I don’t think you should not have to pay for maternity services in Ireland – however, the public hospitals are overrun and even if you do go private in a public hospital, you are not guaranteed a private room or your consultant at the birth due to over booking and lack of facilities (I know this from personal experience as I went private in OLOL and did not get a private room; did not see my consultant for my birth and could not have an epidural as they were too busy! Still got the full bill of over 3,000 euro though!!)
So if it is important to you to have a private room after you give birth, to have short appointment times at your visits, to have a guarantee of a private level of care, to have help with healthy eating, weight management andbeing well looked after during your pregnancy, birth and afterwards, then Mount Carmel is an excellent choice.
I have been a patient there myself for surgery a few years ago and it was great, nearly like staying in a hotel. There was an excellent level of care, adequate staff and it was clean and very comfortable and spacious.
I’ve been over to see the lay out and services on offer for mums-to-be and is definitely worth a consideration for anyone who is interested in a hospital birth.