Incognito

As a midwife who works in both public and private areas I honestly struggle with the differentiation in the system here. Privately you get a single room and afew extra material ‘perks’. The care (which is what it’s all about, not whether you get a Coffee machine on your room or not) is the same, arguably better in the public system because practice has to be evidence based instead of going with some private obstetricians personal preference which is sometimes ridiculous and not founded as best practice. Depending on who you choose privately can cost you $1000s out of pocket and that’s not including the need for a CS and all the associated costs in that eventuality. You will still get charged by that obstetrician if they miss the birth, and the intervention rates (medicalisation of birth) is massively increased privately. The midwives who provide care are not trained any differently to work in private areas and many rotate round between all areas anyway. For continuity purposes look into a midwife led group practice model of care. Not only will you get to know your midwife or group of midwives, they will be on call for your birth and see you postnatally for a good number of weeks which is when you really need the support IMO. In a non- MGP model you can expect 1 or 2 home visits, and privately none of you stay your full length of allocated time in hospital usually 3-5 days max depending on birth. I had my babies publicly (as do many of the midwives I work with) and the care was excellent. But equally many women will stand by their decision for private. It’s your choice at the end of the day.