First time Mum

prochefunk

Hi all im new to this so bare with me !

I found out yday Im 1-2 weeks pregnant Im in the Cork area and I have a Dr app on Monday

Just wondering if anyone has advice re private vs public ......
Mat leave or if anyone id due in Jan / Feb 2013

Ickle Magoo

Moved from tLL

This is a better forum for your question, OP. :cool:

Rachineire

I would go public. So far the way pretty much everyone (including my doctor) has made it seem/said to me was that there is little to no difference in the level of care you get in private versus public. The big difference is the cost of the care. I'm going public, so far so good!

MelanieD

I went private in CUMH in 2008. The only benefit was seeing the same consultant for each appointment. My first appointment was at 20 weeks. It was up to you to arrange early scan and blood tests with the GP. I did my glucose tolerance test I had to bring my own lucozade. If I had an appointment at ten o'clock I could still be waiting an hour because the other patients would also have an appointment at ten. When I went for my final appointment after the birth, the consultant had a brief chat about having another child and that was it. There was no physical examinations. The fee at the time was €2,600 and I got €400 back on the VHI and the 20% of the remaining balance was reclaimed through my tax credit. Overall going private in CUMH was alright but I don't think it would have been any different had I went public.

prochefunk

MelanieD wrote: »

I went private in CUMH in 2008. The only benefit was seeing the same consultant for each appointment. My first appointment was at 20 weeks. It was up to you to arrange early scan and blood tests with the GP. I did my glucose tolerance test I had to bring my own lucozade. If I had an appointment at ten o'clock I could still be waiting an hour because the other patients would also have an appointment at ten. When I went for my final appointment after the birth, the consultant had a brief chat about having another child and that was it. There was no physical examinations. The fee at the time was €2,600 and I got €400 back on the VHI and the 20% of the remaining balance was reclaimed through my tax credit. Overall going private in CUMH was alright but I don't think it would have been any different had I went public.

Great , thanks for the advice , I think its gone up to around 4 K to go private now in CUH .Public it is then !! Any idea on when I should arrange the first private scan and when in cork does them ?:eek:

TwoMums2Be

I'm private for a range of reasons & not having had my baby I would go private again to have my consultant.

There is a significant cost without major benefit in some ways but the consultant we selected has a fantastic reputation for not just being a lovely man but also for being great at what he does. We see him or someone he trusts when he is not available.

I have had scans at 12, 20, 26, 31 weeks & my next scan is at 34...I reckon I will have another two after that! Each & every time I can have a chat about progress, any questions I may have etc and I am never rushed.

You might get a private or semi private room...it's not guaranteed but the might is nice.

I had a fall recently & had to have a trace done...my consultant was in with someone else & popped down to check I was ok, reassure me & did the scan to show me all was well. He is the kind of guy that exudes calm so as stressful as it was he makes you feel ok

For a variety of reasons my little one may come by section! My consultant is keeping a close eye on how I progress & will weigh up the combination of issues nearer the time. Personally, I feel if I was public I would just be going into labour & end up with an emergency section later on if required but that's just my feeling

We never have to wait for long, each appointment has a specific time unlike the previous poster but we go to his consultant rooms away from the hospital so he runs his own ship as such - that might be diff if you are going private within a hospital set up

It's a lot of money & I wouldn't go private for privates sake. Having our consultant was a major part of the decision making process...I wouldn't pay for all private consultants!

iguana

prochefunk wrote: »

Hi all im new to this so bare with me !

I found out yday Im 1-2 weeks pregnant Im in the Cork area and I have a Dr app on Monday

Just wondering if anyone has advice re private vs public ......
Mat leave or if anyone id due in Jan / Feb 2013

Just one thing, if you were 1-2 weeks pregnant you wouldn't actually be pregnant at all. The way pregnancy weeks are counted, the first two weeks are the first two weeks of your cycle. If you are 1-2 weeks past conception, that means you are probably 3-4 weeks pregnant. It's a bit confusing but that's the way it's calculated.

silly

prochefunk wrote: »

Great , thanks for the advice , I think its gone up to around 4 K to go private now in CUH .Public it is then !! Any idea on when I should arrange the first private scan and when in cork does them ?:eek:

i'm currently going public in the CUMH, and so far so good. I had a scan at 12/13 weeks and another small one at about 24 weeks. I did go for a private anomaly scan though, as they dont do them on public patients (unless they think there is a problem i'd say) this scan is known as "the big scan" it takes about 30 mins, and it measures everything and does a real intense check on everything, if there is anything slightly wrong, this scan will most likey catch it. I got it done in babyscan.ie in ballincollig. It was €160 and i found it was totally worth it.

i've never had to wait very long for appointments in the hospital, the most was about 40 mins. I find the girls on the desk quite rude and snappy, like you should know exactly where you should be going etc..but the nurses/midwives/consultants are very nice. My consultant suggested that i go to the midwives clinic for my next appointments as everything seems to be going well, so less waiting time etc.. but that if there was anything i was concerned about, i could always make an appointment to see her.

Squiggler

Congratulations! Just to add to what Silly said, now is a very good time to research your antenatal care and birth options. Living in Cork you have other options than a consultant-led hospital birth. Midwife-led hospital care, and even homebirth, are available options.

Best of luck

prochefunk

Hi TwoMums2Be , thanks for the advice I would always have said Id go private but we are in the process of buying a house and I dont get paid full maternity so things are unbeliveablie tight ...however if something drastic happens I have said that I will change to a private consultant

TwoMums2Be wrote: »

I'm private for a range of reasons & not having had my baby I would go private again to have my consultant.

