private room and NHS hospitals

I know that in some hospitals you can get a private room if you are willing to pay for it. I was just wondering if any of you had experience with it and if it is hard to get one.  I know they can't promise you one.  Is it worth it to get one for example if you are having a baby or are they just going to forget you are there?
Thank You

This is truly dependent upon location, so if you live in a large city like London, where there are many hospitals, ask around. 

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, for example, does not offer this as an option, and it is the only place in Edinburgh that offers maternity services.  So no choice there.   

The hospital where I gave birth offered this option within the maternity ward, it was £60 per night. I didn't get the chance to find out what the rooms were like as I managed to give birth on a very busy day so was lucky to get even an NHS bed! I imagine you would get a better night's sleep than in a room with 3 other mothers and babies however and I would try for one on another occasion.  I am not sure if the private room included a private bathroom but if it did, it would be worth every penny, I hate sharing bathrooms with strangers. 

Yes it's dependant on space available really as if you're unlucky you would have to wait till one became avail ...at the hospital I work if we have a patient that wants private there might be a wait which means you might have to share in a bay until one is avail..unfortunately people have the mindset that the hospital is like a hotel..reservations don't mean the same.

Some mums have said they've like sharing a bay as they get to chat with other mums so they have someone to chat with ...and even some were still friends after they were discharged ( I met two in a post natal class that met this way)


Personally I didn't like sharing a bay because one of the mum's had a mobile phone that she kept yacking till late in the night so I think it's the luck of the draw.

Personally I didn't like sharing a bay because one of the mum's had a mobile phone that she kept yacking till late in the night so I think it's the luck of the draw.

Yes there was one of those in my bay too even though the nurse told her mobile phones were not allowed!

i know when i had my son (june 2004) in an nhs hospital, we had the option for a private room which was £60 or £70 for the night. but by the time i delivered, the room was gone (because they couldnt reserve it so many hours in advance or something like that!) , so the midwives gave me just a regular private (non-cost room) which had a private bathroom, like the pay-per-night room!:)

I just posted about this in the pregnancy area (didn't see this thread at the time). I have had two children under the NHS system; my first post-natal experience was on the public ward and it really was tough. I would not want to do it again, and was planning on getting out of the hospital as quickly as I could if I ended up on the open ward with my second child, who was born last week. Luckily, we were able to get a private room, and, man, what a difference! Soooo relaxing and calm and round the clock attention if you need it and just no pressure at all. If you can get a private room at your hospital, you will not regret doing so. Start saving now if it is a bit dear. We were charged £90/night which when you think about it is the cost of a mid-price hotel. It was worth every penny (pence?), and we had put aside some money for it ahead of time.

The room itself did not have its own bathroom but the ward had more than enough bathrooms for everyone -- I think it worked out to two toilet rooms and one bath for every three rooms? At any rate with all rooms filled there was never a problem with access and everything was quite clean and private. You only had to walk across the hallway to get to the toilet or bath.

When we were admitted my husband started asking about the private room, and when we were delivered he again asked and that is how we were able to get the room. I am not sure how busy it was.

I'm gunning to be discharged right from the delivery room this time round - b/c we just don't have the option of booking a private room.

I got one for part of my stay last time - b/c I had a massive infection and fever. 

But they aren't bookable - there are only a few, and they are kept open for mothers who are HIV or HepC+ or who have complications like infections and/or viruses.  Needless to say, they're always full and if I hadn't gotten the one on the maternity ward they would have moved me to the gynecology unit, baby and all.