London Maternity Services Advice Appreciated - Proximity to work or home?

[BOTW]

Hi all - i'm a dad-to-be and trying to decide with my wife which hospital to choose for our ante natal appts, birth etc. She's 8 weeks gone and we've only recently found out - yay!

But then we realise we don't have much time to sit on our laurels.

We live in Wandsworth so Kingston, C+W and St Georges are the natural choices and the closest to home. I'm swayed by St Georges due to the NNU and wider/bigger range of maternity facilities there. However the wife works one tube stop away from UCH and tempted by the proximity to work for any appointments. It would require an hour off for UCH rather than a half day for St Georges.

Both look like they have great facilities and generally good reports. The most common grumble about St Georges is that it is very busy and getting a bed could be an issue. Not sure how that compares to UCH. Any experiences out there?

So the question is for those that have already been there. Did it make a big difference being close to home when it came to having your baby? My concern is that UCH is in central London so not sure if we'd have to get a cab as i have no idea where I would park and that it could take ages to get there if you need to go during rush hour.

The argument for UCH is that the labour could take a while anyway so an extra half hour or so in traffic isn't going to make that much of a difference vs the convenience you've had over the previous five months and a state of the art new facility.

Could you have travelled on for another 30-40 minutes? Or did you just want to get to the hospital asap. I'm also aware of mums being told to go home as they aren't ready so again, would we be stuck if we were not close to home?

So just to add to the mix is that her sister is due in September and already booked into UCH and has had a very positive experience to date. Add further to the mix that another sister is a Dr at UCH too but not an obstetrician but it does mean there's someone there who knows the systems and also can keep an eye out and make a few enquiries if need be.

My wife already feels a degree of familiarity with UCH having popped along to a few of the appointments with her sister but also recognises it may not be the best choice for her.

So any help/advice out there from your experiences is much appreciated.
Thanks very much

[blushingmare]

Have no experience of those hospitals, but I did chose to go for not my local hospital because of the experienced medical team and facilities I knew were there. The hospital was about half an hour away if in good traffic, but we're also in London so could take much longer. I have to say the issue of distance didn't even occur to me til I started antenatal classes and we started talking about early labour and when to go to hospital. Then the hospital being some distance away did cause me significant worries - in fact it was the main thing I stressed about in the last month or so! I was really worried about being in labour and stuck in traffic and the anxiety that would cause at an already stressful time, also as you say, the thought of driving all the way there in heavy traffic and then being told to go home again! As it turned out it wasn't an issue for me as they kept me in when I was only 1cm dilated due to complications and I was bloody glad I went for the specialist hospital as had a major medical emergency after delivery so was in the right place. So I would say make your choice based on the medical skill and expertise not based on convenience, whether that's convenience to home or work. 6 of us in our NCT group lived the same sort of distance from the hospital and we were all worried about not making it on time, but none of us had problems with that in the end. Good luck!

[TeaandHobnobs]

Congratulations!

Can you find out whether antenatal appointments will actually be held at the hospital?

St G is my nearest, but I chose St Thomas' for its proximity to work, only to find that my antenatal care was mainly done in the community (which for me actually meant at home or the clinic 2 streets over, so handy!). Only the 12 week scan was at the hospital.

Also consider that in an emergency, an ambulance would take you to the nearest hospital. But ordinarily you should have plenty of time, and are probably not that likely to need to go to the hospital in rush hour. However I haven't experienced that bit myself, so I've no idea what it's like!

In my case, I was hospitalised for three weeks before my DS was born, and being in central London meant it was easier for DH to visit before/after work (he said he would have seen much less of me if I'd been at George's). But this also meant a daily commute for me once DS was born while he stayed in the special care unit.

Maybe some things to think about?

[DuckWaddle]

Congratulations! Were those the hospitals the GP said were in your area. We live in clap jnc and were offered St George's, St Thomas' and Chelsea. We went for St George's and so far we've had good experiences but I haven't given birth yet!! Also consider where your midwife appts would be for each hospital- not sure if they alter depending on the hospital but you may want one close to home. There are reviews and ratings of each hospital on the NHS website too.

[Babygirlpw]

We have chosen St George's, and I am so far really pleased with the care.

I have shared care, so some of my appointments are at St George's, some with my GP and some with the community midwifes. Once you have your first couple of appointments under your belt, it's easy enough to get appointments for early morning - or at least that's what I have found. I haven't had any past in the middle day so far.
I think you opt for the hospital based on care, and work round whatever else you need too.

[Babygirlpw]

Oh and congratulations.

[RJandA]

I'd choose the one close to home.

Antenatal classes are a good chance to meet other parents in your area, and it can be a real lifeline for your wife to have other mums of newborns to meet up with in the early months - useful if those mums are local.

