portlaoise vs dublin, private vs public

dobad

Hi all, were thinking of ttc but we had such an awful time the last time, it actually scares me the thought of birth. We were public in Portlaoise, the care I was given was good, but the actually delivery I'll never forget. We had a midwife who spent most of her time talking to her friends in the hall, and when my lo was born there was no crying, no movement and nobody told me anything. Just that all was ok and they worked away on lo.
After a while I was given our lo and that was it, the midwife never to be seen again and I ended up having to deliver via episotomy. Nothing was explained or anything and they knew it was my first.
Anyway it was about 6/8 mths after that, the programme was on tv about maternity in portlaoise and we both said that was out lo, the way they reacted when the oxytocin was put on and kept being put on and then born and died, that was exactly what was happening with us only tg we've had a good outcome and have a very strong lo now going to school.
But all kidding aside it has petrified me. So we're from Laois so portlaoise would be handy, would it be different if we were private in portlaoise?
Would we be better going to Dublin? Private, or who do I need to start to look at or where, what are fees like?
Any info would be great, as I'm well out of my depth here

January

dobad wrote: »

Hi all, were thinking of ttc but we had such an awful time the last time, it actually scares me the thought of birth. We were public in Portlaoise, the care I was given was good, but the actually delivery I'll never forget. We had a midwife who spent most of her time talking to her friends in the hall, and when my lo was born there was no crying, no movement and nobody told me anything. Just that all was ok and they worked away on lo.
After a while I was given our lo and that was it, the midwife never to be seen again and I ended up having to deliver via episotomy. Nothing was explained or anything and they knew it was my first.
Anyway it was about 6/8 mths after that, the programme was on tv about maternity in portlaoise and we both said that was out lo, the way they reacted when the oxytocin was put on and kept being put on and then born and died, that was exactly what was happening with us only tg we've had a good outcome and have a very strong lo now going to school.
But all kidding aside it has petrified me. So we're from Laois so portlaoise would be handy, would it be different if we were private in portlaoise?
Would we be better going to Dublin? Private, or who do I need to start to look at or where, what are fees like?
Any info would be great, as I'm well out of my depth here

Hi can you please not use abbreviations like LO etc they're confusing to other posters and against the forum charter.

Now, onto your question. Private is very expensive if you do not have private health insurance. You'd be looking at the guts of about 10000 euro. Portlaoise is now under the management of the Coombe women's hospital since the scandal broke and the Coombe is excellent.

Whichever option you choose, good luck and I wish you a healthy, happy pregnancy.

dobad

Sorry bout the abbreviations. Wow would it be that much 10k . God I never thought would be that much. We have private health but would need to see what it does cover. You have me in shock over that figure ha

izzyflusky

I wouldn't give birth in Portlaoise but mostly because I had to spend months reviewing their report from the incidents they had a few year back and my understanding is that not enough has changed for me to feel safe there. If you have the choice to come to Dublin I would. With that said, I have no personal experience with them, just chats from friends who have and all the work I did on their governancy and management issues.

satguy

Portlaoise Hospital ,, Has a very bad reputation, one well earned unfortunately.... RTE News have their own parking spot in the carpark, they spend that much time there..

irishgirl19

The coombe would be your closest option I take it. They are very good. semi -p I think its 700ish plus scans (could be wrong) insurance covers the rest.
Public is great too
I know too many people who have had bad experiences in portlaoise...

January

I'd go public in the Coombe if you do go there. Absolutely fabulous care and the rooms afterwards are small too. Be aware though with your partner having to travel to/from portlaoise that they do kick them out several times a day for 'rest periods' and meals.

LegacyUser

I know dozens of friends and family who've had positive experience with Portlaoise maternity unit.
Despite living nearby, I personally chose to have my youngest in the Coombe because as a nurse In Dublin, I'd seen so many sick newborns whisked to Crumlin because of neglected scenarios during labour.
Not pleasant.

Alas there's no guarantee no matter what hospital to you choose to attend.

