Nepean Private

[myhusbandswife]

Just wondering if anyone has had their baby in Neapan Private and would like to share their experiences with me?

[TripleTime]

Havent had a baby there, but did have plastic surgery there. Nuring staff were really nice bar one, always get the odd one. Didnt have a complaint what so ever.

[Mrs Little]

Fantastic! I loved it. The only issue i had was with the a/c. The rooms were freezing at night time, apparently they have to turn it up high so the rooms down the end of the hall get cool air. Means the first few rooms are like ice cubes. But....that was almost 2 yrs ago now, so it may have changed.

Midwives are GREAT! I have some personal favourites that i always loved to see when they were on shift.

The maternity section and labour ward are great...very comfy and didn't make you feel like you were in sterilized world!

Do you have an OB that will deliver you there?

Mrs Little & Sons.

[MelissafromSyd]

I was concerned by the lack of midwifery staff on the postnatal ward. They staff the ward with a midwife and nurses. As you probably know, nurses aren't midwives any more than physiotherapists are midwives, so IMO this was substandard care.

The rooms are nice and the staff are nice. But it is a private hospital with high rates of intervention such as epidural, caesrean, induction, episiotomy etc. If you're after this type of birth experience, you'll probably like the hospital. Oh, and the food is nice too!

[Mrs Little]

Oh....i never experinced that. Thats a shame that it's changed like that. All the medical staff we saw were all midwives. Just that some weren't lactation consultants.

As for the high rates of c-sections and interventions...my understanding is that it depends on the OB and your birth plan that you make with your OB. Most obs i know that use that hospital would only induce if necessary. Being the hospital is private, the ob's would determine the type of labour procedure. My OB wasn't against c-sections but wasn't keen on them unless totally necessary. Plus, the c-section can't happen in the private hospy, you have to go over to Nepean Public hospital for the c-section.

Just so you know, my 1st pregnancy i only had gas and my 2nd pregnancy i did drug free...and they were totally fine with that and very encouraging too.

Mrs Little & Sons.

[MelissafromSyd]

Their caesar rate was 38% in the last stats, and their normal birth rate is less than 50%. You have a 1 in 3 chance of having an episiotomy there! (NSW MDC stats, 2005 ... the latest stats that are out) Considering other hospitals have a 1% episiotomy rate, and home birth midwives almost never do them, that would have me scared.


As for the high rates of c-sections and interventions...my understanding is that it depends on the OB and your birth plan that you make with your OB. Most obs i know that use that hospital would only induce if necessary. Being the hospital is private, the ob's would determine the type of labour procedure. My OB wasn't against c-sections but wasn't keen on them unless totally necessary. Plus, the c-section can't happen in the private hospy, you have to go over to Nepean Public hospital for the c-section.

It does depend on your dr and your birth plan, but on average, the stats are the stats .... and they come from the practices of the OBs who operate there, since there are no privately practising midwives in the hospital.

I'm not sure how "necessary" all the CSs are there .... they have a low-risk population and therefore the CS rate should not be over 10%. It is almost 40%, so therefore 75% the caesareans are not necessary. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just stating facts. But it's nice to hear that some women can have normal births there :)