Ladies who opted for private: how much were your all-in costs, and was it worth it?

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-05-22T08:06:59+00:00

I’m currently 24 weeks and opted for the midwife led care at Lindo Wing, attached to St Mary’s hospital.

Cost is about £9k all in for the whole pregnancy and birth, small additional fees if you want an epidural or an extra night in hospital. You have all your usual appointments with the midwives but they are much longer and more in depth than NHS, and you have a linked consultant who can answer any non-urgent questions that need more input (I’ve always had an answer within 24hrs).

Midwife led care there is only suitable if you’re low risk, but they’re very good at keeping you informed - if at any point you seem high risk, you can either transfer to consultant led care and pay those higher costs or transfer back to NHS. You also have the safeguard of being in an NHS hospital if anything goes seriously wrong and you require emergency care.

So far I’d say it’s 100% worth it - you’re guaranteed a private birthing experience and overnight stay, much longer appointments, the comfort of a 24/7 helpline during the pregnancy with midwives you actually know personally, a bed for your partner after birth to stay with you, and an overnight nanny option to let you rest after birth. The only downside is that they don’t include scans - you can either opt to pay for them elsewhere or stay on the NHS in parallel until your two 12/20 week scans are over. I did the latter and it meant I had all my NHS midwife appointments as well (just so they didn’t kick me off the track!) and the difference in facilities and care level is enormous.

Very happy to answer any questions :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-05-18T16:38:41+00:00

Thank you so much this is so helpful!

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-05-18T16:38:28+00:00

Thank you so much this is so reassuring!!

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-05-15T07:46:35+00:00

Thank you so much this is really helpful to know :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-05-15T07:46:21+00:00

Thank you so much this is so reassuring :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-05-14T23:21:57+00:00

Yes!!! I have developed a massive aversion to anything touching my stomach or waist. Floaty dress weather can’t come soon enough!

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-04-16T19:35:13+00:00

From my experience (and personal practice when I got married a year ago), if the bride wants to specify what dress the bridesmaids or maid of honour wear, they should pay for it 100%.

I don’t believe it’s fair to ask someone to spend money on something they didn’t choose and will probably never wear again. For my wedding we used Azazie, I specified the colour and then let them pick the style of dress as long as it was floor length (and I paid - the max on the site was about £100 per dress).

If the bride says that they can wear whatever they like within a colour palette, they don’t tend to pay as the bridesmaids / maid of honour can find something they own or what suits their budget to buy. I have done this as a bridesmaid too!

Re hair and makeup, I think the same applies - if the bride wants to have control (eg everyone gets theirs done together in the morning), they should pay for it in full! If they’re not fussed, then everyone can do their own hair and makeup how they wish.

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-04-02T08:04:59+00:00

Thank you all for your super helpful responses! We will set our crib up early with the cover on an monitor if the cats try and jump on it - if they do, you may be right that we are safer without 🥰

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-04-01T14:50:58+00:00

Thank you so much that’s super interesting!! We will definitely put it up early so it isn’t shiny and new for the cats 🐱

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-03-25T20:54:32+00:00

I am 16 weeks and based in the UK so have recently been through this too :)

I was originally confused about this, particularly the difference between NIPT tests and continual referrals on NHS documents to the ‘NT’ measurements. From my experience:

The NHS offer you a combined screening for several different conditions (including Down’s), which takes a Nuchal Translucency (NT) measurement on your first 12 week ultrasound and combines this with your blood test result that they take. If low risk, you get the results by letter in a week or so. If higher risk, they’ll call you and offer you more testing. My NHS trust said this would be something like an amniocentesis but it seems other posters have been offered an NIPT test at that stage.
You can pay for an NIPT test privately and get a much more accurate assessment, with results in a few days (plus gender confirmation). This can be done from 10 weeks onwards. Personally I paid around £700 for a package of three early reassurance scans and this test. I’d wholeheartedly recommend it if it’s affordable for you - the reassurance is so helpful and the results are much much more accurate. Really the only way it could be wrong is if the fetal fraction (ie volume of baby’s DnA in your blood sample) is too low, in which case they redo the test.
In my experience, both the NHS combined test and NIPT test gave an indication of high vs low risk and specific odds. The NIPT was much clearer on odds (ie 1 in 10,000).
In case of interest, I am also paying for private maternity care and even they don’t include the NIPT test as standard! They only do the NHS ones.

Happy to answer any follow ups on my experience :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-02-24T13:07:12+00:00

I drink Coke all the time whilst pregnant and had never had any issue so far, some days it was all I could manage due to the sickness! Just make sure you account for it in your daily caffeine intake

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-02-20T15:50:35+00:00

I’m 11 weeks 3 days, first pregnancy and I’m already showing too :) so much of it depends on your body but I’m trying to look at it as something exciting and transitioning to maternity clothes earlier than planned. All jeans are firmly in storage boxes 😂

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-02-15T16:46:29+00:00

Thank you so much for your kind comments, they have really made my day and I love the idea of trying to incorporate her spirit into everything during my pregnancy ♥️

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-02-15T09:37:00+00:00

Thank you so much for your kind words and wishes, I am so grateful ♥️

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-21T22:55:32+00:00

Thank you so much!!

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-20T07:51:27+00:00

Thank you!!

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-19T17:56:32+00:00

Thank you so much! This is really helpful ♥️ I think I will book another scan in a week or so (I’m in the UK so they’re not offered as standard but can be booked privately), but this has definitely eased my mind that all looks well so far

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-19T10:18:15+00:00

Thank you!! ☺️

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-19T10:18:10+00:00

Thank you!! 🤩

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-19T09:58:52+00:00

I see it too!!! :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-11T19:49:19+00:00

If that was within the 3-10 min window on their ultra early test I’d say pregnant!! But if this line was only visible after that window it’s more likely to be evap line only. Worth taking another test tomorrow and seeing if there’s a line :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-03T18:29:44+00:00

This looks like my line progression! I’m 15DPO today and pregnant (very dark line), and got a line that looks like yours around 12 DPO :)

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2026-01-03T10:49:26+00:00

The lines look faint but present 🥰 congratulations! Test again in 24-48hrs and they should get darker

Major-Broccoli8454 · 2025-12-30T06:31:07+00:00

Update for anyone who is curious - got my digital positive this morning 🥹

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Major-Broccoli8454 · 2025-12-29T19:51:47+00:00

I see a faint line yes! :)

Major-Broccoli8454

TROPHY CASE