Can I change maternity hospital at this point ?

[byuppin]

I'm due to have a planned section in around 6 weeks time.

I've been in one hospital since booking in, but just haven't had a good experience throughout.

Various reasons really, but I just don't feel amazing about it all.

I've been comparing it with when I had my first baby at a different hospital and the people I've dealt with have been rude, negligent and non caring in this new hospital.

They've done stuff like telling us there's something wrong with our baby in the middle of a waiting room, not letting me know they found an infection in my urine for two months and just generally at most appointments ( not all ) I've found some midwives really lacking any kind of nice way of dealing with me. There have been lovely midwives, but a few haven't been nice. This makes me worry what the aftermath of the birth will be like.

I just very much preferred the experience at my last hospital and would like to go back there or to another one nearer to where I live now. I only moved hospital because I moved house. Otherwise I would have stuck to the previous hospital.

Can one move hospital at this stage ? They're all London hospitals, so whilst the one I've chosen now is the closest to my house, I can use others. I would just have to travel a bit more.

[quote LittleGwyneth]@exceptmeandmymonkey that has REALLY put the fear in me. Do you have any advice for how someone might avoid that happening to them?[/quote]
Sorry, I would not intend at all to cause you distress. I can imagine you are quite anxious given the circumstances.

I'm honestly not sure what you can do because it's not like you can easily speak to a midwife at a prospective hospital, get them to confirm a c-section date, or commit to a plan if a date is not available. My situation was very bad luck though b/c I was already in the antenatal ward with a failed induction; I would guess if I were on the stand-by list I would have been waiting comfortably at home for a call the night before a slot was free.

We had to move to a new hospital because we moved several counties away. If I were in your position and 33 weeks along, I would probably honestly stay at my current hospital rather than move to a new hospital where you don't know if it will be better (maternity is overstretched everywhere) and at least at your current hospital you know you have a booked date. I can understand though, why you want to leave.

Best of luck.

Hi - where is the new hospital? Reason to ask is I think there can be quite a difference in care between outpatients and I patients at a hospital so maybe someone can reassure you how the actual ward is.

But you can change - I changed at 8 weeks to go due to a house move and due to the timing I was advised to submit my request to the new hospital using their online form system and phone the admin team directly once I had sent the form. I spoke the admin team at the new hospital before I moved to get advice

I made a switch at 38 weeks and it was no problem.
Re the car seat, this wouldn't be an issue if you got a taxi back as they don't need to be in car seats, so that might be a solution if you want to go back to UCLH? (NB - you do need a car seat for Uber though)

@exceptmeandmymonkey I think I'm just going to start pushing and pushing for a date. Thank you for your wisdom!

@georgarina

I would definitely change especially as you are having a planned section, so you will be making a planned journey anyway so the travel time is less of an issue.

Giving birth is really the time that you need to feel you are getting the best care possible. No way was I going to my local hospital, I went to one further away but with an excellent reputation and had outstanding care both times.

Having seen the hospitals - I was referring to Royal Free and UCLH

@exceptmeandmymonkey - are you me? I went 4 days after a failed induction too. I went 22hrs nil by mouth waiting for a c-section slot some of it sat in a corridor with no monitoring- hence not feeling safe. Fortunately the hospital got more staff once they secured a TV documentary.

London hospitals have a shared policy about not accepting a transfer of care past a certain gestation (I think 36 weeks) unless exceptional circumstances (eg moved miles from original hospital) so I’d do it quick.

[quote Hathertonhariden]@exceptmeandmymonkey - are you me? I went 4 days after a failed induction too. I went 22hrs nil by mouth waiting for a c-section slot some of it sat in a corridor with no monitoring- hence not feeling safe. Fortunately the hospital got more staff once they secured a TV documentary.[/quote]
It was horrible. Wrote a complaint and would never go to UCLH again, even if I had to drag my carcass down the pavement to a different hospital. C&W was loads better and a friend had a good experience at Royal Free.

I’d do it but quickly as well. We were based in Crystal Palace when I had my first and my NCT group was a mix of hospitals across London - I think between 7 of us we were booked in at 5 different ones? I was the only one at St Georges and had a good experience with care etc but the experiences really varied and it made me more mindful second time around about picking a Hospital (we moved in between babies). I used to think care in the NHS was all much of a muchness (overstretched but generally well meaning) but comparing our experiences post birth I realised there were huge differences. Also if you’re having an ELCS the distance would bother me far less - no concerns about driving 1hr+ in traffic in Labour! (I was very lucky DD decided to get going in the middle of the night so we did Crystal Palace to Tooting in about 20 mins )

I’ve been to few in north/central London and the best care I had was North Mid. They have a dedicated birthing centre so was worth the extra distance for me! Staff were amazing.

Definitely change. I did at 39 weeks to a hospital over an hour away (both were London hospitals - but that won't make a difference you can choose any history in the country) and it was the best decision that I made. My little one ended up needing to to ICU - and honestly now having had experience of the original hospital - it would have broken me.

If you're worried about the journey home - you can stop off a few times or (if you haven't already purchased your car seat) there area free car seats that lie flat in the car.