Is it worth going private? [Archive] - Bub Hub Pregnancy & Parenting Forum

witherwings

14-09-2010, 07:46

I have private health insurance, and I upgraded my policy about 6 months ago, and am not going to start TTC for another 4 months, so I think I'm covered if I do want to go through the private system..

But the other day I went to a gyno for an ultrasound (nothing to do with pregnancy, but he is also an ob, and apparently a well known one in Sydney - Dr Mark Beale).. I was charged $400 for a consultation + ultrasound!!!!! :eek:

Supposedly, I'll get some of that back from medicare (just under $200), but honestly, i was in there for 1/2 an hour....

So I'm wondering.. if this is what I'm up for just for a 29 minute consult + 1 minute U/S, what would I be forking out for a private OB? I'm really concerned, because I don't have tonnes of money.. I mean, we *could* afford it, but it would mean dipping into our savings, and so many people who I've spoken to have had babies through the public system and not paid a cent out of pocket. Then again, most of my friends who had babies did it at a private hospital with thier own OB.

I'm confused... I'm not sure if I'm going to be a low-risk pregnancy because I have PCOS, but I'm taking medication so i shouldnt have issues like diabetes etc.. and even if I do have issues, couldnt any midwife or doctor in a hospital take care of me? It would be nice to be looked after by the same person every time, but I don't really feel that I "need" that IYKWIM?

Your thoughts and insights are greatly appreciated :)

Purplebird

14-09-2010, 07:50

Personally I think not. Both of my babies were born in 'the public system and I was delighted with the level of care I received. I know friends of mine were thousands out of pocket going private. You need to find a good ob/hospital or a midwife care program by talking to others if you can.

EmyB

14-09-2010, 08:02

I think it just depends how much you are willing to spend for certain privileges. I believe that public is fine outcome-wise. And it IS bloody expensive to go private - several thousand dollars in the end. But personally I felt that justified. I could choose my OB, I wasn't sitting around for hours at antenatal clinic waiting to see a total stranger, I just felt I had more control over and say in how my pregnancy and delivey were handled (whether that's an illusion I don't partcularly care hahaha). And to be truthful, being a very anxious first time Mum, I reckon I would have paid that much simply for being able to have a private room at the hospital!! I can't think of anything worse than having to share a room with another new mum and baby and all their visits.

There was also quite a particular hospital with an excellent reputation that I wanted to deliver at.

Good luck!!

Ruby Sneakers

14-09-2010, 08:06

It all depends on how u feel bout both systems....

Remember if ur registered for the Medicare safety net ull only be out of pocket I think it's about $1100 before u reach the safety net and then it will cost u very little...

Yes u pay for scans, but I only have had 2 that aren't with my ob - I see my bub every ob appointment where u won't in most public settings....

U will see different drs at every appointment through the public system and u may or may not even see one during ur birth

U won't get ur own room....

BUT.....

If these things don't bother u... Go for it! Birth centers have a great wrap!! Regardless if ur low or high risk the public system will take u, because there are plenty of ladies who don't have PHI and are high risk they can't refuse u!!!

I am paying through the nose to go privately and I want to smack my ob in the head! I'm very unhappy with him but have left it far too late to change it now..... But my private hospy is wonderful and I'm a bit of a stress head so I like to have that environment to run to in a panic and also I hate hospitals so my own room and ensuite was a bit of a must for me.....

Sorry bout the novel!! HTH xoxoxxo

Flashdance

14-09-2010, 08:08

Amara

14-09-2010, 08:19

I don't think its worth it. Why pay for something you can have for free? Ok so in public you may have to share a room and you don't get to choose who delivers bub if a doc is required but mostly its midwives who deliver bubs anyway.

My son had a five night SCN stay, I had 3 nights in a two bed ward them two nights in a single bonding room. I had help with each and every bf in that time. My son was seen by several paeds, an ob and a team of 7 others were there for the birth and I walked out having paid about 20 bucks for tv.

If you want to avoid waiting times seeing midwives at the hospital you just see a privave doc or ob.

I saw an ob for my appointments and I was out of pocket just $15 per visit. His private patients were out of pocket thousands as he charged a pregnancy management fee for exactly the same service.

I had about 8 scans, private ob appointments and an amnio yet I didn't reach the safety net at all. I could even have had a bulk billing ob had I investigated things a little better.

