it hard to sleep with other peoples babies crying in the same room as me though. My friend had a room to herself, lots more room than me, said she would have liked some company/help outside visiting hours as it is hard to lift baby out of the cribs after the section.

AineK77

Thanks for the info pwurple - am still undecided I have to say, don't like the thought of the waiting times but I know deep down the care is going to be the same really I think I might ring a few consultants and see how I get on thanks for your feedback

dahamsta

As you say yourself, the care will be the same. Went public with our first and had no problems bar one obnoxious nurse that pissed my wife off; and that'll happen either way. We'll have no hesitation in going the same way with number 2. You've paid for the service already, why pay twice?

happywithlife

hi all ,
i've two kids both public and can't fault the care -
the first was back in the days pre CUMH so i was in finbarr's - had a trouble free pregnancy but a prolonged (27) hours of labour - in the end the consultant was called in at 3.30 am as i was having difficulties and the doc on call was struggling with me .... all went well in the end and i delivered a healthly girl 7lbs7oz .... i couldn't fault them -- would things have been different if i were private -- i don't know? but i don't think so as i was pretty adamant over the kind of labour i wanted ....
i was in for 5 days post delivery and the care was fantastic

i was in cumh for no 2 and again a troublefree pregnancy - i too had most of my visits in mallow and the doc there was fabulous - she made several notations on my chart re my last delivery and put them into the delivery room page as she felt if things were busy they may get overlooked if in the 'history' bit at the front of the booklet ... proved very useful in the end ! i had to be induced on no 2 but delivery was much more straight forward. i got a bed in a 2-bed room even though i was public .... now i did find the staff up there pretty unhelpful to be honest and i remember buzzing at one stage for some painkillers ... and buzzing ... and buzzing ... and buzzing .... when i eventually couldn't stand it anymore i dragged myself out of bed and went to the nurses' desk to find several nurses there having a great laugh and chat for themselvves --- i was very unimpressed :mad: yes i understand they are overworked and understaffed, but at that particular moment in time, they didn't do their cause any good !
i got very little support establishing bf with ds - and all in all, decided to head off home that day for myself -- i had a great phn at home who was much supportive! and i could sleep in my own bed
now there was a private patient in the bed next to me and her consultant called to see her on the morning i was there ..... pulled the curtins and had literally a 5 min conversation along the lines of ( i could hear all through curtins) checking her C section wound, the doc telling the patient, she was off for the weekend (this was a friday morn) and that she'd prob be gone home by mon before the doc was around again - in which case she'd see her in her rooms in 6 weeks .... i was :eek: at the 5 min visit and wondering was that all you got ? never so glad i didn't cough up the dough :pac:
i'd be more than happy to go public again ...but then again i'm never going to be one electing for a c section or anything and i prefer the company on the post delivery ward so would hate the private room ...

AineK77

Ok this is all good to hear, happywithlife I'm new to boards so forgive my ignorance but I didn't get what you meant with 'i got very little support establishing bf with ds' that's mad about the 5 minute visit I would be expecting them to be bringing me in my breakfast and puffing up my pillows for that price!! I wouldn't be one for a c section either, a girl at work is going private and her consultant has hinted that she can have one if she wants, basically she's too posh to push and you can be incontinent after a normal delivery you know yes all the mothers of the world are going around with nappies on as they had a natural delivery seriously!!! Anyway sorry it just makes me laugh - also does anyone know anything about being able to attend St Finbarr's for appointments - what is that about? It would be very handy for me as it's close to work - I'm sure I will find all this out after my first scan. Also are the rooms in CUMH either private or two bed? I don't think I would like to be in anything bigger to be honest. TVM

TwoMums2Be

Aine you can expect a public ward to have a minimum of 4 beds - a 2 bed ward is semi private & a public patient will only end up on such a ward if there is literally nowhere else to squeeze them in

Re consultants - they all differ whether public or private & if you are paying for private it is worth doing plenty of research to find out if your consultant is worth paying for! My consultant visits his patients every morning & evening - if it is his weekend off the consultant covering for him will do the same

A good consultant (public or private) will only conduct a section if they feel it is medically required - not all private patients who have sections are "too posh to push" :rolleyes:

dahamsta

CUMH is always packed, you get what you're given.

On the night we went in with #1, we were in a 4 bed with 1 suspiciously quiet person, 1 person that talked to everyone on the planet on their mobile and left it on when they weren't in the room, and 1 weird loud lady who may have been praying in Creole or summoning demons from Cavan, it was hard to tell.

Mildly annoying but not the end of the world, in fact the distraction might have helped just a tad, cos the wife was in agony with a baby facing the wrong way, and we were both absolutely knackered having managed the process ourselves for over 24 hours.

Babs was born at 0630 and we were shunted into a 2 bed. Had the room to ourselves most of the day, and a quiet lady was moved in in the evening. Fecked off home the next day at lunchtime.

Wife says we were lucky, and probably looked after a little since it was #1, however again, a lot of it is the luck of the draw. You could go private and do worse if it's very busy.

happywithlife

hi aine sorry only getting back to you now,
seems i was lucky so getting into a two-bed when i was public ...
what i didn't add earlier (felt i was going on enough at that stage) was due to my prev history of delivery no1, after delivery no2 i did see a phsyio the morning i was in cumh who had fab advise and she offered me her details if i wanted to 'drop in to see her' again - tbh i would have done if i lived closer but sure i managed with the old pelvic floor exercises (so do them btw )
re the breastfeeding - i had previously fed my daughter with no problems but my son was a different kettle of fish and straight off, we had massive problems - when i asked for help/guidance i got a young nurse (who i doubt had any experience tbh) who was very rough and not at all helpful - was partly why i went home that first morning - i knew i had booklets in the attic that could help me from a lactation consultant that i went to see when i was pregnant with my first .... i ended up going through three weeks of utter agongy but with the help of a fab local phn we got sorted and if you are considering bf it was a classic advert for sticking it out cos in the finish i ended up bf him for way longer than my daughter and he was grand once we got it established ..but the hospital were absolutly no help. hope this helps somewhat