Private maternity care will disappear within “five to 10 years maximum”, a Professor of the National Maternity Hospital has predicted. 

Under the new public only contracts negotiated during Stephen Donnelly’s tenure as Health Minister, consultants are prohibited from carrying out private work in public hospitals. 

While some consultants are still working out their notice on the old contracts, Professor Shane Higgins said it was only a matter of time before all consultant obstetricians sign up to the new public only contracts. 

 “There isn’t a private maternity elsewhere in the country, which means when the consultants who are on the old style contracts are phased out - so when they retire and transition - they’ll be replaced by public only,” he explained on Lunchtime Live. 

“Which means in a relatively short period of time there will be no private maternity care available for patients to choose. 

“And I’m talking probably five to 10 years maximum before that offering disappears." 

A pregnant woman. Picture by: Lorna E5A6PR/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire.

While in theory, a new private maternity hospital could be opened in the next few years, Professor Higgins described this as “extremely unlikely”. 

“The last private maternity hospital in the country was Mount Carmel and that’s closed over a decade,” he said.  

Currently, a majority of new mothers give birth on the public system. 

However, a substantial minority opt for an element of private healthcare. 

“Between semi-private and private, both allow patients to use their private health insurance for cover, there’s about 40% of our patients would fall into that semi-private, private group,” Professor Higgins said. 

“In private, you actually choose your consultant; you look up the list of consultants offering private maternity care in the hospital and you choose your consultant. 

“You enter into a contract with them where they will provide you with antenatal care and will do everything they can to be present at the birth of your baby. 

“If they are not there at the birth of your baby, another consultant will be there.” 

A doctor checking the heart rate of pregnant woman's baby. Picture by: Ievgen Chabanov / Alamy.

Professor Higgins explained that some women like the continuity of care that comes with having seeing the same doctor throughout their pregnancy. 

He added that some women have chosen him as their consultant for all their pregnancies. 

“In semi-private, you are assigned a consultant who has undertaken semi-private work in the hospital,” he said. 

“When it comes to labour and delivery, it would be under the team who are on call for the day - rather than the consultant you’ve booked or has been assigned to you in their absence.

“So, you would be more like a public patient in terms of the care that you receive in delivery than a private patient.”

Main image: A doctor doing an ultrasonic testing of a pregnant patient. Picture by: Alamy.com.