I don't think pcos will make you high risk. I was 42 and overweight and was low risk.

Amara

14-09-2010, 08:25

Don't be fooled by the you wont get a private room line. You may or may not. At my hospital c section mums got their own room as did sick mums. At another hospital in my network all women get their own room and you can even water birth there.

smog

14-09-2010, 09:11

i think it depends on where u live.

lots of women on here have had great care in both the public or the private
and on the flip side lots have had horror stories from botht the public and private

i think the only way to know for yourself is to research your personal public and private hospy choices

for me where i live the public system is terrible. its not just about not sharing a room as i couldnt care less about that. the public hospy ive previously delivered at is absoluelty negligent. its not just about 1 bad ecxp there is hundreds of bad exp from everyone locally who has gone there. so for me im going private.

so far for me its actually cheaper per visit/scan being private???

im not sure but i think for being in sydney there prob are a lot of good public choices available to you.

Annabella

14-09-2010, 09:39

I have phi and always go public, partly coz it's cheaper but mostly because I'm much more likely to get the birth I want (natural vaginal).

mimsie

14-09-2010, 11:07

It does depend for the OB thing where you live. I was public but there were a grand total of 2 OBs in my town as well as two obstetrics residents. I mostly saw the residents but the Obs both consulted on my case each time, so I knew them - it was always going to be one or the other so it wasn't a big deal for me on that side of things. I would have had to deliver at the public hospital regardless and provided there weren't any other mums in the rooms private could only offer me one of two single rooms - however I was on my own all week when DS was born in a double room, and only shared a room for a day with DD before I went home, again in a double. If private you could transfer via ambulance to the private hospital post-birth.

It'll be different this time around as I'm in a much bigger place with a bigger hospital, so it's different depending on the size of where you live.

mumma sienna

14-09-2010, 11:12

i think the whole safety net has changed for pregnancy. you know longer get as much back as you used to, started January this year! I think you only get a few hundred back now.

JetGirl

14-09-2010, 11:19

Agree with Emyn. I'm a total stress head and would not have coped well not having a private room.

Ruby Sneakers

14-09-2010, 11:58

i think the whole safety net has changed for pregnancy. you know longer get as much back as you used to, started January this year! I think you only get a few hundred back now.
I'm currently 34 weeks with my first - I had to pay $1100 out of pocket expenses (my PMF was $1800 and only got $400 back but I basically went straight over the net)
My ob charges me $70 per appointment (I get a free scan at every appointment) and I now get $63.40 back from Medicare - so out of pocket now $6.60 to go privately.... I have no additional costs at the hospital except the paed which apparently is just a one off fee of about $120 and he will come as much as required for that fee...

I'm not against the public system at all - I'd have loved to use the birth centre up here but I had pre existing conditions and on two drs advice I went privately but am not overly fond of my ob....

As far as I'm aware u can make appointments to meet obs etc before selecting a care provider and if ur not happy go publicly (could be wrong here ladies)

As for private rooms in the public hospital -'i'm sure many ladies get them but if that's a priority to u, I think ur running a risk as u may not get one... Just saying

mini-moo's mummy

14-09-2010, 12:53

for me being a first time mum continuity of care was a big must.....

as it turns out we have issues and are high risk and ive herd of stories of people who like me have delivered at 22-23 weeks publicly and there has been no investigation, where as my OB was straight on top of things and found out why....
the people i have herd about have lost 2-3 babies each becasue there was no investigation, and if we didnt see my OB im pretty sure we would be in the same boat.....

anyways.....

so i like seeing the same person the whole way, i like knowing i have my OB's mobile number and can call at anytime i feel the need, and i have and he doesnt mind.

our private hospital gurantees a private room with ensuite and for me thats a big issue im not into sharing bathrooms :o

the private hospy is also only 5 mins away, where as the closest public is 15 mins on a good run, ie at 4am.....

we see a specialist ultrasound tech is is also a OB so i get the full story there and then when i have my scans, yeah i pay for them but they are very thorough and i get a DVD, min 6 photos and a good hr appt everytime.

im over the safety net so im getting a lot more back from medicare now but in all honesty the money doesnt come into it( and we arnt loaded) when i know this is the best care for me and my baby......

mumma sienna

14-09-2010, 13:29

Pinupsez- that's great that you get so much back! it's been almost 4 yrs since i had DD at a private hospital, but many friends have had children more recently and they said it had all changed....OP i guess it would be worth calling a couple of OB's and getting costs and then asking medicare aswell (if cost is an issue)!

i really loved having a private room with ensuite, also DF could stay in the room overnight. it all depends on why you are considering private over public!

witherwings

14-09-2010, 14:04

Hey ladies - wow so much information~ thank you!! :hugs:

I guess my husband and I would first need to visit some hospitals once we are starting TTC (or should we be doing that once we are already pregnant?).. and see what they're like... then do some research into different obs and their fees?