Not sure of statistics now, but back at the turn of this century Holles Street had the highest rate of neonatal mortality in Europe.
Nowhere is perfect, enjoy your pregnancy and stay healthy ; that'll certainly make a difference.

dorito92

i dont know where the figure of 10000 came from but if youve health insurance most of them cover your stay in hospital for birth etc. and during your pregnancy you'll pay to see the consultant separately for all your scans, blood work and everything and they cost around €2500-3000

dobad

Thank you all, I really got a fright at the 10k cost!!! But yeah maybe it would be worth looking into more about the coombe. My biggest fear with portlaoise would be if I did go and something happened I would never forgive myself, that being said would private be different there?
What way does semi private work in the coombe? I never knew about that, all I knew was public / private!
Thanks everyone really appreciate the feed back. I would of had another baby ages ago if all went well before, but I can't believe, it's only when we started discussing it I realised how much I was afraid of it !!!

Mycro

I'm glad your LO (it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out so don't mind the pedants), and congratulations on your upcoming new little one.

If you have health insurance, they will generally pay the hospital costs for private care, but you will need to pay the consultant. Prices are approx 3,000 to 4,000. Each consultant charges differently. However, for that, you will get as many visits as you need or want without extra charge. As a private patient, you would also have to pay for any additional items like the anamoly scan at 20 weeks, possibly for blood tests, etc.

If you don't have health insurance, the hospital charge is likely to be somewhere in the region of 3,500 on top of that, and approx 1,000 per night if you need to stay more than three nights. If you need a Section and don't have insurance, that will cost more too.

Private does not guarantee you a private room as it depends on availability. However, you will most likely have your own consultant, or a consultant colleague of him/her in attendance at the birth.

Semi-private is another option. I'm not sure how that works if you don't have insurance, but if you call the hospitals, they will fill you in.

PolaroidPizza

Mycro wrote: »

I'm glad your LO (it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out so don't mind the pedants), and congratulations on your upcoming new little one.

If you have health insurance, they will generally pay the hospital costs for private care, but you will need to pay the consultant. Prices are approx 3,000 to 4,000. Each consultant charges differently. However, for that, you will get as many visits as you need or want without extra charge. As a private patient, you would also have to pay for any additional items like the anamoly scan at 20 weeks, possibly for blood tests, etc.

If you don't have health insurance, the hospital charge is likely to be somewhere in the region of 3,500 on top of that, and approx 1,000 per night if you need to stay more than three nights. If you need a Section and don't have insurance, that will cost more too.

Private does not guarantee you a private room as it depends on availability. However, you will most likely have your own consultant, or a consultant colleague of him/her in attendance at the birth.

Semi-private is another option. I'm not sure how that works if you don't have insurance, but if you call the hospitals, they will fill you in.

agree, 10K is way above what it actually costs. ~3500 for consultant costs, 1000 per night if you don't have insurance, and 100 euro per scan, some of which may be covered by insurance. remember you can also get 20% of it back at the end of the year in tax credits.

January

Mycro wrote: »

I'm glad your LO (it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out so don't mind the pedants), and congratulations on your upcoming new little one.

If you have health insurance, they will generally pay the hospital costs for private care, but you will need to pay the consultant. Prices are approx 3,000 to 4,000. Each consultant charges differently. However, for that, you will get as many visits as you need or want without extra charge. As a private patient, you would also have to pay for any additional items like the anamoly scan at 20 weeks, possibly for blood tests, etc.

If you don't have health insurance, the hospital charge is likely to be somewhere in the region of 3,500 on top of that, and approx 1,000 per night if you need to stay more than three nights. If you need a Section and don't have insurance, that will cost more too.

Private does not guarantee you a private room as it depends on availability. However, you will most likely have your own consultant, or a consultant colleague of him/her in attendance at the birth.

Semi-private is another option. I'm not sure how that works if you don't have insurance, but if you call the hospitals, they will fill you in.

if you bothered to read my post you'd have seen me saying using abbreviations is against the forum charter so please don't tell people to not mind the pedants.

dobad

"I'm glad your LO (it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out so don't mind the pedants), and congratulations on your upcoming new little one"

Not pregnant yet just doing the research now in case. I always said I'd love few kids but gosh now if we've one more I'll be happy. It is amazing how different things can really affect your "wants"
Thanks everyone.
Can anybody recommend consultants in the coombe and I'll look into them

izzyflusky

dobad wrote: »

Thank you all, I really got a fright at the 10k cost!!! But yeah maybe it would be worth looking into more about the coombe. My biggest fear with portlaoise would be if I did go and something happened I would never forgive myself, that being said would private be different there?
What way does semi private work in the coombe? I never knew about that, all I knew was public / private!
Thanks everyone really appreciate the feed back. I would of had another baby ages ago if all went well before, but I can't believe, it's only when we started discussing it I realised how much I was afraid of it !!!

