No Private Insurance - Birthing Centre

[buninoven]

Hello,
I am curently expecting baby number 2. Baby number 1 was born in London at a private birthing centre. In the UK, pregnancy and childbirth isnt covered by private health insurance, and as i have a morbid fear of London Hospitals (if you've ever been to one you'll know why...) I decided to fork out for a private birth. Now in the UK only the rich and famous can afford the level of care that private health insurance can get you in Australia (ie, your own obgyn & birth in a private hospital), I opted for midwife led care and a birthing centre with the bare essentials. Fortunately I had an easy, short, water birth and didnt require any pain relief.

As we are moving back to Oz before number 2 is born, we tried to take out private insurance, unfortunately we are only able to get the level of cover that we currently have in the UK. So its the public system again for us.

Does anyone know of any public hospitals that offer birth centre type experiences? We are planning to live in the inner west suburbs, in Sydney. Alternatively, where can i find information on the costs involved in having private, midwife led care at a birthing centre?

Thanks.

[bigglet]

Which state/city in Australia are you moving to?
ah - just saw your edit.... re city :o

Family birth centres are part of the public system here so you won't have to pay - you could ring a few of the public maternity hospitals and ask them if they have a family birth centre available - I don't know which city you are looking at so can't advise you at moment. But I have heard good things about them if you prefer a midwife run natural birth.

[buninoven]

Thanks. Do you have a choice of which Public Hospital/Birth Centre you are allocated? Here in London you get no choice. Its a case of where do you live? Right well its X hospital then....

[Jenko]

I'm pretty sure you can choose which hospital you want to go to. I know the Royal Prince Alfred in Camperdown and the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick both have birth centres. I had all my care at the RHW at it was fantastic :thumbsup: It's a great hospital and didn't cost me a cent!

[Jenko]

In the bubhub service directory you can find hospitals with birth centres in the area you require. It has all hospital contact details too.:D

[bigglet]

Thanks. Do you have a choice of which Public Hospital/Birth Centre you are allocated? Here in London you get no choice. Its a case of where do you live? Right well its X hospital then....

You can pretty much choose whichever public hospital/birth centre you want to go to - just keep in mind the distance you are prepared to travel though! :o

Also birth centres do tend to book out quickly as well and with the current baby boom I would ring and get a place as soon as you can.

[T Bear]

I think generally you can choose where you go, but some birth centres do have a restricted catchment zone. I think this is basically because they are in such high demand and have to control it somehow. Try to book in as early as possible, and check whether they have a restricted catchment area. I was not able to go to my first choice of hospital as I live outside their zone (I could have gone there through the normal labour and delivery ward but not the birth centre). I'm very happy with the hospital that I'm now booked into as it's actually much closer to home and they are introducing a continuity of care model (So you see the same midwives throughout your pregnancy and they will be the ones to attend the birth) which is what I liked about the other hospital - so all has worked out for the best.

Also, I don't know about Sydney, but there are no midwife managed birth centres in private hospitals in Adelaide, so if that's the type of care you want, then you are better off going public anyway!

[~Kimba~]

Does anyone know of any public hospitals that offer birth centre type experiences? We are planning to live in the inner west suburbs, in Sydney. Alternatively, where can i find information on the costs involved in having private, midwife led care at a birthing centre? Thanks.

Hi there, I'm having my bub at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Birth Centre, in Camperdown (inner west Sydney), I'm hoping to have a water birth if all goes well. I'm booked in as a public patient, and it's not costing me a cent. If you're going to be covered by Medicare, then you could do this also.

The care is midwife-led (by hospital midwives who work in the Birth Centre), if you were seeing your own careprovider up until moving back to Australia they would probably just take over from there. You can also choose to have your own private midwife or obstetrician, although you would pay for them privately (some health funds do cover you for this).

You do have to book in at RPAH Birth Centre very early though as they only have 3 birthing rooms and are very much in demand, so they get booked out very quickly. So my advice is to contact them ASAP if you are already pregnant and want to book in, to birth there. Their phone number is 61 2 9515 6405.

If you want any more info you can PM me!

cheers and all the best with your pregnancy...

[twins+another]

StGeorge Public Hospital also has an excellent birthing centre that is only available to public patients

[jade21887]

Royal North Shore in St Leonards also has a good birth centre. You will find most birth centres in Sydney get booked out very quickly.