Public or Private Care?

ShaShaBear

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

There’s no gas an air available on the wards in the Coombe either. You can’t have the epidural until you are transferred to the labour ward. Unless everything is perfect with baby then there’s no other options bar paracetamol (at least that was in my case). When I had my second the induction room was being done up so I was induced on a main ward and had an experience very like the above.

With my first in Cavan, I was taken into the delivery room to have my waters broken and was sent back to the ward with 5 other women. My pains started within an hour and after 45 minutes using the TENS machine, I completely lost control of my bowels all over the bed, floor and myself. No warning whatsoever. I was sobbing at this stage, purely from shame and embarrassment and I was taken in a wheelchair to the bathroom and washed down before they took me to the delivery room. I still feel embarrassed thinking about it. Not so much that I pooped everywhere (in a very liquid form), but that I was the only one of 5 making any sort of commotion.

Princess Calla

Antares35 wrote: »

That wasn't an actual delivery room though was it? Do they not just bring you to delivery when things are "imminent". Also why would the ward you were on mean that you were denied pain relief?

On my first I was brought to the pre-labour ward. My waters had broken and contractions were close together. They examined me and I was 1 centimetre, came back a bit later and I was 4! They shifted me straight away then. I do wonder if they delayed slightly as all the delivery rooms were in use, I ended up in the double room.

After delivery I was first in the 6 bed ward. Some of the girls that were in the pre-labour ward did not come up until the following day.

The second I was straight into labour ward, but I was passing clots. They broke my waters, which didn't hurt but wasn't a nice sensation.

My sister had 3 pregnancies and was induced on the third. She didn't like the process at all, said it was the worst experience of all her deliveries (but her second baby was diagnosed with a heart defect after birth and died at 5 days, so she was understandably high strung and in a very bad place during delivery)
That said I refused to be induced on my second after what my sister said.

Princess Calla

ShaShaBear wrote: »

With my first in Cavan, I was taken into the delivery room to have my waters broken and was sent back to the ward with 5 other women. My pains started within an hour and after 45 minutes using the TENS machine, I completely lost control of my bowels all over the bed, floor and myself. No warning whatsoever. I was sobbing at this stage, purely from shame and embarrassment and I was taken in a wheelchair to the bathroom and washed down before they took me to the delivery room. I still feel embarrassed thinking about it. Not so much that I pooped everywhere (in a very liquid form), but that I was the only one of 5 making any sort of commotion.

Oh I feel for you *hugs* I wouldn't worry about the other mothers they most likely made a fuss when their active Labour started too the staff have seen it all before too.

kylith

They put me on a ward when I came in to the Coombe at 3 am with my first. They obviously didn’t expect my labour to progress as fast as it did because it was my first child, and I felt so bad for those poor women trying to sleep while every 15 minutes I was screaming blue murder with a contraction before passing out again. After a while the nurse came back in and asked if I thought I was having a baby, and I was just “I don’t ****ing know! AAAAaaarrrrrrgggghhhh!”

Cash_Q

Antares35 wrote:

That wasn't an actual delivery room though was it? Do they not just bring you to delivery when things are "imminent". Also why would the ward you were on mean that you were denied pain relief?

No that wasn't a delivery room, it's a ward next to the assessment unit. On arrival in the coombe you're checked in the assessment unit and then either sent home for a while, placed in a ward next to the assessment unit, or brought straight up to a delivery suite depending on how far into labour you are. I wasnt denied pain relief but they dont have gas in those wards because they're for early stage labour/holding high risk patients so they couldn't give me any gas until I got so bad that they wheeled in a tank. In the delivery suites its readily available.

I only mentioned it as a comparison to sharing a delivery suite in another maternity hospital as another poster mentioned. It was hell going through what I did with no pain relief and 5 other women with their visitors all present. I cant imagind labouring and delivering in a shared delivery suite. Sounds like madness.

