Newcastle Private Maternity

Be careful not to assume that using insurance is going to be unquestionably linked with best outcomes. Read more to keep exploring your choice of care provider for birth.

Hospital Info Q&A Private Health and Birth

Newcastle Private Hospital Info

Newcastle Private Hospital is a hospital in the Hunter offering Birth care.

How it works:

At the Newcastle Private Hospital the mothers prenatal care and birth are generally attended by an obstetrician.

Midwives also attend births but are closely overseen by Obstetrician policy, procedure and cultural expectation and requirements (policies vary from hospital to hospital and OB to OB and it is worth asking questions).

Below I have provided some information about what Newcastle Private hospital provides for your interest, please contact the hospital directly for further questions or to book, I am not affiliated with any hospitals.

At Newcastle Private they offer:

QUOTE FROM THEIR PAGE: “Newcastle Private Hospital is a 189 bed, acute, private hospital facility co-located on the John Hunter Campus at Rankin Park. The hospital has 11 theatres including a hybrid theatre and a 15 bed Intensive Care Unit. It also has a cardiac suite including a cardiac catheter laboratory and a 16 bed Coronary Care Unit.

A private maternity suite including 6 birthing suites and a special care baby nursery is available for families in the Newcastle region.

Newcastle Private Hospital is owned and operated by Healthscope, a leading private health operator of 42 private hospitals across Australia. .

Hospital Phone: (02) 4941 9266.”

Reference:

https://newcastleprivatehospital.com.au/about-us

General trends at NPH:

Statistics gathered from the publicly available and easily accessible website: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au

Outcome of selected primipara (mums birthing for the first time),

TREND: Caesarean Section has been INCREASING

TREND: Spontaneous vaginal birth has been DECREASING

TREND: Induction of Labour has been INCREASING

The best way to ensure your birth is as physiological and smooth as possible is to do great quality, private birth education and/or consider hiring a Birth Doula.

The time and energy you invest in your birth will reward you for your full lifetime and your next generations too!

Find out more about my great online birth course here. Natalie

Possible questions on your mind

Does using private health cover save us money?

Some families believe/assume that using private health care will be financially beneficial for their birth experience but this is not necessarily the case – due to the high intervention rates that CAN occur in a birth and given the private health billing system, many families believe that using their private health will save them money, but many are surprised at the high cost of their birth once all bills are settled.

Do private hospitals provide better birth care/outcomes?

Statistics show that women who birth at private hospitals actually end up with more medical interventions. It is very very rare for a woman to achieve a natural physiological birth when she hires a surgical and high risk specialist for her birth. Ask questions and always, in any setting, seek professionals that have a reputation for natural birth support success. Ask your OB their stats?

Are there any general trends when we compare outcomes from private to public births?

Important Note: I (Natalie Meade) consider it my duty of care to mention that although it is not indicative of all experiences or of all women.. there is a general trend of concern with private hospital birth outcomes as stated in the Mothers and Babies Report 2016 publication.2016 MOTHERS and BABIES REPORT:

FINDING: “Operative and instrumental births are more common among privately than publicly insured mothers.

Are you interested in looking at the statistics for this hospital? Your individual circumstance will not necessarily reflect the stats, but the stats may help you have an understanding of what is happening to women birthing at this hospital as a general outcome.

Statistics gathered from the publicly available and easily accessible website: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au

Statistics – Data Table: Newcastle Private Hospital, NSW 2008 to 2017 (latest stats to be added soon, when I have time).

Outcome of selected primipara (mums birthing for the first time),

Clinical indicator: Caesarean section
Year, Per cent
2013, 28.0
2014, 33.9
2015, 33.8
2016, 34.9
2017, 39.7

(TREND: Caesarean Section has been INCREASING)

Clinical indicator: Spontaneous vaginal birth
Year, Per cent
2013, 42.9
2014, 38.8
2015, 40.8
2016, 34.9
2017, 35.2

(TREND: Spontaneous vaginal birth has been DECREASING)

Clinical indicator: Induction of labour
Year, Per cent
2013, 39.4
2014, 41.7
2015, 46.3
2016, 50.2
2017, 50.1

(TREND: Induction of Labour has been INCREASING)

Clinical indicator: Instrumental vaginal birth
Year, Per cent
2013, 29.0
2014, 26.7
2015, 25.4
2016, 30.1
2017, 25.1

(TREND: Instrumental vaginal birth is staying around level)

Will be I "waste" my private health cover if I birth by other choices?

This will depend on your definition of "waste". If you birth with other options, e.g. private midwife, or some of the very great, one-one continual midwife care, public health programs, you technically won't utilise private health fund to it's maximum potential of money. AND by choosing carefully and finding a a birth care team that suits you best, then you may even GAIN a whole lot more than you could ever "lose". Especially when you consider rewards emotionally, physically and mentally. This process of thinking, questioning and decision making, is really MAINLY about you getting clear on exactly hat you desire from your birth experience. And then exploring the evidence based literature to find out what care will suit you best.

Want to chat about your birth desires?

Give me a call or use the contact form to send an enquiry

Phone Nat direct

Contact form

Respect and honour to the Awabakal and Worimi people as the original and wise custodians of this land. Honour to those who have birthed and breastfed their babies on this sacred land for more than 65,000 years.