Hello!

My husband and I are hoping to fall pregnant with our second baby sometime in the next year and are wondering whether private hospital in Australia (versus public) is worth the money. We had our first baby in the United States so it’s a bit different here from what I’m told. What do Aussie mums think who’ve had their babies here? Public or Private? Thanks for the advice xo


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  • I’m totally fine with the public hospitals for all our medical appointments and operations.


  • Definitely! Not saying one is better than the other but there is always going to be differences. Private hospital for non emergency surgery is great. You dont have to go on years and years of waiting lists. But for having a baby, I did prefer my private hospital experience over my public one!


  • I had my baby in a public hospital and could not have been happier.


  • I had my babies in public hospitals, WA one was better then Tassie one. And I’ve visited friends who’ve had babies in private hospitals. Private is by far the better option


  • I was with private Gyno, so I had to go as private patient in public hospital. I liked having my own room and bathroom. And the fact that I could close the door rest. But as far as I heard public is great as well.


  • Its the luck of the draw, you could pay a lot to get a bad nurse, or you could go public and get a great nurse, I went public and it was great


  • i went through the public option and i was lucky to have lovely nurses. i think that they were the most important factor to me enjoying the stay there– i did leave the hospital first chance i got because i love my own bed!


  • …..and getting a single room is subject to availabilty if you are a private patient in a public hospital


  • The different is the cost and basically you are going to receive the same level of care. I had DD in a private hospital, we were in there for 10 days (might have been less if we were in a public hospital?) anyway, after we got home the gap bills just kept on coming…


  • I found public to be just fine. :) The only difference between public and private is that you get a single room basically.
    I got that anyway because i was suffering with high blood pressure.
    Good luck!


  • The Public hospitals are great here, i have no problem with them!!


  • I didn’t have any issues with a public hospital and most of the midwives were friendly. I also didn’t find the meals etc too bad. However after having a ceserean I was putting in a room with 4 others – in a private I could of had my own room and peace and quiet. You can take a tour of the private facilities so I would go have a look see how you feel – find it what costs you are looking at then make a decision.


  • In my experience public hospitals in Australia are just as good if not better than private ones, the only difference is the luxuries.


  • Love love loved birthing in the public hospital I went to! The staff were great, the facilites were great and I can’t imagine how going private would have made it better in any aspect.


  • public hospitals in NSW have the best Neo Natal care, but private is more comfortable and limited people to rooms


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