Antares35

Cash_Q wrote: »

No that wasn't a delivery room, it's a ward next to the assessment unit. On arrival in the coombe you're checked in the assessment unit and then either sent home for a while, placed in a ward next to the assessment unit, or brought straight up to a delivery suite depending on how far into labour you are. I wasnt denied pain relief but they dont have gas in those wards because they're for early stage labour/holding high risk patients so they couldn't give me any gas until I got so bad that they wheeled in a tank. In the delivery suites its readily available.

I only mentioned it as a comparison to sharing a delivery suite in another maternity hospital as another poster mentioned. It was hell going through what I did with no pain relief and 5 other women with their visitors all present. I cant imagind labouring and delivering in a shared delivery suite. Sounds like madness.

Ah ok. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like hell. I'm with holles st myself. So many different journeys that we all have.

Princess Calla

Antares35 wrote: »

Ah ok. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like hell. I'm with holles st myself. So many different journeys that we all have.

Have you done your tour of the hospital yet? With the antenatal class.

I was holles Street public so you can read my experience above.

I didn't have any pain relief in the pre-labour ward but I was moved on fairly quickly.

Antares35

Princess Calla wrote: »

Have you done your tour of the hospital yet? With the antenatal class.

I was holles Street public so you can read my experience above.

I didn't have any pain relief in the pre-labour ward but I was moved on fairly quickly.

No haven't done either. In two minds about the classes also.

Princess Calla

Antares35 wrote: »

No haven't done either. In two minds about the classes also.

You get time off work to go to them, I think they are worth it.

They go through the basics of what to expect (in no way does it prepare you for the real thing though )

They go through the stages of labour, what's the signs and when to know it's definitely time to get to hospital.

The classes are small so gives you a chance to talk to a midwife at the end if you've any questions answered in private.

They weren't like the American version, partner behind you practising how to breathe

They will also show you different birthing options, the tens machine, the yoga ball, the birthing stool.... Have to say I thought the birthing stool was the weirdest thing ever, thought the midwife had totally lost it when she showed it to us.... Guess what I ended up in for alot of the labour it's really comfy

You're not going to come out suddenly enlightened but at same time you will take something from them

shesty

Antares35 wrote: »

No haven't done either. In two minds about the classes also.

Go to the classes.
Honestly I know people question the use of them but this big thing is about to happen to you, you want the information on your options, how the hospital process works, all of that.They are quite useful.Right down to information like if you need an emergency C-section, we will push a button and suddenly there will be 10 people in the room and this is why and who they are,....I mean if you were going through that with no prior information on what they do, and why, you could end up panicking and doing yourself no favours.

All of our horror stories (and otherwise) don't give you all the information you need!

bee06

shesty wrote: »

Go to the classes.
Honestly I know people question the use of them but this big thing is about to happen to you, you want the information on your options, how the hospital process works, all of that.They are quite useful.Right down to information like if you need an emergency C-section, we will push a button and suddenly there will be 10 people in the room and this is why and who they are,....I mean if you were going through that with no prior information on what they do, and why, you could end up panicking and doing yourself no favours.

All of our horror stories (and otherwise) don't give you all the information you need!

Totally agree, there will be information that you won’t get anywhere else. This is my 2nd child and I had the option of going to the antenatal classes again and went because there was stuff I knew I’d forgotten. I knew a lot of it but still found it useful.

ShaShaBear

bee06 wrote: »

Totally agree, there will be information that you won’t get anywhere else. This is my 2nd child and I had the option of going to the antenatal classes again and went because there was stuff I knew I’d forgotten. I knew a lot of it but still found it useful.

Also agree they're very useful. I went with my first and admittedly gleamed nothing massively useful except for info on the TENS machine and a loan of a gentle birthing CD, but there were women there who were baffled to learn the average length of a full labour, plenty of them had no idea that they would likely have a bowel movement and most of them had no idea of the limitations on birthing partners!

Foweva Awone

I'm curious ... Is there any reason, for someone on the fence about it, that you couldn't go public and see how it goes, then transfer to private care if you weren't satisfied with the public care you were getting? As far as I can see, public care is really a luck of the draw and your experience varies depending on the hospital and consultant. I have to say if I were to go again (which is doubtful!) I'd be inclined to chance going public with the plan to switch to private if I felt I wasn't being looked after properly.

