Whittington Vs The Royal Free

[YasK]

I’ve just found out we’re expecting our first baby. I’m around 5 weeks pregnant. We’ve been advised to contact the hospital we’d like to give birth at. Can I hear of experiences of giving birth Vs antenatal care at The Whittington and The Royal Free please? Thanks x

@YasK I don’t have any experience to go on but I’m in the same boat as you, just found out, 5 weeks and trying to choose the right hospital. I’ve looked at royal free Hampstead and Barnet and Whittington and all are the nearest to me and I am drawn more to the Whittington. The inspector report of the maternity ward was rated as good whereas royal free Rated ‘requires improvement’. Not sure if this helps you, but it did help me decide. Link to care quality commission inspector report:
www.cqc.org.uk/location/RKEQ4

Hi, thanks for your message. I’m now 10 weeks and 4 weeks back after ready reviews online I decided to go for Whittington :) I’ve since been to my first midwife appointment there (last Thursday) and it was a nice informative experience so, so far so good :) good luck with your pregnancy. Perhaps our paths will cross during appointments/scans xxx

I had my baby at the Whittington, I was very happy with my care during the actual birth other than a really awful experience with the anaesthetist. I also think my community midwife failed to get my diagnosed with GD. We were also able to have my husband on the postnatal ward after birth which was unusual in 2021!

Ooh this takes me back, I had both of mine at the Whittington!

It was years ago so I'm probably not the best person to ask for recent experiences . However I had one induction/birth in the labour ward and one in the birth centre so can give you experiences of both.

The birth centre, or whatever they're calling it now, was lovely. Staff were fab and since my labour was straightforward it was all quite relaxed. Had to stay overnight but that was fine - DH stayed too, we had a double bed and he snored the entire frigging night . I couldn't sleep, damn those birth hormones, so stayed up all night staring at my incomparably beautiful baby, who in retrospect closely resembled a potato.

The labour ward was a labour ward - they do their job well but don't go in with too many expectations!

@ScrambledSmegs @ricketybeauty thank you I will go in with an open mind 👍🏻

@YasK oh great that you has a good visit, mine is end of March 🤞🏻 Good luck with hour pregnancy too! Our paths may indeed cross, you never know xx

Done both. Pre-birth both great. Post-birth both not.

So not sure which I preferred. Maybe the Whittington as we got a private room. Also second child so less scary generally.

Good luck OP!

I had dd at the Whittington, although 14 yrs ago. She ended up in NICU for a week, and as I'd had a C section they let me stay in a private room off the main ward for the whole time she was in there. I was happy with all my ante and post natal care, particularly during that very stressful week she was in NiCU.

@YasK I've read in some older threads that at Whittington you get the same midwife throughout. Do you know if it's still the case? I'm about to self refer and can't choose between Whittington and UCLH