Philip Bennett at Queen Charlottes

[Snowfalls108]

Hi all,
I'm expecting twins and my insurance covers me for a private birth as I have to have a cs. (cs last time, and id twins this time).
I'm receiving all my antenatal care at Chelsea and Westminster which is where I had my son, but my insurance for some bizarre reason won't cover their private wing.
I was all set to go to the Portland but my consultant at Chelsea has said he wouldn't be comfortable with me going there, and would prefer me to go to either Queen Charlottes or the Lindo Wing.
The Lindo Wing is currently under going refurbishment so I've ruled that one out. The consultant he's referred me to at Queen Charlottes is Philip Bennett but I can't find anything about him online.
Does anyone have any experience of Philip Bennett or of the private wing at Queen Charlottes?

Thanks

[Snowfalls108]

secondary question - has anyone had any luck challenging AXA on the Chelsea and Westminster issue?

[serendipity16]

No experience of him during my pregnancy but i have seen him a couple of time when i was ttc & he & a couple of doctors visited me after my c-section last week.

This is just a personal thing, he may well be a lovely bloke but i found him rude & inconsiderate, this was during my time when i was ttc. I heard him making a telephone call very loudly(left the door open for all the waiting room to hear) that the lady who was in another room was going to 'miscarry anyway' in a few days. This woman looked like she was about 16wks pregnant or there abouts. He was trying to arrange a hospital bed for her. He didn't come across as very nice when i saw him myself. Thankfully i was then passed on to another professor whilst ttc & going through recurrent miscarriages.

He was pleasant enough when i saw him last week though.

No experience of the private wing, hopefully someone will be able to give you some advise on that. I was in for 5 days last week after my c-section......... and my god i couldn't wait to get out of that place. I've had 6 children in that hospital & this time i had a horrible time. Short staffed, rude staff, clueless staff, staff bad mouthing me to baby doctor, loud enough for me to hear.... this list goes on.
Maybe going private you'd get a better experience.

Sorry for putting such a downer on your post.

[Sparklies]

I know they're refurbishing the Lindo wing, but are the alternatives they're presumably providing really not that good? Just curious as like you, I'm hoping to get a c-section privately (it's also medically necessary) and I'm wondering where to go. I'm with BUPA and they won't cover Chelsea and Westminster, or St. T's Landsell Suite. Queen Charlotte's is too far for me unfortunately - I have the choice of Portland or Lindo Wing realistically.

Also curious as to how much of the consultant's fee you're going to be repaid - BUPA won't cover more than £600 which is a drop in the ocean. I really cannot find a reasonably-priced consultant even under £2K.

Sorry, not much help - just more questions!!

[kitstwins]

Can't help on Bennett as he wasn't around when I had my twins four years ago (or if he was, he was on a long holiday as I was holed up there for over a month). I can recommend Kumar if he's covered by your medical insurance.

I transferred to private postnatal care as I spent over a month on bedrest in the hospital before delivery (enough time to see how grim the NHS antenatal was). Sir Stanley Clayton ward was very good - clean, nice rooms with a tv and fridge and your own bathroom with shower and (small) bath. The room/bathroom was cleaned thoroughly every day and my sheets were changed daily. There was a separate menu for private patients which was certainly better than the NHS side - more choice and the food was 'better' but I wouldn't expect hotel standard. Good aeroplane food would just about do it justice, although it may have improved in the intervening four years. The only issue I had was that the midwives were still quite busy (they were having to help out on the chronically understaffed NHS postnatal ward and that had a knock-on effect) and my breastfeeding support was a bit hit and miss. I think this may have been due to the fact that I had premature twins - so two babies AND feeding tubes/poor latch issues; not standard by any means. Perhaps with one full-term baby I'd have fared better and felt less let down.

Another plus was they had a nursery i.e. room with feeding chairs, breastpumps, nice lighting, etc. so you could feed your babies in there. They'd also take the babies at night so that I could get some much-needed rest. It really helped me but it might not be relevant to someone less strung out!

Hope this helps. I'd recommend going on a tour as you'll get a good feel for the place which will probably be more helpful that my out-of-date recollections.

[Snowfalls108]

Thanks all for your points.

Sparklies - they're covering all the costs of a 3 day stay (more if medically needed)

[Sparklies]

Even the consultant fees? Wow, that's unusual! Everything is covered for me too but only a portion of the consultant fees as they believe you can get a consultant for £600 or less (you can't) and only a portion of the anaesthetist fees too.

[Mazza78]

Hi ladies,
I'm new to this site but I hope it's okay for me to reactivate this old thread on the off chance that you can now provide some insight into private consultants for delivery at Queen Charlotte's Hopspital. Professor Bennett is one of the consultants I'm looking at and I was wondering if you would recommend him?
Thanks very much.

[Legsanderson]

Hi Mazza - did you end up going with Professor Bennett? If so I'd love to hear your experience with him. I'm thinking of going with him but am already 37 weeks, so would literally be for just the labour bit. Any tips welcome...

[Mazza78]

Hi Legsanderson,
Yes, I'm now registered with him and have had a couple of consultations. I really like him - I'm 'only' 29 weeks so I can't comment on the labour side of things, but I trust I'm in good hands. If for any reason he can't take you at this time, I've also had a couple of scans with Bryony Jones at Queen Charlotte's and she also seems very good.
Good luck with everything.