We live in the north shore, and my office is a few minutes away from the RNSH. I guess the closest hospitals to us would be RNSH and NSPH.. and Hornsby Hospital, but that isnt really *that* close, but I've been told they have an amazing new maternity ward.. then there's the San in Wahroonga.. does anyone have any experiences with any of these? I get the feeling that there are more private than public hospitals in the north shore, and the RNSH for example, has had some horrible reviews on bubhub... so hmm... I don't know.

I'm not too concerned about a private room, but it would be nice to have my husband with me if I have to stay overnight, and I do see the value with continuity of care, particularly for a first time mum. I dunnoo... I guess we'll take one step at a time and just weigh up the costs and benefits. I personally dont like doctors as it is, particularly male doctors, and most obs are male unfortunately..

Purplebird

14-09-2010, 14:09

If you're worried about seeing the same person you could always have your GP do your appointments. Mine did shared care - so she did all my appointments and delivered bubs too. All for free :)

smog

14-09-2010, 14:22

im not familar with any of those hospys and have only ever heard feedback about hornsby and its all been good:)

im pregnant now though not in syd (central coast) and im going private. my fees are as such
first visit 140 including scan got about 90 back

all other visists 50 per ob visit and as ive hit the medicare threshold i get 47.50 back:D (did shared care last time and my gp charges 60 per visit no scan and i only get 30 back and he was nowhwere near as informed on all things prenatal as the ob seems to be)

scans with my ob 3 so far and not been charged for any but in his fees i think he states them at $30 each.

other scans nuchal/morph go to my obs partner ,private ob for 3d/ 4d scans and nuchal was 200 i got 100 back from medicare

preg planning management fee is 2200 of which ill get 400 - 500 back apparently

no fees for birth due to no gap scheme ob and anathetist.
this depends on which fund u are in if u have an excess and if your drs of choice participate in no gap schemes.

think it was a small fee for paed if required cant rmember how much and get some of it back. mightve been 100 or something like that.

so for me the scans and appts have been cheaper for me than going public. again this depends on where u live. some places u will pay nothing at all for any of that to go public.

the main out of pocket expense is the preg planning management fee.

for me in the public system i get a new *student* at every single appt none of them have a clue what they are doing or what my history is . they chop and change my treatment from week to week . and miss important routine stuff:rolleyes:
in birth going public ive experienced again many students even my anathetist who took over an hour to get a spinal in:eek: scary. many out right rude nasty midwives, and complete medical negligence from the ob.upon investigating other peoples exp from same hospital ive sadly found im one of many.
oh and shared a room and bathroom with 3 other women but that didnt really bother me.

so for me being out of pocket that preg planning fee is well worth it to know im getting an ob who knows what he is doing, knows my history and sees me at every visit so that my prenatal care isnt stuffed about.

it would appear on bubhub that a lot of the public hospys are a lot better than mine though.

ive heard great feedback about rpa, not sure if thats an option for you? im not too familiar with suburbs of syd

TrulyBlessed

14-09-2010, 14:40

The other option is going with a hospital cover that has maternity as a restricted service. That means you can be a private patient at a public hospital so you can choose which dr you want to see out of the public Obs. Have a private room if they're available.

Its what I did this pregnancy & wouldn't change the way I went. Got fab dr in Bundy & in Brissy also.

Areca

14-09-2010, 14:54

In November there is a new legislation coming out that every pregnant woman is entitled to continuinity of care which means that if you ask you should see the same midwife every visit (this is fantastic in theory...I'm not sure how the hospitals will manage it in practice).

There is a wonderful book out by a woman called Susan Ross (midwife turned doula) called Birth Right and it gives you detailed description of what kind of care you can expect from the different health services.