Nope, private or public it will be the same. That hospital has MANY MANY issues that go back all the way to the HSE. It doesn't mean that something will definitely happen, but there are definitely much better options available.

angeldelight

dobad wrote: »

Can anybody recommend consultants in the coombe and I'll look into them

I couldn't recommend Nadine Farah highly enough - she was absolutely brilliant when I was pregnant last year and for the delivery. All scan costs are included as she does them all herself.

Think about how long it will take you to get to the hospital at rush hour when making your decision too, especially as second labours can be shorter than first time round

January

I had gunther von bunau and he was lovely.

olaola

January wrote: »

I had gunther von bunau and he was lovely.

Oh, is he the famous fella for turning breech babies?

mirrorwall14

Yeah he is coz I was in perinatal in the bed beside someone he was trying to turn. I was with Aoife O Neill. I've heard some weren't happy with her but I had brilliant care despite complications and apart from being a bit gruff I had no problem with her or her team.

I think the confusion over cost for private was the cost with or without private health insurance!

My sister is in the Coombe via their clinic in naas so most of her appointments are in naas. I'm not sure if that is catchment area specific but naas is a bit closer to portlaoise for appointments at least. She delivers in the coombe

January

olaola wrote: »

Oh, is he the famous fella for turning breech babies?

He's a fantastic supportive VBAC doctor too. Supported me every step of the way.

olaola

January wrote: »

He's a fantastic supportive VBAC doctor too. Supported me every step of the way.

I hear he's fantastic, my midwives from the last time said he was amazing. Great to hear there's someone there who might be able to turn the baby if they don't feel like moving themselves!

olaola

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

My sister is in the Coombe via their clinic in naas so most of her appointments are in naas. I'm not sure if that is catchment area specific but naas is a bit closer to portlaoise for appointments at least. She delivers in the coombe

Yep, Domino is area specific. I think they only cover certain parts of Kildare & South Dublin. You could look at other hospitals, but I don't think that Domino is available in Portlaoise, I'm afraid.

mirrorwall14

olaola wrote: »

Yep, Domino is area specific. I think they only cover certain parts of Kildare & South Dublin. You could look at other hospitals, but I don't think that Domino is available in Portlaoise, I'm afraid.

She's actually consultant led not domino?

dobad

All this info is brill thanks. I'm going research all the mentioned consultants and look into the difference in semi private and private.
It's great having the info cuz once you get pregnant and go to doc they automatically want to know where you want to attend. At least this way I'm going have all the research done
Thanks all

dorito92

also all your scans and blood tests are covered in the consultants fee so dont worry about anything extra, once you ring them they'll tell you of their charges - as was mentioned anywhere from €2500-4000, depending on who you see. best of luck!!

irishgirl19

angeldelight wrote:

I couldn't recommend Nadine Farah highly enough - she was absolutely brilliant when I was pregnant last year and for the delivery. All scan costs are included as she does them all herself.

I was under Nadine Farrah too (although I was public) she is lovely

dobad

Out of curiosity could one go public in the coombe and opt for a private room if its covered on my health plan?

angeldelight

dobad wrote: »

Out of curiosity could one go public in the coombe and opt for a private room if its covered on my health plan?

No - if you're public you can't request a private or semi-private bed

MistyCheese

olaola wrote: »

Yep, Domino is area specific. I think they only cover certain parts of Kildare & South Dublin. You could look at other hospitals, but I don't think that Domino is available in Portlaoise, I'm afraid.

The Domino scheme doesn't extend to Co. Laois I'm afraid but you can have your antenatal appointments in Naas. I'm in Laois and have an antenatal appointment in the Naas clinic next week.

dobad

That would be great if that's the case. Antenatal in Naas would be a huge help, its obviously just in a clinic there and then you'd attend the hosp if needed. Thanks this really is a huge help

mirrorwall14

dobad wrote: »

That would be great if that's the case. Antenatal in Naas would be a huge help, its obviously just in a clinic there and then you'd attend the hosp if needed. Thanks this really is a huge help

They definitely have a consultant in naas as well as the midwives because my sis thought she'd be transferred back to the Coombe when she needed to move to consultant led but they had one in naas

January

dobad wrote: »

Out of curiosity could one go public in the coombe and opt for a private room if its covered on my health plan?

No that's not allowed.