On my first (my one and only!) I went public - I had VHI and probably could have scraped together the money to go private or semi-private if I really wanted to, however I couldn't justify the cost when, as far as I could see, the only difference was likely to be my own comfort. Obviously if I thought the baby's health depended on private care, I'd have done it, but all the evidence I've seen suggests that if the baby is in danger, you will be well looked after regardless of whether you're public or private.

Princess Calla

Foweva Awone wrote: »

I'm curious ... Is there any reason, for someone on the fence about it, that you couldn't go public and see how it goes, then transfer to private care if you weren't satisfied with the public care you were getting? As far as I can see, public care is really a luck of the draw and your experience varies depending on the hospital and consultant. I have to say if I were to go again (which is doubtful!) I'd be inclined to chance going public with the plan to switch to private if I felt I wasn't being looked after properly.

On my first (my one and only!) I went public - I had VHI and probably could have scraped together the money to go private or semi-private if I really wanted to, however I couldn't justify the cost when, as far as I could see, the only difference was likely to be my own comfort. Obviously if I thought the baby's health depended on private care, I'd have done it, but all the evidence I've seen suggests that if the baby is in danger, you will be well looked after regardless of whether you're public or private.

There's signs up in the hospital that you can't (holles St) however I'd say that's more starting as private shifting to public.

I doubt they'd have a problem going from public to private as it is a cash cow for the hospital.

You will not get any less care.... Think of worse case scenario and you bring a case against the hospital and its found that the hospital was negligent in its care as you were a public patient... They will be crucified with fines.

I also think its very insulting to the staff that work public wards, to suggest that they are any less able or conscientious (that's a general comment, not directed at you )

Digs

I haven’t seen Holles Street pre labour wards. I go from 0 to baby extraordinarily fast so have always gone straight to delivery but I was induced on my 3rd baby on Unit 3 (huge room with more beds than I could count!) they broke my waters there before things kicked off. My Mam came in to visit me while they were figuring out what was best to do (I had reduced movements so things had gotten a bit serious - that baby and pregnancy is the one that absolutely convinced me public care was excellent, I can’t thanks them enough for how they dealt with me) and she said Unit 3 was the exact same as it was when she was induced on my brother 37 years ago , she had awful deja vu!

I was in that double room on my second baby and after she was born I asked the midwife what the story with it was and she said it was never used for two women in actual labour, just in scenarios like a previous poster mentioned where there might be a cross over.

witchgirl26

Cash_Q wrote: »

No that wasn't a delivery room, it's a ward next to the assessment unit. On arrival in the coombe you're checked in the assessment unit and then either sent home for a while, placed in a ward next to the assessment unit, or brought straight up to a delivery suite depending on how far into labour you are. I wasnt denied pain relief but they dont have gas in those wards because they're for early stage labour/holding high risk patients so they couldn't give me any gas until I got so bad that they wheeled in a tank. In the delivery suites its readily available.

I only mentioned it as a comparison to sharing a delivery suite in another maternity hospital as another poster mentioned. It was hell going through what I did with no pain relief and 5 other women with their visitors all present. I cant imagind labouring and delivering in a shared delivery suite. Sounds like madness.

I was on one of those wards in the Coombe but I didn't find it that bad. There were only 4 of us on the ward, all being induced. My waters went & things went very quickly but it was late at night so there were no visitors. That said, as soon as I called the midwife to say how bad things were, she hot-footed (well wheeled in a wheelchair) me down to delivery so that I could get proper pain relief. I was a bit extreme as I went from waters breaking to 8cm in less than 2 hours.

