Private Health Insurance and Pregnancy

Well as the move is only a couple of weeks away I have begun thinking about my "new" life in the UK.  My husband and I haven't "shut the door" on the possibility of another child.  We have 5 year and 2 year boys.  Some days I would have a bunch and other days I want to sell the two I have!  As it took medication to get my second son because of PCOS I was wondering what are the benefits if any of private health insurance or just plain NHS.

Thanks

Kathy

I did a bunch of research on private health insurance when we got here (june 2002) and didn't see any that covered "normal" childbirth.  That is all done with the NHS as far as I could gather. They all had different conditions for delivery exceptions though.  And who knows what classifies as normal (don't know about cesarians...). I even found some policies that just pay you £100 for every child you have.  

How could that be?  How could a a private healthcare company not cover pregnancy?  I don't get it.  Can anyone suggest any good healthcare coverage that would cover pregnancy?  I am covered under my fiance's plan but the plan to put it bluntly sucks!!  No gyno coverage or even pregancy care is covered.  Which brings me back to my health coverage in the states.  When I was working everything under the sun was covered including pregnancy.  There was no need to purchase additional health coverage which is what we have to do here.  But I am **very adamant** about having our children here.  I've only had one gyno my entire life and I am really not in to that **mid wife** stuff.  If I'm going to give birth I want my doctor and also want him for my prenantal care .  Not a midwife who **is not a certified obst.**  I don't care how much experience she has - it still does not make her an obst. I am in no way will trust the delivery of our child to be delivered by the hands of someone else other than an obst..  So we have to figure out how in the world we're gonna do this...  Obviously while I'm here I'm going to need prenantal check-ups...  The plan is to go back home to have our children - crazy?  Others may think so but I don't really care.  One of my friends told me that was insane.  I personally don't see how she can even comment on it not having any children of her own or even to know what it feels like to plan for a pregancy while living in a different country other than your own.  I know I would not feel comfortable.  And if I'm not comfortable I know my FH to be won't either. Should be interesting to say the least of how this is going to play out....But we have time **for now**.

First off, I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here, but I do want to offer the other side of the argument.  
I've had three children.  My oldest was born in the US, the other two were born here in the UK, on the NHS.  I've got to say that hands down, I perfer the treatment and care that I received here.  I know that as Americans, the term midwife conjours up thoughts of old grannies living in log cabins, but these are highly qualified professionals.  In actual fact a midwife in the UK would have much more experience delivering babies than an OB.  OB's generally only deliver babies if there are  complications, so a midwife would have delivered many more babies in her career.  You will see a doctor for some of your care, and if there are any complications you will see the consultant, but for the most part your care will be with the midwives.  This continuity of care can be very reasuring.  Another plus to the midwife/UK system is that the midwife will visit you at home for the first ten days at home.  This is so helpful to new mothers.  She can give advise, catch any problems early and make sure that YOU are healthy.  This is not common practice in the US.  
Also, in my experience, you will be cared for by a nurse through most of your labour in the US.  The OB generally only shows up to catch the baby.  I really did not like this, to tell the truth.  
Over all, it's my opinion that the care you recieve in the UK is very good.  There is more of an attitude that this is a natural process, rather than the medical condition that the US medical establishment views it as.

So is there a benefit to having private health insurance while pregnant or doesn't it matter.  My husband had made a comment after a friend in the UK gave birth and moved to another hospital after delivery that it was because she probably had private and would then not be on a ward.

We are planning on having another child once we get to the UK and have 2 boys.  Just didn't know whether we should wait for private insurance if it is provided by his job or just go head

Thanks

Kathy

Not trying to change anyones viewpoint (and from a bloke aswell!), plus everyone's experiences are different, just my point of view...

I've had various different companies provide private health cover, and I don't think any have covered 'normal' pregnancy or childbirth, and to be honest we didn't even consider alternatives. The NHS does have its problems, but for pregnancy and child care its pretty good, from pre-natal classes aimed at us blokes, scans etc, to after care support services at home.