For me personally, private care was not what I wanted at all. I birthed in a birth centre, saw the same midwives every time and then had them at the birth. Just keep in mind that if you go private you will not know your midwives (the OB will be called for the last leg of your labour, it will be the midwives supporting you) and you may not be guaranteed your own room anyway. I know the private hospital here has a couple of rooms with two beds in them. My public experience was first baby in a room with four beds but only one woman occupying it, second birth a private room, third birth I left the hospital from the delivery suite.

OurTime

14-09-2010, 14:58

My Ob bulk bills each visit.

The 'only' thing I need to pay him out of pocket is the $2k fee. (still a lot of money, but at least I know what I am up for)

Roopee

14-09-2010, 15:00

All four of mine have been born in the private system- if by some miracle we were to have anymore they would be born the public birth centre and I'd be home a couple of hours later.
For me it isn't worth it but for someone else it will be.

Autumnbaby

14-09-2010, 16:20

Witherwings: I was about to reply to you before reading your most recent post..to let you know i had the most HORRIFIC public hospital experience and that it all depends on where you live and the reputation of the hospital. Then i noticed you live near North Shore and that is the hospital where i delivered.

Admittedly this was 11 years ago, and i dont know if much or anything has changed, but i can tell you that if i'd had the energy and wisdom, at the time, i would have had grounds to sue the hospital on so many counts. It was an absolutely disgraceful 3rd world experience. The only positive was the nicu pediatric care..the maternity side of it was shameful.

I have since experienced the private system and will never look back because of my horrendous experience at the RNSH.

3LilMonkies

14-09-2010, 17:03

I've gone both private and public. Paid through the nose to go private and paid nothing to go public... which service did I prefer? Public all the way! I'd never ever go private again! :no:

In saying that though you have to pick your public hospital. Mine is absolutely amazing! I'd never go to another, but I also know of a few quite dodgy ones. So it all depends on the reputation of the hospital as well... but if you can get a good public one I wouldn't pay a cent for private personally!

EmyB

15-09-2010, 00:25

squidly

15-09-2010, 10:43

Just another thing that swayed me. I have worked in public delivery suites and am well aware that junior doctors only a few weeks out of med school have been left on their own to sew women's torn perineums, without any real idea what they were doing. And this was at the most reputable tertiary maternity hospital around. And students often scrub in on public caesareans also.

If anyone was coming near my lady bits I wanted to make sure they were of consultant level. Med students and interns are not allowed near private patients.

It's obviously a very personal choice but just letting u know the issues that decided it for me.

Holy crap that is scary!

I went private with my first and I am going private with my second, I had an amazing experience with my first and I have the same Ob for my second and it is great to have the same person delivering both babies and have them know your history etc. I don't think I could stand not being able to choose my doctor or not even having one at the delivery in come cases!! Scary stuff.. but whatever floats your boat. Honestly for the little extra money your are out of pocket well worth not having to wait around for appts and getting to pick your own doctor!!!!

:thumbsup:

~Candy~

15-09-2010, 10:50

I've had both and I am happy public :)

lulu 2

15-09-2010, 10:52

It depends on which private hospital you go to as to how much you pay for private services. Some have shared care midwives and obs and you see a gp/ob at around $70 a visit and $30 back from medicare,who delivers your bub and that can be thru a public or private hospital of your choice that your doctor has the rights to deliver at.I only saw my ob about 5 times with my 3rd peg so it was pretty cheap. Other private hospitals have an ob who delivers there but practice from their own private clinics and they generally charge around $ 3500 then there is the separate hospital fees which normally have to be paid for up front then you can claim back from your health fund and Medicare.
I prefer private gp/ob shared care thru a private hospital as I liked being able to ring my ob anytime or go into the ward and see the midwives if I had any worries and seeing I am paying for it anyway I might as well get the most out of phi. I also prefer dh being able to stay with me the whole time which made my mind up too.

jalibali

15-09-2010, 20:20

I have had both my babies at the San and I am having number 3 in Feb there as well. I love the San, my Ob is fantastic, she is calm, funny and I feel completely at ease with her. For me I pay to go private because:

1. The local public hospital is Hornsby, I know the maternity ward isn't as bad as the rest of the hospital, but seriously the only way I would go there was if I was unconscious, in an ambulance and didn't realise I was going there.
2. Excellent care from my Ob and midwives, I am having a 3rd elective c section and my ob is an excellent surgeon.
3. Facilities are fantastic, all private rooms all with ensuites, plasma TV's, fridges. Food is pretty good too, you order from a menu and then they bring you what you want
4. Lactation consultants and paediatricians are awesome, lactation consultant came and visited me a couple of times a day for the first few days which was really helpful

Izy

15-09-2010, 21:47

Annabella

15-09-2010, 22:23

Just so you know you can be on any cover and do this (providing it has some obstetrics cover)

And I believe it means the health fund pays for your stay rather than public funding does it?

