Not sure which hospital to choose when giving birth. I was placed at Newham but considering Whipps Cross or Homerton. Did anyone have any experience with any of these hospitals?

[OanaLaura]

Hi, I just found out I was pregnant and my GP sent me to Newham hospital without giving me any advice or other option. Need to mention I had a c section on my previous birth so I would like to choose a maternity ward rather than a birth center.I heard some bad things about Newham and their maternity ward and would like to know if anyone has any recent experience there. Also I want to consider Whipps Cross or Homerton. If anyone can help me decide ot would me most appreshiated. Thank you

[soundsystem]

Congrats! Can you arrange to go for tours and see what you think? Whipps isn't as bad as it used to be (a ringing endorsement there, I know!) and anecdotally I've heard that the Homerton is struggling with numbers (as lots of people transfer from Whipps). A lot can change between now and then, though.

I know people who have had good and bad experiences at both, so worth a look to see what you think.

In my experience ante-natal care is much, much better at Homerton than Whipps (I have no experience of Newham). I had a home both so can't comment on the labour ward.

[ACatCalledFang]

I gave birth at Whipps last year (EMCS), and was readmitted to Newham (as Whipps had no beds) with DS 5 days later (for him, not me).

I much, much preferred Whipps. It doesn't look as modern and the care we received was by no means perfect, but I felt it was a much friendlier hospital and, with the odd exception, the staff were lovely.

Ante-natal care was fine, mostly done by community midwives who were great. It's a very busy hospital, though - not that it would affect you but the birth centre was closed due to staff shortages last summer.

Newham looked much more modern - we were given a private room - but the midwives ranged from unhelpful to unpleasant. Some were very undermining to a new mother, and one actually shouted at me for not dressing DS fast enough... The doctors, on the other hand, were fab.

We were readmitted due to feeding issues and weight loss, and received no feeding support at all. It was very disorganized and some of the staff didn't even know which one of us was the patient. You couldn't pay me to go back there. Clinically, DS received perfectly appropriate care but the atmosphere was downright unpleasant.

I hear good things about the Homerton. There were some worrying stats around their maternal mortality rate when I was pregnant, but that may well reflect the complexity of some of the cases it handles. They have a NICU as well, I think - I know of premature babies in my area who started at Homerton but were transferred to Whipps as they improved.

Tours would be a good idea! You'd also be able to ask how they would approach your care, especially if you are planning a VBAC, as I understand that can vary wildly between hospitals. Good luck!

[laurenwiltxx]

I really do think its luck with all 3 of these hospitals ive heard good bad and terrible about them all, this area is so over populated its hard for the hospitals to keep up I think. Ive just made sure no students are even present in my birthplan and packed everything apart from the kitchen sink. But usually things are fine xx good luck x

[ACatCalledFang]

Yes, laurenwiltxx, I agree, a lot depends on how busy they are and who's on duty on the day.

[bluechameleon]

I have had 2 (non-pregnancy related) surgeries at Newham and 1 at Whipps, plus had 2 early pregnancy scans at Homerton and gave birth at Whipps so I have experience of all 3. I was most impressed with Homerton and wish I had transferred there (I was also booked in without being given a choice, for me it was at Whipps).
I didn't feel well supported during labour or after the birth at Whipps and got virtually no help with feeding. However, I do know people who had good experiences there so I suppose it varies depending on which staff you get. And DS and I both came home safely which is obviously the most important thing.

[OanaLaura]

Thank you for your replys. This decision is quite difficult for me as I had a traumatic experience with my c section and would like to avoid having another one

[Nuumah]

I recently had mine at Homerton. I wasn't happy throughout a lot of the pregnancy, but if I'm honest it's because they were so on my case and very cautious and I just wanted to go with the flow. I was very well monitored, which again I didn't like because it was too much for me, but others would definitely appreciate. The different teams communicate very well amongst themselves so everybody I saw was very up to date with my current and past. My sister and friend both had theirs at Homerton too and had very similar experiences.

I was worried about Homerton due to the deaths of babies and mothers over the past few years. I found out later, and was reassured, that this is very likely because they have so many complicated cases there. They have babies and pregnant ladies transfered to them for lots of different complications some of which are life threatening so have more deaths. The premature baby unit is 1 on 1 care for all babies and the special care unit is 1 nurse to around 4, sometimes 5 babies. My baby ended up in the special care unit and I was very impressed with the care there. The nurses were lovely too.

The care I received was wonderful, even if it was a little full on for me I know it was because they just wanted to make sure baby and I were safe. Always better to have too much care rather than too little I suppose.

I did end up having to have an emergency cesarean, and found it really funny that just after she was born they actually played "isn't she lovely" by Stevie Wonder. I think it was something to do with the students rather than the surgeon though haha. The emergency cesarean wasn't anything like some of the horror stories I've heard. I had a doctor next to my head reassuring me the whole time and telling me everything that was going on.

I was there for a couple of weeks before birth, because of my own complications and they wanted to monitor me. I probably met most of the obstetricians and midwives there at the time too and kept seeing the same ones around the hospital. I think only 1 wasn't so nice. Well, she was ok with me but I did hear her being quite abrupt to one woman and felt bad for her.

The post natal ward can get quite busy at times, but isn't too bad. The midwives are very hands on and anything I needed was done quickly.