Deeply Confused - 6 Weeks Pregnant

paddingghost

Hello,

I am deeply confused and this is my first baby.

Went to GP who gave me information on public scheme and referred me into midwives.

I also have health insurance and am thinking of going private/semi-private but finding it very difficult to figure out what is the next step to take!!!

Hospital sent me a form with a 12 week scan date - I call to confirm and they say if you are going private I'm not to attend that clinic, despite it asking on the form if you are going public or private?

And that if I am going private my appointment will be in 'the rooms'?!?!

Health insurance company will cover 3.5 for hospital fees and will give money back on some consultancy fees. They said that it is about 4k for full private and 1.5-2k for semi-private (but semi-private doesn't seem to be a well publicised option?!)

So do I just find a consultant at this stage and tell them I want to go private?!

I have googled around and just can't seem to figure out what the 'next step' is.

I'm also based in Galway so if anyone has any consultancy reccommendations, that would be great. I don't know anyone that has gone the semi-private/private route before.

angeldelight

Even if your health insurance plan says they will cover 3500 or whatever it is be careful as they won’t pay that level of consultant fees... basically that’s the amount they would cover if you were going to have a home birth.

If you’re going private you will pay 3000-4500 depending on the consultant directly to the consultant as their fees and you can’t claim the majority of this back.

Your insurance will pay for your accommodation

It is very confusing when you’re starting out!

bluebell01

I know in Cork there is no option to go semi-private. Just private or public. So perhaps it's the same in Galway?

"Rooms" refers to the private consultants private clinics. I'll be going public myself but from what I've heard it's usually around 3-4K to go private and you get a few hundred back from insurance. Anyone I know that went private got their GP to refer them to the consultant.

detoxkid

Hi there. I'm in Galway. I'm pregnant with my third baby and I have similar health insurance cover to yourself. I'm going public and midwife led which I did previously and couldnt fault it. I'm hoping to ask for a private room when I have the baby - I asked about this when I had my first appointment and they said this would be fine if one was available but I didn't do this last time so can't guarantee it will work!

Penny Dreadful

Hi, I’m in Dublin and am going fully private this time as I did last time too. I was semi private (cost me €750 only) on my first but after some issues post delivery that I feel would have been better managed if I was private I decided it was safer for me to opt for fully private for all subsequent pregnancies.
My insurance pays for my accommodation, treatment etc however I still have to pay my consultant €3500 on top of that.
You can claim some of this back on your Med1.

I do have to say that for the vast majority of women and babies the public / semi private service is excellent and everyone is working towards delivery of healthy babies to healthy mammies. I have complicated care needs and so opted for a more focused one to one form of care.
The availability of a private room no matter what type of patient you are is always down to availability. Not every private patient gets one.

appledrop

I'm Dublin based so will outline how it worked for me. I knew from start wanted to go private so looked up private clinic website of maternity hospital. Also got advice from my GP on consultants. Then rang secretary for consultant + booked in. All appointments then in outbuilding in hospital where private clinic is. Health insurance only pay for overnight stay not consultant fees. You have to pay them yourself. Range from 2500-4000 usually in Dublin. I would definitely go private again if I have another baby.

Toastytoes

I’m sure you have come to a decision by now but just in case anyone is searching for the same thing, there is no official semi private option in Galway. However the private system is a bit different to others regions in that you won’t have all of your appointments in the private rooms, some of them will be with your regular gp. So no fully private option in the true sense of the word but you’ll be charged the full private fees of around €3200-€3500.