I'm glad the Coombe doesn't have shared delivery suites at all. I was very aware on the ward of not annoying the other women around me and I don't think I'd have the ability to do that while giving birth!

bluepants

I went public two times in Rotunda, and I found my care very good both times.
1st time labour wasn't so straight forward, 27 hours then she was forceps delivered. Along with the consultant who delivered her there was about 3 or 4 midwives in the room an 2 baby docs, an once she was born id say there was about 10 ppl in there, we both ran temps and she had to go to nicu for a few hours, i felt we were both looked after really well. My stitches healed nicely then and after my section too.
2nd time round i had a section and was looked after equally as well. I found the midwives in there were so lovely.
I was in the same post delivery ward both times, 8 bed ward which is a lot, but for me it was a comfort to be around other mums, even though extremely noisy at times, but im not a fan of being by myself & felt a tad vulnerable at times so i didnt mind it.
After my section they told me i could go home after 3 nights but i didnt feel ready so stayed a 4th night an they were happy with that.
I didnt find the wait times too bad either as i was in a stressful job so it was a nice few hours away from that.
I do have healthcare and could afford to go private, and maybe i would consider it if i was higher risk, but from my experiences i would be happy going public if high risk.
but everyone has different experiences in all hospitals and no 2 pregnancies are the same so its down to the individual's preferences etc

Cash_Q

witchgirl26 wrote:

I was on one of those wards in the Coombe but I didn't find it that bad. There were only 4 of us on the ward, all being induced. My waters went & things went very quickly but it was late at night so there were no visitors. That said, as soon as I called the midwife to say how bad things were, she hot-footed (well wheeled in a wheelchair) me down to delivery so that I could get proper pain relief. I was a bit extreme as I went from waters breaking to 8cm in less than 2 hours.

The ward I was in had 5 others, including two patients who had been there for several weeks each so they treated it like their home, loads of kids came every day. I'd been in since the Friday night and finally given the pessary shortly after 1pm on the Monday. I had a 'hyperstimulation' of the womb so had agonising pain but made no progress. I basically screamed for 4 hours straight until they brought up the gas around 5pm then they removed the pessary after 6pm. I was moved to a quieter ward around 8pm with only 2 others but I was still in pain for the night. I was so bloody relieved when I got to the delivery suite the next day to have my waters broken.

witchgirl26

Cash_Q wrote: »

The ward I was in had 5 others, including two patients who had been there for several weeks each so they treated it like their home, loads of kids came every day. I'd been in since the Friday night and finally given the pessary shortly after 1pm on the Monday. I had a 'hyperstimulation' of the womb so had agonising pain but made no progress. I basically screamed for 4 hours straight until they brought up the gas around 5pm then they removed the pessary after 6pm. I was moved to a quieter ward around 8pm with only 2 others but I was still in pain for the night. I was so bloody relieved when I got to the delivery suite the next day to have my waters broken.

Oh jesus that sounds terrible! The max amount of time on the ward I was on was 3 days as that was the limit for induction attempts before c-section was scheduled.

Cash_Q

witchgirl26 wrote:

Oh jesus that sounds terrible! The max amount of time on the ward I was on was 3 days as that was the limit for induction attempts before c-section was scheduled.

Sorry this was like an observation ward for at risk patients, not actually an induction ward. One girl was about 31w and kept having epileptic seizures. Another was about 34w not sure why she was there. I was 36+5 when admitted but it being a Friday night my team were off all weekend and noone could make a decision. Once I reached 37w and Monday rolled around I was induced, which failed, but eventually sectioned on the Tuesday night after failed ARM that afternoon. Lady with epilepsy was sectioned the same night, her baby was very early, I was just glad to be almost 37w and as I had pre eclampsia, the treatment at that stage is delivery.

Lia_lia

I was initially on Domino scheme in CUMH and then moved to public as I had gestational diabetes. Only thing I didn’t like about my care were the long wait times at clinics. That was it. I’ve heard that can happen with private care too as the consultant could be called out to a delivery etc..

After being diagnosed with gd I was scanned every 2 weeks and then every week, had multiple growth scans separately, had appointments with endocrinologist which would have cost a lot extra if I was going private. After around 30 weeks I requested to see the consultant over the diabetes clinic at every appointment which was no problem.

I was in a 4 bed room after the birth and there were never more than 3 Mothers and babies in the room. Was grand.

Next baby will go public again.

sallysue2

Lia_lia wrote: »

After being diagnosed with gd I was scanned every 2 weeks and then every week, had multiple growth scans separately, had appointments with endocrinologist which would have cost a lot extra if I was going private. After around 30 weeks I requested to see the consultant over the diabetes clinic at every appointment which was no problem.