Towards the end of the pregnanacy your wife might have quite a few appointments when she'll be on maternity leave anyway - for example if the preganancy goes overdue, and at 40+ weeks she won't want to be traipsing across London for a sweep (look it up!).

Also, in early labour you might go in and be sent home if the labour isn't established - which will be quite frustrating if you've travelled a long way. If your wife or the baby needs to stay in for a few days after the birth then it will make a real difference to you to be able to get there and home easily.

Finally, I had a 10 minute cab ride in labour and it felt like forever - sitting on your bottom upright is not exactly the most comfortable position!

[minipie]

I also live in Wandsworth but work close to UCH. I've chosen St George's.

I'd repeat lots of the reasons above plus add some more:

1. St George's has a walk in unit where they do early scans if you have any concerns like bleeding prior to 12 weeks. This was a lifesaver for me. I don't know if UCH has the same, they may do. By the way, the midwives at St G have all been completely lovely so far.
   
   
2. Many of my antenatal appointments are with my GP (local to home) instead of the hospital. Some are with my local midwife team which again is close to my home (closer than St G). So if your wife went with UCH she could find that many appts aren't there anyway but are somewhere
   
   
3. Most of my St George's/midwife appointments have been reasonably early in the morning anyway (9 something) so haven't cut too much into the work day. When this hasn't been the case, I've been able to work from home before/after the appointment - would this be possible for your wife?
   
   
4. Lots of appointments in the late stages of pregnancy as someone says above, by which time your wife may well be at home on mat leave anyway.
   
   
5. Your wife could be in the hospital for several days depending on what happens at birth. If you are closer to home you can pop back easily and get replenishments of food/books/clothes etc. Plus if they don't allow overnight visitors (in St G this depends on what ward you are in), you will be able to be there with her and the baby much more of the time if you have a shorter journey to make each night.

[minipie]

Oops, 2) should say "somewhere less convenient" at the end.

[AAK1797]

I would NOT have wanted an extra 30 - 40 minutes drive to the hospital! I would go for the local one.

At either you may find you have to wait quite a while for appointments, even if they are first thing in the morning....

Plus all the reasons above. Am at Kingston for second baby, although have not actually been to the hospital yet as all scans and midwife appointments are somewhere else for me, but the care / service so far has been great and I know lots of people who have had babies at Kingston and were happy with it.

[BOTW]

Thank you all so much for those very helpful insights and experiences. Will mull over the points and may come back with a few more questions.

The wife is abroad on holiday at the mo, blissfully unaware of my concerns but i'd like to think we'll be able to make more of an informed choice once shes back.

Good luck with impending little ones!
Cheers all

[minipie]

Good luck and congratulations to you both too.

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

All I will say is that my hospital was only 5 minutes in the car and I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS FACT AS WHEN I WAS IN LABOUR! true, an extra 30-40 minutes isn't that much on a day to day basis, but it's another matter entirely when you are in hard labour, can't sit comfortably because it feels like you are trying to crap a bowling ball, and the pain is making you see stars. Add into that the fact your wife will almost certainly want to vomit (violently probably) at some point in your journey, and well, you get my meaning. Our local maternity unit has now closed and I will be delivering this baby at the nearest consultant unit which is about half an hour in the car, needless to say I am not looking forward to the trip!
Tbh she won't have that many appointments, they are generally 8w, 16w, 24w, 28w, 32,34 and 36w, and then weekly till baby arrives, but most women are on mat leave the last 4 weeks.. They may even be less in your area. Also, her work are obliged to give time off for appointments.

[Elpis]

When it comes to London traffic, I think the key is whether you have to cross the centre to get somewhere. We all know how long that can take - and Wandsworth-Bloomsbury really is quite a haul in rush hour. I chose UCH for both my pregnancies even though the Whittington is a lot closer - mostly because of its reputation and the specialist obstetrics it offers for a medical issue I have, but also because it's near work and still on the 'right' side of London. And it has largely lived up to its reputation. But when you have hospitals of the calibre of St Thomas' that are nearer, I'd go for them.

You can book NCT near you, rather than via the hospital, if they're organised enough to offer the classes in your suburb. They weren't in mine. But there will be lots of postnatal baby action in Wandsworth, I'm sure!

[ghislaine]

I had my antenatal care at UCLH as it was closest to my work, but I transferred to private care at around 35 weeks. I had hospital midwifery care (not eligible for community midwifery as I lived out of catchment) and the waiting times were LONG, sometimes over an hour. I can't imagine it would be very different at any big London hospital.

After the birth I was transferred into the care of the community midwives at King's. From UCLH to the Portland to King's was all very smooth. I don't think you have to deliver where you have your antenatal care, do you?

I wouldn't worry about hospitals for getting to meet other parents - use the NCT or check local forums (nappyvallet.net ? I think covers Wandsworth) for that.