Just found out I'm pregnant what next??

Cerocco

Hi all, me and the hubby have been trying and I just got a positive result. It's my first. What do I do. Do I go see my GP and he refers me to a hospital or what happens to get in the system? I have health insurance so can go private if that makes a difference

Penny Dreadful

Cerocco wrote: »

Hi all, me and the hubby have been trying and I just got a positive result. It's my first. What do I do. Do I go see my GP and he refers me to a hospital or what happens to get in the system? I have health insurance so can go private if that makes a difference

Congratulations.

If you opt to go fully private then you can self refer to your consultant of choice depending on what hospital you choose to attend for the birth. I'm attending the Coombe and have self referred. I haven't been to my GP yet about this and will only mention it if I am there for something else.

Last time I went semi private and went to my GP to see what the story was. He referred my to the Coombe and I was assigned to a consultant.
As things happened my consultant went into labour early and that happened to be on the day of my first appointment with her and so I never saw a consultant at any stage of the pregnancy. It was midwives and an NCHD (generally an SHO) that I saw.
My pregnancy was fine and so this was ok by me. However I did have some issues immediately after the birth with the placenta and this dragged on for months afterward. At no stage did I see a consultant and I feel if I had the problems would have been resolved sooner. This is my main reason for going private this time around- I will always have a consultant appointment both ante and post natally.

Digs

Cerocco wrote: »

Hi all, me and the hubby have been trying and I just got a positive result. It's my first. What do I do. Do I go see my GP and he refers me to a hospital or what happens to get in the system? I have health insurance so can go private if that makes a difference

Congrats! Firstly I would ring your insurance company, I have a company plan with VHI for example and they were excellent, went through exactly what I would be covered for should I chose public, semi or private. In the end I went public as I want to do mid wife led care and this is only available to public patients in holles street.

Secondly id you decide on public or semi private I'd then go to your gp. Different hospitals have different referral policies, holles street for example you can self refer for public, semi and private. However with public and semi private the care is combined with your gp so you need to sign a form with them initially to get the ball rolling etc

Best of luck

Little Miss Cutie

Celebrate!!!

As said above you can self refer to most hospitals.

Personally I waited a week and then went to the GP who confirmed pregnancy and then I booked into holles st semi-private.

mirrorwall14

Also worth pointing out that you still pay a big chunk of cash to go private even with health insurance under the majority of policies. Around 5-6k asfaik

Cerocco

Thanks everyone, gonna phone the VHI in the morning ðŸ˜႒

smallerthanyou

If you're normally healthy I would self refer to whichever hospital you choose. Just ring and make 12 wk appointment. I made doctor appointment and was useless. Confirmed pregnancy with another urine teat. Weighed me and made appointment. She said if there was any bleeding etc to contact hospital as very little she could do. Told take vitamins and folic acid. All stuff I knew.

Then there's the consultant led or mid wife led decisions. Private public all that. I found website on rotunda good for that.

And congrats! I'm finding it a lovely exciting time.

cruais

I went private in holles st, the reason being because I wanted to meet the same consultant at each appointment, i didnt care about the private room.

I also have VHI. Your health insurance will only cover your private or semi private room in the hospital but you will pay your own fees for the private consultant. Ours was 5k,but well worth it as i had a difficult pregnancy.

Congrats and best of luck!

mirrorwall14

Not to contradict but just to give the other side. I had a pretty complicated pregnancy with several bleeds, growth concerns and then high blood pressure requiring medication and eventual induction. I was public in the Combe and I could not say enough about the prenatal care. (Post natal was tougher). I was on one consultants 'team' and I knew them all by the time I gave birth. The consultant and her senior reg didn't change so even when all the junior docs switched up on rotation I still had consistency. Everything that could be done was and I was completely supported. Any issues with me and the team called the consultant (or rarely the senior reg if it was her day off). The only downside was the wait for the consultant at appointments but hey, I was covered for work and I brought a book. Oh and I actually ended up knowing the docs that were called in when things went a bit nuts at the birth itself which was nice

Firstime

Sorry for hijacking but does anyone know does Holles st answer the phone?

The mrs has been ringing since last Thurs & has had no luck.

She hasn't got a scan date & it seems her details are not in the system. This is frustrating.

Is this the norm?

