The Truth About Private Maternity Care No One Tells You

When you’re pregnant, safety stops being an abstract idea. It becomes something you think about deeply, sometimes every day.

Maybe it comes from your own birth. A trauma you still carry in your body. A moment you’ve promised yourself you will never go through again.

Or maybe it comes from what you’ve seen and heard. A friend’s traumatic labour. A headline at the newsstand. Stories on social media that make you question the system you’re meant to trust.

And somewhere in that reflection, a thought begins to form. “Maybe I’ll be safer if I go private.”

There was a time when private maternity care felt like something reserved for celebrities.

Headlines called Victoria Beckham “too posh to push” when she gave birth to Brooklyn at the Portland Hospital. A swarm of press were curious about the care Kate Middleton received when she stepped out of the Lindo Wing with Prince George. 

It all felt like a different world, far removed from the reality most families experienced.

After all, why pay £25,000 or more for a birth when the NHS offers it for free? For celebrities, it made sense. They were paying for privacy, security, and comfort.

But today, the conversation has changed.

More women, even those without a celebrity status or deep pockets, are considering private care. Not for luxury. Not for status. But because they’ve lost faith in the NHS. National surveys have shown a decline in women’s experiences of NHS maternity services, and that reality is pushing some to look elsewhere.

The question many women are exploring is, “Is private maternity care actually safer than NHS care?”

In this post, we’ll look at the biggest myths around private maternity care, so you can make a more informed decision about what’s right for you and your baby.

Myth 1: “Private maternity care is safer than NHS care.”

This is the core belief that triggers many women to explore private care. But when you look closely at how maternity care actually works in the UK, the reality is very different from what most people assume.

One of the most important facts many don’t realise is, if there is a serious medical emergency, your care is usually handled by the NHS, not the private system.

That’s because in the UK:

• • An overwhelming majority of private obstetricians are also NHS consultants.

• • Most private births take place either at home or in NHS hospitals

• • The critical parts of care, such as operating theatres, blood banks, anaesthetists, and neonatal intensive care units, are pretty much always NHS-run.

So if you experience:

• • Severe complications requiring hospitalisation

• • A baby needing resuscitation

• • A premature birth requiring intensive care

You are typically moved into NHS emergency care, treated by NHS teams, using NHS facilities. At that point, your private status effectively disappears, and you receive life-saving care within the NHS.

In simple terms, when your life or your baby’s life is at risk, the NHS is not just the safest place to be. It is usually the only place equipped to care for you.

A big reason for this is insurance and legal risk.

Maternity care carries some of the highest liability in all of medicine. Claims involving brain injury or severe complications can reach tens of millions of pounds, because they may cover a child’s care for life.

Private obstetricians and midwives cannot realistically insure themselves against risks of that scale, and private providers cannot maintain the level of round-the-clock emergency infrastructure required.

The NHS, however, is structured and funded to:

• • Carry that level of legal risk

• • Provide 24/7 emergency teams

• • Cover the long-term costs of complex cases

There is another important factor. Unlike private health insurance that covers conditions like cancer, most UK private insurance policies do not cover maternity care. Birth is usually fully self-funded. This means there is no insurer absorbing the cost of major complications.

As a result, to make it financially accessible, private maternity providers:

• • Do not offer intensive care services

• • Do not take on the highest-risk emergencies

• • Rely on NHS infrastructure when complications arise

So when something serious happens, care moves into the NHS system, because that’s where:

• • The specialist teams are based

• • The life-saving facilities exist

• • The legal and financial responsibility sits

That is the structure behind the system, and it’s an important reality for women to understand when they are deciding where they will be safest if something goes wrong.

Myth 2: “I’ll get the care and birth I want if I go private.”

This is another powerful belief that drives women toward private maternity care.

After a difficult birth, or after hearing stories where women felt ignored or overruled, the idea of going private can feel like a way to take back control.

You imagine that if you’re paying for care:

• • You’ll be listened to more.

• • Your preferences for no induction or a C-section will be respected.

• • Your birth plan will be followed.

• • You’ll finally have the experience you want.

It feels logical. If you’re paying thousands of pounds, surely you should have more say in what happens?

But private maternity care doesn’t work like a service you can fully customise on demand.

Even in private care:

• • NHS hospital policies still apply.

• • NHS clinical guidelines still shape decisions.

• • Emergencies override birth plans.

• • Your consultant may be on holiday or unavailable when labour starts

• • You may be transferred into NHS-led care if complications arise.

In fact, some will refuse to take you on as a private patient if they feel:

• • Your expectations conflict with clinical guidance.

• • You are seeking a type of care they believe is unsafe.

• • You expect to be treated differently from NHS patients in medical decisions.

This surprises many women. They assume that paying privately means they can shape the care around their preferences. But for most consultants, private care is not about doing something different medically. It is about offering more time, continuity, and comfort around the same clinical standards.

Myth 3: “I’ll be treated first if something goes wrong”

Many women assume that if they pay for private maternity care, they’ll be treated more quickly than NHS patients.

