Private Hospital it is

We finally decided yesterday that we will be going private for maternity. I had no idea how much of a dilemma it is to choose where to give birth. 

When we first found out we were pregnant, I automatically called in Royal North Shore to register for maternity. Main reason being financial as with public care its free. But now after visiting both private and public hospitals I understand why those who can afford to go private chooses to go private.

One of the main reason why we are choosing to go Private is because we have private health insurance. We have been paying for the cover for close to 12 months now as we need to be on a 12 months waiting period before we can claim any obstetric benefits. The other benefit is that bubba will also be covered after birth. Our health fund have a buffer in which the baby is covered, provided that we upgrade to family cover within the specified period.

I also like the idea of having my own private obstertrician.

So heres the benefits of going private

• You get your own private room
• The accommodation is way nicer than public care
• The food is also nice than public care
• We get to choose our own obstertrician
• Check ups and management are held in the obstertrician's private consulting rooms and not in the public hospital waiting room
• While our obstertrician doesn't stay with us during labour, the obstertrician will be there at birth and will visit us in the hospital afterwards. 
• We get to stay 5-6 days in the hospital
• There is a nursery in the hospital where they will look after our babies if we want to rest
• We get our own ensuite/toilet bathing facilities. 

 And here are the cons for private hospitals

• They have the highest rate of intervention over all birth options, particularly caesarean sections.
• Obstertricians usually dont see you much during labour. Its the midwives who monitor you in labour and they will likely be unkown to you. There will likely be 2-3 shift changes during the labour and while we may think that we will receive continuity of care with an obstertrician, they aren't around much at the birth at all. 
• We will have additional out-of-pocket costs with most obstertricians which vary from a few hundred to several thousands.