I am private with gd and I do not have to pay for endocrinologist. I'm in Limerick and go to the diabetes clinic, the same as public patients. Attend my own consultant privately . I'm sure I could go private to endocrinologist but it was never mentioned, just got appointment for the clinic. Happened on all my pregnancies.

lazygal

There's no charge for private referral to public clinic in Holles Street either. I had a couple of things under the public system. I paid for booking bloods and the anatomy scans though.

rainbow kirby

I had 2 babies in a busy central London hospital on the NHS, can't fault the antenatal care tbh but the postnatal ward was horrible. I was 9 nights in with my second, 6 after the birth. Community midwife was an absolute star though and kept me on way longer than she needed to for the sake of keeping an eye on my mental health after a horrendously traumatic birth. Don't want any more kids, but I can't say I'd want to pay for private care.

Lia_lia

sallysue2 wrote: »

I am private with gd and I do not have to pay for endocrinologist. I'm in Limerick and go to the diabetes clinic, the same as public patients. Attend my own consultant privately . I'm sure I could go private to endocrinologist but it was never mentioned, just got appointment for the clinic. Happened on all my pregnancies.

Are you on insulin? You only have to see endocrinologist if on insulin as far as I know. Two women in my due date group who went private had to pay almost a thousand extra due to needing to see endocrinologist (both on insulin.) This was in Dublin so probably does depend on the hospital. Once I went on insulin I was under the care of a different hospital for the diabetes.

annoyedgal

Any thoughts on going semi private or private to avoid a crowded public clinic in nmh? Was public twice and no compliants but nit comfortable with the idea of being two hours plus in that public clinic space which is always so busy. Also no windows there if remember correctly! Seems like would be impossible to social distance.
Would appreciate any insight as to waiting times and crowds in semi and private. Also what additional costs? I need rhesus neg and regualr blood tests. Would they be extra? Think anatomy scannis extra too? Thanks in advance!

sallysue2

Lia_lia wrote: »

Are you on insulin? You only have to see endocrinologist if on insulin as far as I know. Two women in my due date group who went private had to pay almost a thousand extra due to needing to see endocrinologist (both on insulin.) This was in Dublin so probably does depend on the hospital. Once I went on insulin I was under the care of a different hospital for the diabetes.

Yep I'm on insulin, have been on both my pregnancies. I've seen the endocrinologist when not on insulin too (diet controlled) and never had to pay, just went to the normal diabetes clinic with all the other pregnant ladies. I'm in a few gestational diabetes groups and I've never heard anyone mention having to pay.

Lia_lia

sallysue2 wrote: »

Yep I'm on insulin, have been on both my pregnancies. I've seen the endocrinologist when not on insulin too (diet controlled) and never had to pay, just went to the normal diabetes clinic with all the other pregnant ladies. I'm in a few gestational diabetes groups and I've never heard anyone mention having to pay.

Oh well that’s good so. Just checked there and both were in the Coombe. Must just be that hospital. Was shocked when I saw it myself, very unfair.

sallysue2

Lia_lia wrote: »

Oh well that’s good so. Just checked there and both were in the Coombe. Must just be that hospital. Was shocked when I saw it myself, very unfair.

Well it is, especially when I don't have to pay in Limerick. Clinic is only once a month with the endocrinologist, and weekly phone calls with the diabetes midwife.

RebelScorned

Everybody has a different opinion on this but I will share mine as it is relatively recent (baby turned 5 weeks old today).