The expectation is understandable. If you believe you’ll have your own consultant and midwife, it can feel like you’re stepping into a faster, more responsive system.

So it’s natural to think:

• • You’ll be seen more quickly.

• • You’ll be prioritised if something goes wrong.

• • Your care will come before others.

But in maternity care, especially in the UK, that isn’t how the system actually works.

Many private consultants and midwives also work close to full-time hours in the NHS. Even though you may have their direct number, they are not always immediately available.

In reality:

• • Your in-person appointments may be limited to certain clinic times, such as one morning or evening a week.

• • If you have a concern outside those times, you may be advised to attend the NHS unit for assessment.

• • You could still wait hours to be seen, just like any other patient.

• • Your private consultant or midwife may only become available later, once they have finished NHS duties or other clinical commitments.

So the day-to-day experience may not always feel faster or more responsive than expected.

And when something serious happens in pregnancy or labour, the system works in a very specific way.

Care is prioritised by clinical urgency, not by payment status.

If two women need an emergency caesarean:

• • The one whose baby is in greater distress goes first.

• • It does not matter whether she is a private or NHS patient.

Operating theatres, anaesthetists, neonatal teams, and emergency staff are almost always NHS-run, even in hospitals with private wings. These teams follow medical priority, not private status.

So in a true emergency, there is no fast track for private patients, unlike perhaps a same-day private GP service.

Myth 4: “Private maternity care is luxurious”

For a long time, private maternity care has been seen as something only the very wealthy or very famous chose.

People picture clinics where a nursery takes your baby after birth so you can sleep. Michelin-style meals. Polished hallways. Staff quietly appearing to meet your every need.

It carries the image of a glamorous, luxury upgrade to the birth experience.

But that image rests on one big assumption: that all private maternity care looks the same. It doesn’t.

In the UK, only about 0.4% of births take place in fully private hospitals, such as the Portland. The vast majority of private patients give birth in NHS hospitals, in private rooms or wings attached to them.

And that means something important.

The core environment is still the same hospital.

If the food is poor for NHS patients, it’s usually the same for private patients.
If the rooms are too warm during labour, private patients feel that too.
If the ward is busy, the atmosphere is similar on both sides.

Some hospitals do have better facilities, quieter environments, or improved catering. But those differences come down to the hospital itself, not simply the fact that you’re a private patient.

So if comfort and luxury matter to you, the real question isn’t just whether you go private. It’s where you go.

Because not all private maternity providers offer the same level of comfort or extras. Many are limited by the facilities and resources of the hospital they’re based in.

Myth 5: “All private obstetricians offer the same kind of care.”

When women talk about going private, it’s often framed as one kind of experience. “My friend went private and it was amazing.”

There’s a presumption that private care is amazing because it’s private.

But what’s often missed is this: private care varies in more ways than the colours of the rainbow.

That’s because private obstetricians and midwives vary widely in how they practise. Each practitioner is unique based on:

• • Their clinical philosophy

• • How cautious or intervention-focused they are

• • How flexible they are with inductions and c-sections

• • How available they are during labour

• • How many private patients they take on

• • Whether they personally attend births

• • Their rates of induction or caesarean

For example:

• • Some consultants are very supportive of maternal choice.

• • Others follow hospital guidelines very strictly.

• • Some aim to attend every birth themselves.

• • Others rely more on on-call teams.

• • Some have very high induction or c-section intervention rates.

• • Others focus on lower-intervention approaches.

So the experience depends far more on the individual consultant than on the label “private.”

What usually makes care feel “good” is not whether it was private, but whether the mother was cared for by someone she truly trusted.

With private care, women often spend time researching online, asking friends, and following word of mouth until they find a midwife or consultant who feels right to them. They look for experience, calmness, and someone whose judgement they feel safe relying on.

Interestingly, when you hear birth stories from NHS patients who were cared for by someone they trusted, the stories begin to sound very similar.

You’ll hear things like, “Ms So-and-So was amazing. I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Some of the most powerful testimonials come from women who received exceptional NHS care, especially when their stories involve real emergencies where teams acted quickly and saved lives.

Excellent care usually comes down to two things:

• • Trusting their clinical judgement

• • Feeling calm and safe in their hands

And those conditions can exist in both the NHS and private care. It depends far more on how much you trust the person looking after you, than on whether the care is self-funded or taxpayer-funded.

So what are you really paying for in private care?

You’re usually paying for choice. You choose the practitioner, rather than being allocated someone through an NHS rota. You gain continuity with a clinician you feel comfortable with, instead of seeing multiple professionals throughout your pregnancy.

In some cases, you may also be paying for extra comforts, such as private rooms or more luxurious surroundings in places like the Portland. But it’s important to understand the trade-offs. Some fully private hospitals do not have on-site neonatal intensive care units. That means if your baby needs specialist support, they may be transferred to an NHS hospital while you recover in the private facility. For many families, that separation would feel heartbreaking, and in that moment, the experience may not feel like a luxury at all.

In a future post, I’ll share how to decide what path is right for you if you’re considering private care, and how to choose the right NHS trust if you decide to stay within the NHS.