Mater Hospital or North Shore Private?

I’m in the same boat Ashleigh! Have a tour of Mater on Thursday. My OB’s clinic is at North Shore Private but he works across both, and said his wife gave birth both times at Mater

I am booked in for C-section at the mater in 2 weeks. I was so confused about this as well. And I did the tour of both the maternity wards. From what I can see and what I heard from other ladies here, - NSP has bigger and nicer rooms. Mater has 5 big family rooms we can upgrade to, subject to availability. The other rooms are a bit tiny. - Mater seems a warmer and nicer place to give birth - staff and environment wise (few other ladies who toured NSP and Mater also said the same to me) - Food I hear is definitely better at the Mater Rest all seems same - in terms of care and capabilities.

I’ve chosen the Mater 😊 As had a few friends deliver here and said it was awesome. I’d love to hear how your tour goes though Bella!

@Bella I booked in yesterday for the tour on Thursday at Mater! So we will probably see each other there ❤️ My OB is also the same and she was leaning towards Mater

@Niru thank you so much for this information! I have tried to look on NSP website to book the tour, however it seems they don’t offer the tour anymore. Would you know if this changed since you were there?

@Ashleigh yay tour buddies!

@Ashleigh no it didn’t change. But I was so confused and registered at both the Mater and NSP. 😅 Hence my antenatal classes were at NSP. They took us on a tour of the maternity ward when we were there. Hence I am able to share my experience.

I’ve given birth twice at the Mater and have had great experiences both times! I think the main thing is the food and being able to order of a menu when needed and not having to run out and get your own food as I believe the NSP is not great and pretty much just hospital grade food. The staff are mostly very kind (I had one questionable midwife my first time round) but aside from that all mainly positive experiences!

Good luck with your choices and births!

My ob told me to go mater as the midwife’s are nicer. One only thing better about north shore private are the nicer post baby rooms However the birthing rooms at mater are renovated and nice they even rolled in a bed when we stayed overnight for my partner before I had my baby!!

Following this discussion. We weren’t sure either as our OB also does both and Northern beaches but I definitely felt that he thinks Mater is his preference but obviously leaving to us.

We did Mater, unfortunately it was busy when we went and we missed out on the larger family rooms, so our room was quite small, but we had a nice view and the food was pretty good plus the nurses were all lovely (except one). Overall it was a great experience.

I have delivered at Mater and pretty much agree with what Niru and Elaine said. The food was great and you can literally call them anytime between 6:30am and 7pm. The rooms are tiny but you've got everything that you need there. We actually had the opportunity to upgrade to family room but at the end we stayed in the normal one as you have your own bed and my partner had a fold out bed whereas in the family room there's only what I believe is a queen size bed and I wasn't sure if I will be comfortable there. But there's definitely much more space in the family room. The midwives were lovely except for one. I had a C-section so can't comment on the birthing room.

Thank you all for the information, this is super valuable. I ended up doing the maternity ward tour at Mater yesterday as something came up and we’re unable to do it on Thursday now. We have decided to book into Mater based on your input and following the tour 🤗 Mater seems like a fantastic hospital and maternity ward was nice. It was very calm and clean when we were there. The rooms are tiny, but designed well. We originally wanted NSP due to the guaranteed double bed, but after seeing the double bed at Mater, we realised that the setup isn’t ideal for my husband and I. We would be very uncomfortable on the double bed and there is no where else to sleep. So we actually prefer the bed arrangement in the single rooms (there is a seat that converts to a bed for my husband which looks comfortable). So this made our decision easy as we realised the double bed was no longer a major draw card ❤️ @Bella enjoy your tour on Thursday! I’m intrigued to hear your thoughts afterwards ☺️

Hey @Ashleigh. Enjoyed the tour yesterday at Mater. Rooms are small but agree with the other ladies it seems you have everything you need including what looks like a comfortable pull out bed for the partner. We were told their popular high tea was coming back in April 😊 I met with my OB for the 1st time yesterday too and talked about the two choices (he’s across both and Northern Beaches). He said both are fantastic, bougie hospitals and both have great food. They are both super competitive, so if one hospital starts doing something new, it’s likely the next week the other one will copy! Because I’m wanting a natural birth he encouraged me to consider North Shore Private purely for logistical reasons. His clinic is at NSP so is literally two floors above the mat ward so he’ll be able to see me more often. I’m booking in a private tour of NSP & will then decide. So far both sound like amazing hospitals, but I’m leaning more towards NSP because I’m all about practicality!

Went to the Mater for both of my babies - one natural that turned into an emergency c section because the cord was around her throat - and one booked/planned c section. Both times amazing ❤️