Like you I agonised over whether to go public or private, I spoke to loads of people incl. my GP and everyone had a different opinion. Some folks chastised me for deciding to go public, warning me that I wouldn't get the support i needed and I could live to regret it. My GP told me not to bother with semi-private as you're basically just giving the hospital money for the public standard of care so I personally didn't consider that as an option. I initially landed on private route - out of fear mostly being a first time mother with no experience of maternity care - and my GP recommended a consultant in the Coombe so I rang his secretary and she told me he is no longer taking private patients but that she would recommend going public as the standard of care is very high - she actually said that is what she would say to her daughter. I discussed with himself and even though we could afford to go private (circa €5k in Dublin taking into a/c scans etc.), I just couldn't justify it at the time when you might not even need a consultant present at the birth and there was no guarantee of a private room after the birth. There are no private maternity hospitals in Ireland and I just found it hard to personally justify the expense when I had no reason to believe my pregnancy would be anything but normal and straightforward. I have private health insurance and would get a portion back but still it was a couple of thousand euro which would go a long way buying all the baby equipment etc. that we needed.

My antenatal appointment experience was excellent - I was always allowed to pick times for appointments and I always opted for an early morning slot so that I could get parking in the Coombe, get checked in early and out early. I was pretty much always the first person to check in and i never had to wait more than an hour to see the consultant. Early mornings suited me best. There are crowds but I thought the staff in the Coombe were very efficient and there is a check-in system so it's all very fair. I never experienced any delays in the Ultrasound dept. either - it is all very efficient IMO.

In terms of continuity of care, I met one of two consultants every single time I went into the Coombe despite being a public patient and each time the consultant gave me a mini-scan - i didn't have to ask, it was just offered. I was also blessed to be able to do a lot of my appointments and my GTT in the satellite clinic in Naas which meant I didn't have to travel in to the Coombe for all my antenatal appointments - whenever I went to Naas for an appointment, I would literally be in and out in an hour (I live in Kildare).

My pregnancy was straightforward all along but the consultant offered me an induction at my 39 week checkup because she was concerned that baby was going to be very big, I am barely 5ft tall whereas my husband is 6ft2 and babies in my family have a tendency to stick around well past due dates - she sent me from her office straight to the Ultrasound dept. for a growth scan and told me to knock on her door when I have the results from that to discuss further so I wasn't waiting in a queue again to speak to her. I was able to pick whatever date I wanted for induction.

In terms of my labour, I was admitted for induction so had to be in Coombe for 8am, had all my pre-checks/sweep done by 10am and was in delivery suite having waters broken at 11am and baby was born at 17.46 - all very efficient. I had a midwife and student midwife in the room with me and the birth experience itself was the most empowering experience of my life as I was able to deliver my baby naturally with no pain relief, no epidural and no stitches at the end - I could not have wished for better and I wouldn't have wanted a consultant there the whole time, I felt like I was in good hands.

When baby was born, I was given the opportunity to shower in the delivery suite before being moved to the public ward - they weren't kicking me out of the suite asap. I was moved to a ward with 6 beds - and yes - it was kind of cramped and noisy in the nighttime, roasting hot by day and the bed is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever experienced - but in many ways, it was nice to be around other new mams and picking up some tips and tricks from them.

I had my baby on a Friday evening and we were allowed to go home on Saturday at lunchtime if we wanted but i opted to stay another night as we were establishing breastfeeding and I wanted to be able to pick a midwife's brain if necessary. On Sunday as we were literally out the door, one of the midwife's did a last minute jaundice test on baby and turns out baby needed to spend a night in the Special Care Baby Unit for phototherapy - even though i pretty much had been discharged by that point, I was given my bed back on the ward so that I could stay with my baby that night. I'm not sure how that would have worked if I was a public patient, and it was really nice to have the support of the other mammies in the ward when I got back to my bed without my baby that night. All in all, I ended up staying in 4 nights on a public ward and I truly didn't mind it. The midwives in the Coombe were all incredible - they were of course mad busy but i felt supported and minded even on a public ward - I can't even convey how much respect I have for them all.

If I was to fall pregnant again in the morning and my next pregnancy would be as straightforward as my first, I genuinely could not justify paying for private care when the public standard that I experienced was so good. I never once felt like I was treated less well than anybody else or that I would have experienced better care by having one consultant looking after me all the time. That being said, I am fit and healthy, fell pregnant easily and had a very straightforward and easy pregnancy so I would never rule out going private but my experience of the public system has been overwhelmingly positive.

Very best of luck whichever route you decide to go!