Both our children were born in the UK, however when we lived in the US my wife (who is a paedaetric nurse) worked in 2 Maryland hospitals, we also had US friends who were first time parents. I have to say she was not impressed with the level of support given - the medical facilities available were excellent, as was the availability of Obs, but there was no after-care at all following the birth (for these friends at any rate), and that after leaving hospital after only the 2nd day following the birth. We'd prefer a midwife anytime, the OBs are on-call should a medical problem arise. In the UK 5 days is more the norm for the stay in hospital, and then an at home follow up from a midwife every day for the first 10 days. Even as a 'child care professional' my wife found this invaluable.

Just another point of view.

Kathy, I think that NHS will cover all pregnancy and childbirth expenses.  From what I understand, private insurance is mostly "extra" insurance -- for instance, if having an elective procedure on NHS, you may have to wait on a waiting list for a long time; with private insurance, you would have the procedure much sooner.  Various folks here have described having private insurance as basically being able to "go to the head of the line."  So, I don't think there is much difference between NHS (which all UK residents are entitled to, we just got our NHS cards,) and private re: pregnancy and childbirth -- once you are pregnant, the whole thing is pretty much covered under NHS.  Clear as mud?

Anecdotally, from talking with other mums, the quality of post-natal care seems much better here in the UK.  As Mindy already said, the midwife (or health visitor) will visit you after the birth for 10 days.  In MN, I got one home visit, a week after birth, to check baby's weight and my C-section healing.  That was it.  Not much support at all -- in the States the onus is on the mother to seek out additional help if needed, rather than the healthcare system offering help to the new mom (as it is in the UK.)  

I haven't had a baby in the UK, but from what I've heard from other mums at school (several pregnant or with newborns,) the care and support for pregnancy, childbirth, and post-natal seems better in the UK than in the US.

HTH,
Stephanie

I know that as Americans, the term midwife conjours up thoughts of old grannies living in log cabins, but these are highly qualified professionals.

You are so right Mindy...    But I still feel the same.  Don't know if it will change, we'll see.  My doctor is awesome and gives all the care each step of the way.  My friends and I (back in NY) both have had the same Obs. for years.  He delivered each of their children and he was there each step of the way - from pre to post.  And Greenwich Hospital in CT. is second to none hands down.  All maternity rooms are private...you get a nurse assigned to you (my aunt works there) and they treat you with "kid-gloves" especially first time moms.  I don't know a thing about giving birth but I do know I trust my friends, my aunt and their experiences.  I've also spoken to some women here and they have told me they have gone over to mainland Europe to give birth there before they would ever think of giving birth here..  I didn't even ask why so I don't know.  But I guess it's all personal experiences and options of what kind of care you want and don't want.  We won't know until we really start looking into the healthcare here vs. back home in NY when it comes to giving birth.

I'm sure the midwives here are very experienced but it still does not make them a physician and that's one thing I don't know if I can ever get over.

Although not speaking from pesonal experience, I just have an uneasy feeling whenever it comes to the NHS..  My cousin recetly gave birth in Florida and she had an excellent OB and a midwife, she couldn't have been more satisfied.
   Also, she had a condition which made it necessary to induce labour early,   :-/ if the OB had not had the experience to recognise this condition, her baby would have been stillborn.
I'm on my way back to Florida soon, and I've been waiting over a year to start a family just so I wouldn't have to count on the NHS.  

We're postponing our much desired next baby until we get there.  I personally had such an absolutely horrendous experience when my dd was born-everything up to about 5 hourse after she was born was GREAT but the nurses after were awful, they ignored me, my IV stopped working and nobody came for over an hour despite my pressing the call button every 15 minutes, blah blah, it was horrible and set me up for a nice bout alone at home.  Just baby, me, and PPD.

I can't wait to have a baby there, and have a home health visitor come to help me, and have what I hope will be a much nicer hospital experience.  My bf there was very happy with her baby's birth, and is looking forward to her second in a month or so, and had nothing but nice things to say about her treatment.

My only concern is being certain they will let me have a scheduled c-section and not try to make me do that VBAC, I have no interest in it whatsoever.  (I'm also fairly certain that because of the c-section, I'll have an OB anyway, so not concerned re midwife, but since a lot of people see them here, I wouldn't worry about seeing one anyway, as long as I could still be in a hospital to give birth.)

PS If anyone is ever in a position to have a baby in South Florida, do NOT EVER have it at Hollywood Memorial Regional!!!

