The NHS is really bad and you're stuck with it unless you're truly wealthy.
Our healthcare isn't perfect but usually there's enough flexibility and yes, you'll have to navigate using insurance to get what you need.
When I watch medical specials, it’s usually other European or Asian countries (or countries like Israel) that are highlighted for top quality healthcare. Not so much UK. However UK still fares better than the US as far as maternal mortality is concerned.
“The US spends more on healthcare than any other high income country “but has much worse maternal health outcomes,” the report says. In 2022, 22 US women died for every 100 000 live births, compared with 0 in Norway, 1.2 in Switzerland, 3.5 in Australia, 5.5 in the UK, 8.4 in Canada, and 8.8 in Korea. About 80% of the deaths were preventable, the report says. It used data from the US Centers for Disease Control…”
https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj.q1276