Hospitals in North London

[chat4]

Hi, I need to select a hospital by early next week.

I live in North London and my GP has suggested The Royal Free, UCH and St Marys.

The nearest to home is The Royal Free but the other two are not too far.

I would really appreciate any advice from mums who have recent experience of these hospitals.

Thankyou!

[domesticslattern]

Hi chat4 and congrats on your pregnancy.

If you do a MN search you'll find comments on these hospitals. My usual advice is to go for the easiest one to get to. That saved us a lot of time when we had to go back into hospital after DD was born. (I don't mean to worry you, but it's not uncommon eg. if they aren't feeding well, you can be in and out a bit)

Did your GP also mention that you can go and look around the hospitals to see what you think? They usually do tours.

[elkiedee]

I'd have to agree with domesticslattern, dp and I don't drive so I chose the Whittington because it's easier from home/work by public transport than my nearest, North Middlesex. However, the North Mid would probably be better for car users as parking is much easier. I don't imagine that parking is easy at any of the three hospitals you'd be looking at, but if this is an issue for you, I would ask about it.

[zonedout]

i gave birth to ds2 (10 months) at the royal free as it was my closest hospital and i knew/know it well from previous illness. i didn't have a great experience there and post-natal care was shocking. however, uch has a far better reputation for maternity care (and paediatrics too). sorry, don't know much about st mary's.

[Aranea]

I have given birth at the Royal Free and had a bad experience. I have heard a lot of negative things about it since, and would not recommend it to anyone.

I have heard lots of good things about UCH.

[designerbaby]

Elkiedee and anyone else in N. London - please don't touch North Middlesex with a BARGEPOLE. Ancient, decrepit, filthy, irresponsible, inadequate, unprofessional, oh I could go on for hours... the catalogue of errors and unprofessionalism, and the heartache and trauma they caused us with DD1 (and that was just booking and 12 week scan!) I wouldn't want anyone else to risk going through. Just bloody awful.

And the parking costs a fortune.

Sorry chat4, I know it wasn't on your list, and Elkie just [phew] that you chose the Whit. Just wanted to flag that in case anyone else umming and ahhing in the North London area popped in and it might have been on theirs...

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Hijack and rant over.

db
xx

[WobblyPig]

Having worked at many hospitals in North London although not given birth in them, I owuld avoid RFH and North Midd like the plague. I still work at RFH and wouldn't have given birth there if I had gone into labour there. North Midd is infamous for its general yukiness from the insiders viewpoint.
I have a soft spot for both Whittington and UCH - but only from having worked there .

[MrsHappy]

I haven't given birth in N London (yet!) but have a bit of experience of some of the hospitals.

I have chosen the Whitt for this birth because it is nearest (although I have received some excellent care from the staff in the UCH EPAU in the past and if I wanted a section that is where I would go). So far at the Whitt there are things that have been crap and things that have been great, but the impression I get is that most of the staff are pretty good and they appear perhaps a bit less stretched than at other hospitals (although I bet they are just as busy)! Many of the consultants have a very good reputation if you ask other mums. And the Whitt has recently opened a new birth centre which is worth a look if you can get in.

They also run local AN clinics, so if you are nearby you can avoid going to the hospital which has been good for me because I find hospitals very stressful places.

[chat4]

Hi thankyou for all the replies, this has really helped thankyou! whilst RFH is most convenient locationally I had some concerns, its seems as though UCH is a better choice.

Thankyou again! Its all so new! x