Digs

Firstime wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking but does anyone know does Holles st answer the phone?

The mrs has been ringing since last Thurs & has had no luck.

She hasn't got a scan date & it seems her details are not in the system. This is frustrating.

Is this the norm?

I rang the central booking office last Monday 016373288 and got through after a few rings. Trying the fetal unit to book my scan this morning and no joy. It must depend if there's a clinic on and how busy they are? Keep trying!

Did she book in through her gp or online? I booked in through holles street website and they sent my first appointment out about two weeks later.

Penny Dreadful

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Also worth pointing out that you still pay a big chunk of cash to go private even with health insurance under the majority of policies. Around 5-6k asfaik

That depends on the consultant. I'm going fully private this time and my fees are €3500.00 in addition to what my insurance company will pay out. I can of course claim a percentage of that back under the Med1.

ted1

If you can get on a midwife lead scheme or the domino scheme I'd highly recommend going Public.
We have three kids and have done private, semi and public.

By far the best was public I a midwife lead scheme. The cover is amazing http://www.nmh.ie/maternity-care-options/community-midwives.220.html
And providing all is well you can opt for same day release, so you get to rest in your own surroundings and you get a daily visit from a midwife for a few days. On top of that you don't go near the hospital you get to visit your GP and a midwife clinic like in Dun Laoighre

lazygal

I was happy with private care in Holles Street. I ended up having two sections and I found the public and semi private ward care really haphazard and not condusive to a good recovery. I thanked my lucky stars for the private rooms both times, and the continuity of care from one consultant. I self referred second time, just called the consultant's number. I know lots of people say they don't care about the private room but it was really important for me.

Firstime

Digs wrote: »

I rang the central booking office last Monday 016373288 and got through after a few rings. Trying the fetal unit to book my scan this morning and no joy. It must depend if there's a clinic on and how busy they are? Keep trying!

Did she book in through her gp or online? I booked in through holles street website and they sent my first appointment out about two weeks later.

Booked through gp but finally someone called back after an email was sent letting them know the story. So got an appointment within 24 hrs. Short notice but it suits us.

irishgirl19

Like mirrorwall I found the coombe fantastic. Had to stay twice before I had the baby and the midwives I had were lovely. And the birth was great. The doctor looking after me came in after her shift to tell me congratulations.
My only complaint is a midwife I had after I have my little girl who wasnt very helpful(I felt a bit intimidated by her), and a care assistant who gave out to me for using water wipes lol.. But in saying that I was v emotional after I had her to begin with.

ChewChew

I went to the coombe too. They were fantastic! Like you, irishgirl19, I was admitted for a few nights twice before I had the baby and once after I had her and we were home. They've been amazing, with the odd personality clash but not enough to put me off going back there!

Fagashlil

Another massive plus one for domino. I attended the Coombe, all my appts were in the local clinic. I ended up being transferred to public as I was overdue and induced, had a consultant at my side within seconds of baby being in distress and baby born safely within minutes via emergency section.

Personally, I'd never go private, that €5K could be put to so much more (for us) than seeing the same person (which we did with the midwives anyway) and the possibility of having my own room

jakeypooh

Hi penny. im so glad to see that price. I was getting worried can u tell me or pm me which consultant your going to please

Penny Dreadful

jakeypooh wrote: »

Hi penny. im so glad to see that price. I was getting worried can u tell me or pm me which consultant your going to please

I'm attending Professor Deirdre Murphy. After the issues that occured post delivery last time I decided that if I got pregnant again I would go private so as to have someone deal with the situation immediately.
A few friends of friends had attended Prof Murphy and were very happy with her. Then my friend (who was pregnant with identical twins) attended her too and she was delighted with the level of care. My sister had a baby a few weeks ago too and she also attended Prof Murphy.

I had a missed miscarriage in July and had been attending Prof Murphy. I was so impressed with the level of care and compassion she showed all through the process that I knew should I ever have another baby she was the doctor for me.

I'm 9+3 now and have had 2 early scans with her and she has been lovely and understanding about how much more sensitive things are for me/ us this time around.

You pay €1500 at your booking appointment (anywhere between 10-12 weeks) and the next €1500 at either 20 or 24 weeks (I can't remember which exactly) and then the remaining €500 at your 6 week check up post delivery.