Last week I was invited to The Portland Hospital for a look behind the scenes. I’ve lived in London for a long time and regularly see pictures of celebrities being papped outside The Portland with their new arrivals.
As I’m currently pregnant I was interested in the maternity services at The Portland and they offer an impressive service including 14+ antenatal appointments, all routine blood tests, 3 scans, active birth workshops and hypnobirthing classes and access to complimentary therapies. I met a couple of the midwives and they were lovely, doing a job they clearly enjoyed in a wonderful environment. It’s not healthy to compare private healthcare to the NHS but it was so different to what I experienced with the NHS. So clean and modern! All the staff were friendly and the atmosphere was calm and relaxed.
We saw one of the delivery rooms which was spacious with plenty of room and all rooms are en-suite. They even have fitted furniture and flat screen tv’s which gave the rooms more of a relaxed atmosphere and somehow less clinical and medical. We also had lunch and got to sample the delicious food which is on offer. Edward chose from the children’s menu and we were blown away with the quality, freshness and taste.
Throughout the day my opinion of The Portland changed and my view of it being for celebrities who were too posh to push was a bit outdated. It provides the best in private healthcare for Women’s Health, Maternity Services and Children’s Services too.
This standard of care obviously does not come without cost and the cost reflects the individual care you receive. You can start your maternity care there or transfer from the NHS at any time. The Portland was much smaller than I imagined (although spacious compared to NHS labour rooms!) and we really enjoyed seeing an alternative to what the NHS offers and what I have experienced. In an ideal world all women would get this level of care which must lead to an amazing sense of empowerment during pregnancy and birth. If I win the lottery, perhaps I’ll be transferring there too!
I was invited to lunch at The Portland Hospital but all views and opinions are my own.
Interesting post. I do feel that we should all be treated equally though whether we go NHS or private. Bringing a baby into the world is the most natural thing any woman can do and she should be treated with respect and careful monitoring, not to mention an abundance of care. If the NHS doesn’t provide this as well as the Portland then changes should be made. Just because one has money, shouldn’t mean you are treated better.
CJ xx
I’ve had all three of my babies in NHS hospitals and had fantastic care. Ok no flat screen tvs but the midwives were wonderful. The only down side was being back on the ward afterwards which was pretty basic and noisy. However, if I had the money would I pay? Yes, probably.
Hi, visiting from Mummy little monkeys blog hop. I would have loved to have given birth somewhere like that. I didn’t have an awful expereince in the hospital I was in but like someone else said being put on the ward afterwards was pretty awful and I hated it when my OH had to leave. Before I had a baby I always said I thought paying so much to have it somewhere like that was a waste of money but having done it, I don’t see it like that anymore. Its one of the most amazing things in life you will do and if I won the lottery I would definitely pay to make it as relaxed and worry free as I could x
I think that if anyone could afford better care when giving birth they would happily pay for it! I know I would. Portland sounds fab. Now you just need to convince them to offer you a free birth there – in exchange for a live vlog feed maybe?! 😉 x