Will Kate give birth in an NHS hospital?

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Kate and William are expecting their first child but could the baby be born in an NHS hospital

Conventional wisdom has it that Prince William and his wife Kate will choose the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, as the place where their first child will be born. 

The £5,000-a-night private unit within one of London's great NHS-run teaching hospitals is where William, his brother Prince Harry, and countless other royal babies have been delivered.

But in the last few days there has been just a hint that William and Kate might be looking at alternatives.

A source told the Daily Express that they have been thinking about the possibility of going to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading if Kate goes into labour while staying at her parents' home in nearby Bucklebury.

Why not, some might say. In spite of regular controversies, the National Health Service remains, along with the BBC and the monarchy an institution of which most Britons remain extremely proud, regardless of the political party they support. Everyone should have freedom to choose but wouldn’t it be great if the Royal Family promoted the best of what our public sector has to offer, whether it be hospitals or schools?

If Kate goes into labour while staying at her parents' home in nearby Bucklebury, NHS could be an option

The chances are that Kate will be spending a fair bit of time at Bucklebury in the latter part of her pregnancy. So there probably do need to be contingencies. Equally, she has been up to the couple’s home on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales at least five or six times this year – she and William went to church there on Easter Sunday – so there might well be a similar plan for there.

But something tells me that even if she does go into labour in Bucklebury, she will be having that baby in a private London hospital, unless there are complications requiring urgent medical intervention that cannot wait for a 40-minute journey into central London with a police escort.

The Royal Berkshire is where Kate was born. It has a good maternity unit and there are some single rooms where a high-profile mother and baby could get some privacy from prying eyes. So there might be some sentiment that if it was good enough for her, it's good enough for her baby.

William's aunt, the Countess of Wessex, gave birth to both her children at an NHS hospital, Frimley Park in Surrey, after suffering complications the first time around and Autumn Phillips has had both her children at Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary, an NHS hospital. In those cases, royal doctors were called in to oversee the births.

The fact is no private hospital, no matter how luxurious the rooms, can match the facilities of an NHS hospital when it comes to an emergency.

But this is the future of the monarchy we’re talking about here. Prince William likes to do things his way but he and Kate are innately conservative creatures. When she was taken ill with acute morning sickness in the early stages of her pregnancy, it was to London and the private King Edward VII Hospital that she went, not to her local NHS hospital.

I don’t believe she and William have discussed their choice of hospital with some of their key staff yet so it’s by no means clear what their final thoughts are. And when they do, we may not find out for sure until the 31-year-old Duchess gives birth. But by now most couples in Britain expecting a baby would have nominated their favoured hospital.

One of the reasons the Lindo Wing is likely is that Alan Farthing, the royal obstetrician and gynaecologist, is based at St Mary’s, which of course is there to provide the emergency back-up if anything goes wrong. He also works at various other London hospitals, it has to be said.

Wherever the royal baby is delivered, the hospital handling the birth should be prepared for a frenzy of worldwide media attention.

Whilst I thought it interesting that some close to the couple were at least said to be thinking about the possibility of a royal rush to Reading, I suspect the national and foreign media will be camped outside a private London hospital unit when it happens.

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