Any private obstetrician you would suggest ??

Dr. Spyros Bakalis is amazing! Just delivered last Sunday and he was my doctor through my whole pregnancy and could not recommend him more!

Not cheap but worth every penny! He’s available 24/7 to his patients via WhatsApp or phone call for any big or little questions

Don’t have any suggestions as we couldn’t afford private but just to say that if you are able to go private then 100% do because the NHS is useless. You are just a number to them and there is zero empathy. I sadly had a really negative birth experience and even after making an official complaint nothing came of it. I hope you have a much better experience because it’s meant to be such a special time!

Prof. Mark Johnson, he's the Head at Chelsea and Westminster hospital. Extremely able, empathetic and brilliant at his job. Cannot recommend him enough

We had primary care at Chelsea Westminster and was 10/10 from start to finish (NHS). We also had a few private scans paid through my husbands private medical insurance at St George’s and again super thorough and positive experience. If we didn’t get the private scans for free I wouldn’t have paid as was content with care from the NHS but I think it really depends what maternity unit and hospital you choose. I also think if it’s a straight forward pregnancy nhs is enough but if any high risk factors or genetic issues involved then private would definitely take a deeper care approach x

Dr. Joseph Iskaros in Portland hospital

Hey Alba. I also felt extremely unsupported in my early stages of pregnancy. I didn't have a booking appointment until 7 weeks and was then "left in the lurch" until my 12 week scan. I felt strongly about this as I had had a recent miscarriage and was concerned about it happening again. However, I reached out to my local early pregnancy unit who were very supportive. I also booked a few private scans with window to the womb as I felt this was more financially manageable than seeing an actual obstetrician, especially as if the worst were to happen, nobody could prevent it anyway no matter how much money you paid them. As you get further into your pregnancy you will see the same community midwife who will follow your journey. X

Can’t afford private but I’ve been with the NHS and honestly, my GP and midwife have been more than perfect ! I’m booked with royal free hospital and everyone that has been there has always said positive things about them. But if it eases your mind to go fully private then definitely do that. The last thing you need is stress during pregnancy

I wasn’t private but I had Dr Bakaris as part of my NHS care at St Thomas’ briefly and I will say he was really lovely. If your pregnancy is low risk you should look into private midwives as that may suit your needs more. You don’t need an obstetrician unless you have certain risk factors and even then it’s your choice which model of care you use.

Dr Jessica McMiking moving her clinic atm from St Thomas to the Portland

Haven’t gone private but thought about it for a while, but the cost was the main factor. At the start of my pregnancy I felt pretty unsupported using the NHS as you don’t have many appointments, no one to really contact and I had a ton of anxiety. Now that I’m further along and in my third trimester I’m actually very happy with the NHS and have felt the care to be really good the further along you get (20 weeks onwards). I know that seems like ages away but looking back it does make sense. I’m sure this is dependent on the hospital though - I’m at st Thomas for reference.. I have done two private scans (early pregnancy and growth scan) and ended up finding a private GP (using HCA GP which I highly recommend super easy to get same day appointment or latest next day and numerous locations), which has also helped with things like UTIs etc and costs significantly less (£250 a year versus £10-15k).