Kathy:

This is not necessarily true. If you contact me directly at paulw@ibencon.com, we can discuss what is available.

ok here is our story if someone is interested.....

1 - we had BUPA but never bothered to even look into it from the pregnancy side.  When we started looking at things we considered the choice of a private hospital because we had that "archaic" image in the back of our minds when we heard the term Midwife.  But in the end we chose the midwife.

My wife regularly saw the GP and the midwife they sat down and set up all of the appointments explained everything that we would need to do.

Towards the end of the pregnancy she had high blood pressure and had to go in to a "day clinic" regularly to be monitored....all by suggestion of the GP and the widwives.

Now when it came to the birth....we had a midwife in our room the whole time...we were asking all kinds of questions....we asked about dr on call...etc..
She even went out and found the doctor and introduced us.  
It was so refreshing having a child here...it was a great experience than those of friends in the states....(here is your number go in this room and call us when you are getting closer).  We had a midwife in the room for around for over 8 hours and she only had the dr come in at the very end.
I can't say enough when it comes to the process here.

ALso the added benefit comes in the aftercare!  The midwife came to the house 5 times in 10 days to make sure we were doing fine......

WHEN have you ever seen that in the states!!!!

I live in London and have 2 children. Both of my children were born in London hospital and on the NHS. I have to say that the state of the hospitals, the equipment and the rooms gave me much cause for concern. There is fluffs of dust in every corner, 8 women to a room, very few nurses and even fewer Doctors.

When I had my first child, they literally put me in a room all alone, with the call buzzer just out of my reach and just left me with no help or medication. I was in a great deal of pain and VERY scared. I was waiting for my sister-in-law and my husband, neither of which had arrived yet. After a 1/2 hour of calling out, I began screaming at the top of my lungs for someone to help me, because I was so frightened of the pain. Because the contractions were so close together I could not even make it to the door. Finally a nurse came in and asked where 'my' nurse was. I said I didnt know. She said you have been alone all this time? to which I replied yes, she then left to find someone to help me - I doubt this would happen in USA. FINALLY my sister-in-law came to hold my hand and wipe my brow, to which I will always be eternally grateful for.

Imagine if you will the hospital in the 'Elephant Man' movie and you have got the idea of what the hospitals here are like - in London anyway. MOST of the hospital are at least 100 years old and have not been renovated since the '50s. They are filthy, under-staffed and literally falling apart. One wing of my hospital, the roof caved-in and it took 18 months for it to be repaired.

There is no money here for improvements and thanks to Gordon Brown there wont be for a long time. I think if you are concerned about aftercare, there is no question that the home visits help, but depending upon where you live and how many woman have had baby at the same time, will depend on whether your 'community health visitor' visits ever day or not.

I found that the Health Visitor was rude and totally insensitive to my depression (as my mom died 6 days before my sons birth) and did little to help me or my child.

I would take the clean albeit expensive health care system in USA than the poorly managed & under-equiped NHS ANY DAY. If you are in the USA and want aftercare, hire a private nurse to visit and be thankful that you received the best medical care in the world.

I know 7 women, all of whom are friends, that had terrible birth stories at the hands of the NHS, including my sister-in-law. She was forced to push for 12 hours (toal of 36 hours of labour), until someone finally realised that the baby's head was too big and did a emergency C-Section. She had to have 200 stitches inside & out to repair the damage.

When she spoke to a lawyer, then said not to even bother sueing as the NHS was totally broke and her chance of receiving any compensation was almost NIL. At least if something goes wrong, God forbid in USA, SOMEONE will be held responsible.

The NHS is failing. You have a greater chance of dying in the hospitals here from contracted illnesses and complications from ill preformed operations than in USA, that is just a fact. There is a massive attempt now to stop this, but too few doctors & nurses, too many people cheating the system (by receiving medical treatment when they do not pay any National Insurance to support NHS) and too many illegal immigrants coming here for operations they are not entitled to just too big of a problem to tackle at the moment anyway.

One of my British girlfriends, after she had such a nightmare birth on NHS, joined PPP and paid privately to have her baby. It went as smooth as clockwork.

:'(

After reading your post rosy-toes it makes me sooooo happy that Juliona was born in the states, in a small friendly hospital with a private delivery room and my own nurse etc.

Sorry you are hearing all this Marlespo