There is a significant cost without major benefit in some ways but the consultant we selected has a fantastic reputation for not just being a lovely man but also for being great at what he does. We see him or someone he trusts when he is not available.

I have had scans at 12, 20, 26, 31 weeks & my next scan is at 34...I reckon I will have another two after that! Each & every time I can have a chat about progress, any questions I may have etc and I am never rushed.

You might get a private or semi private room...it's not guaranteed but the might is nice.

I had a fall recently & had to have a trace done...my consultant was in with someone else & popped down to check I was ok, reassure me & did the scan to show me all was well. He is the kind of guy that exudes calm so as stressful as it was he makes you feel ok

For a variety of reasons my little one may come by section! My consultant is keeping a close eye on how I progress & will weigh up the combination of issues nearer the time. Personally, I feel if I was public I would just be going into labour & end up with an emergency section later on if required but that's just my feeling

We never have to wait for long, each appointment has a specific time unlike the previous poster but we go to his consultant rooms away from the hospital so he runs his own ship as such - that might be diff if you are going private within a hospital set up

It's a lot of money & I wouldn't go private for privates sake. Having our consultant was a major part of the decision making process...I wouldn't pay for all private consultants!

prochefunk

iguana wrote: »

Just one thing, if you were 1-2 weeks pregnant you wouldn't actually be pregnant at all. The way pregnancy weeks are counted, the first two weeks are the first two weeks of your cycle. If you are 1-2 weeks past conception, that means you are probably 3-4 weeks pregnant. It's a bit confusing but that's the way it's calculated.

Hi Iguana , I just saw my Dr today and she said Im 5 weeks gone , due date 21st Jan !!

prochefunk

Hi thanks for the info , just saw my Dr today and she said I can get a private scan done in Ballincollig at week 9 if I cant wait for week 12/13 scan !

prochefunk

Squiggler wrote: »

Congratulations! Just to add to what Silly said, now is a very good time to research your antenatal care and birth options. Living in Cork you have other options than a consultant-led hospital birth. Midwife-led hospital care, and even homebirth, are available options.

Best of luck

Hi Squiggler what is midwife led care ? How do I find out about it ?

prochefunk

Hi does anyone have any idea about maternity Bras , my underwire one is beginning to irritate me

prochefunk

Hi does anyone have info on Antenatal classes in Cork ?

TwoMums2Be

Hi Prochefunk,
That's just it you have to weigh up whether what you get is worth the money as there is no getting away from the fact that it is a lot of money esp these days

As my name might give you an idea our baby didn't come for free to begin with but thankfully it worked out for us pretty quickly so we had baby budget left to go private with

Going with our consultant also meant that we didn't have to explain our situation to a potentially different consultant at each appointment & our consultant understands that my partners role is our child's other parent & includes her as he would all the daddies he meets

There is nothing wrong with going public, the care is generally great & the midwives that deal with me when i go into labour are the same as if I was public

iguana

prochefunk wrote: »

Hi does anyone have any idea about maternity Bras , my underwire one is beginning to irritate me

I switched over to Ahh Bra type bras when I was about 5/6 weeks. I thought they looked a bit crap before I was pregnant as I'm a 32FF normally but I decided to give them a go and they are actually very supportive and really comfortable. I have them in two sizes, medium for daily wear and xl to wear at night in bed. I got a 3 pack on ebay for about €20 so I think they are worth a try and you can just wear them about the house or at night if you don't find them right for day wear.

Squiggler

prochefunk wrote: »

Hi Squiggler what is midwife led care ? How do I find out about it ?

Midwife-led unit (MLU) in CUMH. The hospital should be able to give you information. For info on homebirth (with all antenatal care provided by a self-employed community midwife in your own home + scans etc in hospital) you can go to http://www.homebirth.ie

Regarding the bras, depends on what size you are but I found M&S best for me. They have non-underwired bras that don't give you a monoboob.

Mink

Some of the benefits of midwife led care is there is a much shorter wait in the hospital (in my experience at Rotunda). If any complication or red flag comes up, they will refer you straight to a doctor.

Re the bra's, I saw an ad last night for Brevia Bras being sold in Heatons that sound like that Ahh Bra thing you're talking about Iguana - non wired, very soft, wide material, lots of support etc. I'm going to try them on at least.

I think I need new bra's again as the girls have grown

silly

Mink wrote: »

Some of the benefits of midwife led care is there is a much shorter wait in the hospital (in my experience at Rotunda). If any complication or red flag comes up, they will refer you straight to a doctor.

Re the bra's, I saw an ad last night for Brevia Bras being sold in Heatons that sound like that Ahh Bra thing you're talking about Iguana - non wired, very soft, wide material, lots of support etc. I'm going to try them on at least.

I think I need new bra's again as the girls have grown

I got a bra in heatons..kinda like the ahh bra - not sure of the name, maybe Brevia. The thing i liked about them is that they have a padded area around the nipple area.. Which is what i needed, as i have very...how will i say it, pronounced nipples..
Its really comfy! i'm normally a 36 D and the large is perfect for me for the day. Getting more today.

xiwang

congratulations prochefunk!

I got the value 2 pack cotton sports bras from penneys from week 5 and they are a real winner, absolutely comfy and holding everything up, had to buy a bigger size again around week 8, and I have a feeling I'll be growing another few cups over the next months. I think they are 7 EUR for the two in the pack.

Mink

silly wrote: »

as i have very...how will i say it, pronounced nipples..

Cigar butts as the OH calls them

silly

Mink wrote: »

Cigar butts as the OH calls them

ha ha, wheel studs my OH calls them!