Izy

16-09-2010, 01:47

yep, when the fund pays the hospital gets more money than it would get from medicare too

witherwings

16-09-2010, 07:38

I have so much to think about now. Thank you so much for your replies.

I have worked in public delivery suites and am well aware that junior doctors only a few weeks out of med school have been left on their own to sew women's torn perineums, without any real idea what they were doing. And this was at the most reputable tertiary maternity hospital around. And students often scrub in on public caesareans also.

To be honest, this is probably the strongest argument for me to go private, and I never even thought of this before - but when I was born, my mother was stitched up "down there" afterwards by a trainee/med student and he totally F'D it up.. she had horrible pain and disconfort for weeks afterwards and ended up having to go back and get re-done!!! She never got over the psychological trauma.

One of my friends had both her babies at the San and she said it was great. She had an epidural for both and couldnt speak highly enough of her experience.

I guess the real question is though, how much would I be out of pocket? Particularly now that the government has changed all the rebates? I dont know how that all works.. I still dont understand the medicare safety net. :confused:

The only experience I have with medicare is the odd occassion where a doctor didnt bulk bill, so I had to go into a medicare centre office with my receipt to get my refund.

witherwings

16-09-2010, 07:51

By the way, I have the following policy:

Medibank Private
Intermediate Hospital Level 2
Smart Choice Extras

Is this sufficient?

smog

16-09-2010, 07:56

depends on what your ob charges and what your health fund covers

so your chosen ob will charge an amount per visit-amount is decided by him- then u will get some back from medicare.

main cost is your ob will charge a planning preg management fee -again amount set by him- of which u get back about 400 i think reguardless of the amount u paid. basically ive hear this fee varies from 1000 to crazy amounts like 10 000:eek:. mine charges 2200.

then for the birth if u have an excess u will pay that for admission. im on top level care with no excess per admission so i dont pay anything here.

then some drs and some healthfunds participate in a no gap scheme, which means u are not out of pocket. the health care fund agrees to pay what the dr or anathetist charge. not all funds and drs do this so sometimes the amount they charge may be higher than the amount that is covered. u need to check this with both your health care fund and your drs of choice remembering to check what the anathetist charges also

then i think u pay a small amount like 100 or something for the paediatricians visit. not sure what happens if he keeps visitting to do u pay everytime or just once?

the medicare threshold being mentioned is a scheme by medicare where once you have been out of pocket i think 1000 for the calnedar year for medical expenses then they give a greater amount back. so every ob visit when u get some back from medicare, the amount u dont get back counts towards your out of pocket. once that hits the amount which i think is 1000 then u get a higher amount back on medical expenses - except for the preg planning management fee as this is not counted towards the out of pocket expenses and the amount u receive back for this is set at around 400. so basically ive hit my medicare threshold this yr. my ob charges 50 per visit and now i get back 47.50:D where i used to get back 33.

its a difficult thing to understand i found cause the figure and costs will be different for everyone depending on your dr charges, your level of cover, and when u hit the medicare threshold. i expect to be out of pocket for this preg going private about 2k all up plus my ongoing private health care premiums .

Boobycino

16-09-2010, 08:09

I was induced for 45 Hours in a public, 8 change overs of staff I'd never met before, 45 hours into it a nurse realized Jasper was breech and he was born by csection.

A middie from the process came to apologize to me she told me everyone was taking the word of the person before them as to his head position. So 8 people did an abdominal palpation and internal examination on me just for fun. :rolleyes:

HOWEVER I'm still going back to the next hospital most likely - despite having private health insurance we chose not to bump it up to cover maternity because on the mybirth.com.au website the two private hospitals around here have dismally low vbac rates and quite high csection rates, so I don't want to go and pay all that money for an ob to tell me a csection is necessary - when it may not be.

