Something I never knew about pregnancy before I experienced it was how much of a minefield of worry it can be.
Women seem to approach it in one of two ways – some stay in denial about everything that ‘could or should’ happen, while others verge on paranoia and madly Google every symptom and stage of development.
Of course, the type of care a woman receives throughout her pregnancy can be a major factor in what type of experience she has.
Some women don’t have choices about where they give birth, while others do. In Australia in 2009, 34 per cent of women giving birth elected to go private, while the remaining women were public patients who received a combination of midwifery and medical care in public hospitals (with around four per cent of these privately insured).
I was very much in the ‘paranoid’ category with my first pregnancy.
I had an anterior placenta and a huge baby who didn’t like to move much – which meant plenty of extra trips to the hospital and lots of sleepless nights. My husband and I went with the public system simply because we hadn’t organised private health insurance in advance. There were times during pregnancy that we wished we had a private obstetrician with us.
The birth itself was eventful. I’ll spare you the details, but when it was all over and my husband was sent home, all I wanted was him back by my side throughout that scary first night, comforting me and helping with the newborn that I had no idea what to do with.
But that’s where my longing for a private system experience ended.
On reflection post partum, I couldn’t fault the care I’d received. I found myself chatting with other new mums who had similar experiences and ‘interventions’ while giving birth, all of whom had the same result (a happy, healthy baby and mum) but had paid upwards of $8,000 for the pleasure. Several who had gone private didn’t see much extra value in it – their level of care, at the final hurrah, was no different to mine.
As for whether it is ‘safer’ to give birth in a private hospital, there’s no firm verdict given women who use private hospitals are generally less likely to have complications with their pregnancy or birth. Public hospitals care for women from all walks of life, some who have range of medical and social issues and are more likely to have complications.
However, there is evidence that having the same midwife from early pregnancy through labour and birth has significant health benefits (a fact which many hospitals have responded to by introducing models of care where women are more likely to see the same midwife or small team of midwives throughout their care).
The other option is to employ your own private midwife, or, of course, a private obstetrician. First-time mums in particular say they are more satisfied and less worried during pregnancy because they have a private obstetrician and a level of continuity.
Now, I’m 32 weeks pregnant with our second baby and we’ve gone public again – despite having private health insurance – simply because of the high standard of care we received last time. I know another privately-insured woman who did the same, telling me that she got her own room, great food and a doctor or anaesthetist right there whenever she needed one – in a public hospital.
It remains to be seen what sort of birth experience I’ll have this time, however so far I’ve had personalised care from a great team of midwives and doctors. The one time I have been in the hospital (an overnight stay thanks to some suspected early labour pains) I had my own room and the staff were thorough, professional and caring.
Of course, no two pregnancies or childbirth experiences are the same.
We all have our own unique set of challenges, and I’m not saying public is best. I just know that it worked for us, and we’ve been able to use the money we would have spent on private to do other things for our children’s future.
In my experience, the midwives and doctors who work in Australia’s public system are second to none.
Where did you give birth?
