PUBLIC! PUBLIC! PUBLIC!
I actually did have private insurance that covered maternity, and chose to go public anyway. I have a pre-existing condition and my (illness) specialist wanted me to have access to a particular obs, who works both private and public. However, the private hosp he works at would have been about 45 mins away in no traffic, the public was about 5, and we didn't want me going into labour on the freeway in rush hour. Also, even with top insurance (which we had) the out of pocket is upwards of $5k, in my mothers group most paid between $5k and $10k for their private hospital. That would pay for a LOT of nice food to be brought - and the food was literally the only thing I could see that they (and other friends / family who have gone private) had any better than me. Oh, and my husband couldn't stay in my (single) room with me.
I did have complications and it was managed expertly, and without a C-section, which I was very strongly against if I didn't have to, as they can be problematic with my medical condition. Whereas just about every woman I know who went private had a C-section, the public system has a MUCH lower rate, which is still quite high by world standard.
Ante- and Post-natal - I paid $5 total for the following: early pregnancy info session, 7 ante-natal evening sessions with partner covering breastfeeding, bathing, normal births, possible complications, anaesthesia, exercises, contraception and sex post birth, mastitis, introducing solids, bottle feeding, and so on, ante-natal physiotherapy, post-natal physio, baby massage (that's what cost $5), info sessions on various baby things post natal, 1 on 1 breastfeeding assistance, treatment of mastitis, flu vaccination, fitting of an implanon after birth, home visits from midwife for 5 days post birth... I think that's it. I could have also done a new mum pilates class but didn't get myself organised to do it. Yes, you can tell it's public by the rubbish tea and biscuits at the info sessions, but the staff have identical training and are universally excellent. I paid for one ultrasound before my hospital referral was sorted, that cost more than everything else put together, at about $250.
Some things I learnt about after the event - such as I could have requested a trainee midwife to go through the process with me, as they need to do this with a certain number of women there are plenty to go around, and they appreciate you letting them be there, and it's a familiar face through the whole thing. I just saw whoever was there at the time, for antenatal check-ups and during the event. I think that's a gamble regardless, as even private they don't guarantee you will actually get the person you've been seeing or your nominated obs.
In a perfect world I would have gone to the family birth centre at KEMH, but it's for low risk people so I wasn't eligible, but what I like about it is that it's just a few hundred metres from the hospital so if anything goes wrong, you are in the best place you could be within seconds.
If I do want to have another baby in the future, I will get top private health again, but purely in case we need assisted reproductive services, I'd go public hospital for the birth again.