I'm going public, but this time' around I'm going to organize a private midwife to attend with me, as well as hopefully a student middie, and my mum and dp.

Izy

16-09-2010, 09:11

Medicare Safety Net in a nutshell....

Every service that can be claimed with medicare has an item number, and medicare pays a set amount based on that item number.

Because Dr's often choose to charge more, people that were chronically ill were finding medical treatment more difficult to access, so in comes the medicare safety net.

It's there so that if you only go to the dr's occasionally they don't need to get involved, but once your medical out of pockets (the amount the dr's charge more than the medicare paid amount) go over a threshold*1* medicare will pay an additional 50% of the out of pocket cost. Previously there was no ceiling to how many dollars that 50% value could go on any item number, but now they added some ceilings on specific items (mostly obstetric) so as to help prevent Dr's from over-inflating charges on the basis that medicare will pay more.
To give you an example, imagine you have already reached the safety net and...
- Item no ABC has a scheduled rebate of $100
- Your dr charges $500
- This item no does not have a medicare ceiling

Your claim with medicare would pay $100 under the schedule, and 50% of the remaining $400 (so an extra $200)
eg your claim with medicare would pay $300 after the safetynet

I'm hoping that makes sense for you.

SB also mentioned the medical tax offset. This is an additional method to get money back when you have high out of pockets. This one is claimed through your tax return and works by paying a straight 20% of your remaining out of pocket costs after $1500.

This one covers more though as it includes private hospital excess, Dental, some allied services etc etc.

*1*(ask your medicare office for your threshold as this will vary depending on what family assistance you have, but for the general population it's around the $1500 mark- but is indexed so changes yearly)

witherwings

16-09-2010, 09:14

Well, I've decided I'm going to go private after having a chat to my family, and considering everything you lovely ladies have mentioned above. Now to find an Ob who isnt going to charge $300 per visit and a $9000 management fee....

I'm certain that I'll go with North Shore Private, mainly because of the convenience (it is literally down the road from me) and also because they have top facilities (it would seem). Can anyone recommend a good Ob there, that wouldnt leave me hugely out of pocket? We could handle about $2.5k o.o.p

Thanks again for all your help :hugs:

jalibali

16-09-2010, 14:42

I would say you would have issues finding an Ob where your out of pocket is under $2500 on the North Shore. My Ob's management fee is $3000 alone. I will get about $500 back from medicare for that. Then there is the visits - $80 per visit and at least two ultrasounds at $400 a visit.

I will also need to pay about $400 for the assistant for my caesar and $300 for the anesthetist. Oh and $200 for the paediatrician. My health fund will cover the $8000 hospital estimate. We have Top Hospital, Top Extras with our health fund.

I expect to be at least $4000 out of pocket by the time I have had the baby.

witherwings

17-09-2010, 09:59

Kayan

17-09-2010, 11:45

Hi Witherwings,

I was reading this thread and I thought I would add a few things.

Call the hospital you want to go to and they should be able to give you a list of obs. for you to call (the ones that are allowed to practice at that particular hospital). You can then ring each of them up and then the receptionists can go through the fees with you. It is good that you are researching all of this now, because if the North Shore is anything like Canberra, the good ones probably book out by the 5 week mark - ie DTD and book your obs. the next day. I would google the obs. that you short list to see what other Mums think of them, or ask on here. Just like GPs, there are good obs. and bad obs.

I am going through my 2nd pregnancy. With my first I was booked to labour at a public birthing centre. Well when I found out I had GD, the MW didn't want to touch me any more as they only have low-risk cases, so I would have to birth in the ward upstairs. I met a few of the obs. and I must admit a few students at a few appointments - they were pushing for a c-section and worried bubs would get too big. I didn't like this so I went private. I managed to only get a not so good obs. as I was 27 weeks. He was able to track the size with ultrasounds at each visit, and one concern was the head size and whether it would fit through my pelvis. So I has a special scan and all was fine. I was induced a few days prior to the due date maily because I had had enough of being preggers and I wanted to make sure bubs was not too big. DD was born naturally with no drugs after a 10 hour labour. Yes, I tore and needed stitches, but the obs. did that whilst he was there.

I had my own room - after you give birth there are some things you do not want to share with another patient (sorry for TMI) eg changing pads every 5 minutes because you are having what is like the biggest period you have ever had. Trust me - it was the worst. Having nurses come in to check your stitches. Breastfeeding at 3 in the morning and then trying to settle a crying baby that will not settle.

