Mullingar Hospital - Public or Private?

GraciousGeenie

Hello!
I'm 9 weeks pregnant. I have good VHI cover but am debating the benefits, if any, of going private versus public in Mullingar.

Given my age and medical conditions, I would fall into a high risk category.
I have a really good GP, who also has scanning equipment in his practice, for use at every visit.

I really don't mind coming up with whatever the consultant's fees would be, as long as I was confident that it is a service much better than the standard public one.

Can anyone convince me that private is the way to go?

newmammy2011

Hi there,
Congrats on your pregnancy! Hope its going well to date.
I had twins last year in Mullingar and was public.
A friend of my sister in law went private there last year, didnt get a private room for the first night or 2, but did after that(5 night stay after section).
I met the consultant I was under on my first visit, but after that I met someone from his team, I possibly saw 3 different consultants over the course of my pregnancy. It wasnt something that bothered me but I know some people it would. I was asked at one stage that if I wanted to see my own consultant, but I was happy with who I had seen.
There is a scanning machine in each of the consultants rooms, and I was scanned on each visit. Tpwards the end of my pregnancy I had 2 weekly scans in the radiology department, but this was to make sure both twins were growing normally and they couldnt get the required amount of detail on the scanning machine in the consultants office....but I would imagine this is the case whether I had been public or private.
Personally I wouldnt like to be in a room on my own...I liked having people around me. The public wards in mullingar only have 4 beds and visiting times are quite strict so the ward never seemed packed.
I would think( and hope) the medical care you and baby would receive would not differ depending on whether you are public or private)...what you are paying for private is to see the same consultant on each visit and the possibility of getting your own room. If these are important to you, then maybe go private.....otherwise go public.
I also would have had one of the higher VHI plans and chose not to use it. The money that we didnt pay for going private, probably bought most things we needed for both babies!
When I go again it will be back in Mullingar and public again!
If you have any specific questions, please dont hesitate
to ask!

analucija

I can't give you any guarantees. I went private first time (partner's mother almost died when I mentioned going public). I had absolutely no problems with my pregnancy and I think that in the last month I saw my consultant a bit more often. The birth went without problems and so quickly that consultant missed the whole thing and he just did couple of the stitches at the end. Very little except my urine sample and blood on the first visit was checked, nobody advised me to take iron pills or any other things regarding diet. However having private room was great.

I had two miscarriages and when I got pregnant again I decided to go public at first and then think things through again if the pregnancy will go over 12 weeks. My GP advised me going public. I got my first scan on the 9th week and also got loads more information than when going private. I had my second scan 4 weeks later but now it will be only week 26 before I get next one. I wasn't overly fussed about it so I don't know if it would make any difference requesting one at 20 weeks. I got waaay more information from the nurses than I ever did from my consultant. I can't tell you what the rest will be like but up till now I didn't notice much of the difference between going private or public. My appointments are not in Mullingar hospital though so I don't know what things are like there.

Personally I would love an option of going public and still getting private room but I guess we can't have everything.

It's something you have to decide about yourself but you might want to talk to your GP and see what he/she advises you.