The private system looks after your baby better eg they take your baby for blood tests and hearing test, whereas through the public system, you will probably have to carry your baby to the ward and then wait. Also, because you can choose to stay longer than public, they can monitor bubs for jaundice and other problems and you get more bf support - especially when your milk comes in.

My SIL went public last year, and lets just say that she could have avoided 48 hrs of labour if an obs. had checked her as there was no way that baby was going to come out naturally. In the end an emergency c-section was needed. She found the birth so traumatic and draining. If only she received proper care from the start, she could have gone in for a calmer c-section and avoided 2 days of hell!

So now that I am pregnant again, I am going private again, same hospy, different obs. that I researched. I think I will be at least $3k out of pocket, but I would not have this baby any other way.

I wish you all the best with whatever you decide.

Kayan

CazHazKidz

17-09-2010, 12:16

I haven't read all the replies so just answering the OP

I went private for my first, and I will be going public next time. It cost too much and I don't feel there was any extra benefit in being a private patient.

GypsyFortuneTeller

17-09-2010, 12:26

Kayan - I'm not sure where you got the notion that the private system looks after your baby better (re blood tests & hearing, etc). I was in a public birthing centre & the midwives took care of all the tests, with a fantastic level of care. I didn't take bubs to a ward or wait or anything for tests??? They did everything in my room. I also had a private room. I found public to be fantastic.

Toniand2

17-09-2010, 12:43

I had a horrible public system birth experience with my son in the UK, (so can't really compare to Aus). My daughter I went private. We were out of pocket about $60 per visit and maybe $100 for about 3 or 4 appointments when he charged me for the U/S. He did charge a fee at 20 weeks which was $1,750. I had DD in a small city so I'd imagine Sydney would cost a whole lot more! Our OB had a no gap (no out of pocket $$) service in hospital, so we only had to pay our excess and the anaesthetist fee.

You could always call the OB's office and see what the monthly appt costs are and then what their 20 week fee is, that might help you make your decision?!

Kayan

17-09-2010, 12:43

Excuse me??? I am talking from what I have not only been told by friends, but have first-hand witnessed as well. And I am only talking the maternity ward at one hospital in Canberra, I do not know about birthing centres. I have heard a hospital in Sydney does a similar thing as well.

jalibali

17-09-2010, 14:34

I guess we could stretch ourselves, particularly given we would get the baby bonus as well..

From what I've read above as to the costs, we'd be looking at around $50-$100 out of pocket per Ob appointment x 6 appointments??
= $300-600 out of pocket

Plus the preg mgmt fee of around $2000-2500 out of pocket

Plus ultrasounds (x 3 max) = $300 out of pocket?

Plus anesthetist $300

= 3700 out of pocket at the top end... is this reasonable to expect to pay?

My husband and I have heard stories of people being over $10k out of pocket... this is just exorbitant for a baby.

Sounds about right except for the Ob visits. I see my Ob monthly from 10wks, fortnightly from 26wks and then weekly from 34wks. So roughly 15visits.

Ultrasounds, my last one a few wks ago - was $390 and I got $40 back. If you have any kind of problems with bubs you'll need more ultrasounds.

trishalishous

17-09-2010, 16:08

DTD and book your obs. the next day and book them into school these days!

CookiesRYum

17-09-2010, 16:33

haven't read all the replies and don't have kids.. just thought I would pop in and share my sisters POV..

she is a midwife and has worked in public and private all over the world - she surprised me the other week when she said she would never, ever, ever in a million yrs go private...

she believes the costs are ridiculous and quality of care is lower. She believes that although the public system is strained, it actually has access to much better resources and services.

she is currently working at one of the majors in melbourne and has patients coming through both public and private; both get the exact same treatment except for the obs coming in to catch the bub.

monnie24

17-09-2010, 21:44

Hello,

I want to go private, I will because you can have your baby private but in public. If you have private you can still use public it doesn't matter. You get your rebates so it doesnt cost that much anyway, all obs charge different amounts.

Private you choose who you want- its more personalised YOUR decisions etc.If you don't like who you have, you can change. It's very difficult in public you need them to have done something. If you have any major complications you will more than likely get sent to a big public hospital anyway.

Hope this helps.

lemonpancakes

17-09-2010, 22:02

I'm 28 weeks pregnant with my 1st baby, and am a private patient. It's been such an easy pregnancy so far, I literally just see my OB every 4-6 weeks for 10 mins...he checks my blood pressure, listens to baby's heartbeat etc. All the usual things. So far I don't see any benefit of being a private patient.

And I've heard that during labor your OB just comes in at the end, and that the hospital midwives do most of the work.

But I am glad I'll be guaranteed a private room. Still, being out of pocket $3,000 for these things is a lot. We can afford it and I do like my OB, but if we're struggling with money next time I'll use the public system for sure.

4babycinos

17-09-2010, 23:29

I have been private with all 3 and was public up until recently.

The differences I found, was that with public its free but you dont get as many appointment as you do private and you dont get a choice on how long you stay in hospital - standard vaginal birth 24-48hrs. If I was having a vaginal birth I would have continued on with public. I would not see the point of being out of pocket by $2-$3k to walk out of the hospital the following day.

With an OB you will be out of pocket, you will get more check ups, your choice of hospital (depending on what hospitals your OB works out of) and how long you stay in - standard vaginal birth 3-4 days.

It really is personal preference and what your willing to spend.

katieinwa

18-09-2010, 02:34

personally, find out what kind of birth you want and then pay for it if its not covered publicly. people talk about the expense of going private

well i would never go private because i know they have such high intervention rates, c/s rates, and so many out of pocket expenses etc etc

i don't want to go public ever again because, while i did get my own room, never waited more than 20 minutes for an antenatal attendance and had a couple of post natal visits from home, the birth wasn't what i wanted and not the safest option for me and my baby.

being stuck with a label of high risk well i choose neither now and will always go for home.

so when deciding on DS's birth i decided the safest option for me and him was to birth at home. it wasn't cheap, 5k all up and no rebates from medicare for me :rolleyes:

witherwings

18-09-2010, 14:39

Hi again ladies, thank you again for all your input. I think this is a really good thread for anyone who is trying to make the decision, and there are many good points/reasons for both options.. I didn't intend for this thread to be a public vs private debate though, more of an information gathering. And it really has been super helpful. I literally was convinced that I would go public, and now am decided on private.. Now I just have to convince my husband ;) but I will definitely refer him to this thread.

It seems like a large expense, but an expense that I will only be incurring a few times throughout my life (if all goes to plan) ;) As for the type of birth that I want, I am open to whatever is necessary, but I definitely want pain relief. I've read about the 'cascade of intervention' and while it does sounds very frightening, I am more scared of being in endless hours of extreme labour pains. I don't want a c/s because ideally, I would like to be able to get right back into my exercise routine after the bubs is born.. I know it seems like a silly reason, but getting back into shape and maintaining my fitness is really important to me.. I would only have a C/S if it was an emergency.

I know that private hospitals have a high c/s rate but i think this is largely because a lot of women who go private elect to have a c/s and its all planned in advance.

Kayan, thank you very much for the tips and sharing your experience. I'll definitely take your advice on calling the hospital and asking for Obs contact details and then asking their receptionists for the fees. The fees are going to be a major deciding factor for me. And I'm pretty certain that I would be going to North shore private, for the convenience. I'll be sure to take a tour of their maternity ward early next year ;)

Cheers everyone!

Izy

18-09-2010, 15:17

If you don't want a c/s and are concerned about intervention perhaps find a student midwife to act as your advocate (but a 'friend' as far as the hospital are concerned) while in hospital.

The opportunity to follow you through pregnancy will help them in their learning, and a cool, analytical and knowledgeable person in your corner will certainly put you more at ease

katieinwa

18-09-2010, 16:14

witherings, the potential is that if people keep their hands off and let your body labour normally, you probably won't be in labour for endless hours :)

private hospitals have a high c/s rate for many reasons, sure alot of women book in with the intention of having an elective, but you have to look at why they are doing so, its all a bit of a vicious cycle really. i have had women come up to me and tell me the reasons given and my mind just goes what the.... (baby too big, baby too small, baby too high, baby too low, mum is too big, mum is too small) and you know what, they always say "i prefer to have a vaginal birth but this is what the dr told me so yeah i might have to have a caesarean)

but yanno we can tell you how it is but until you actually go through it and come out the other side it's not going to really sink in.

gl i hope you have a boring normal birth, truly! :)