Hospital choices for Borough of Wandsworth

[Ali79]

Hi there
I'm first time pregnant- 5 weeks- and was horrified to be told by my GP today that I have to choose where I want to give birth asap! He has only given me two options: St George's in Tooting and Chelsea and Westminster. I've read better reviews about the latter...although good to hear other mums' views.
And are there any Wandsworth residents out there who know what the other options are?

Hi,

I used to live in Wandsworth until recently and was given a choice of George's, Chelsea and St Thomas' for both pregnancies.

If you're unhappy you can always apply for other boroughs - I was accepted at Kingston second time round as I had a bad time at Thomas'.

Will say about St George's (where I started off my care and scans before transferring each time about halfway through my PG's) the post-natal ward isn't the prettiest but it is good at what is does, many friends have given birth there and most have had good experiences.

Chelsea is seen as a bit posher (probably it's proximity to Carluccio's) but I've heard awful things about after-care from everyone except my friend who had a special care baby there - she had great support but I think if you're a normal birth the after-care is pretty crap. As was Thomas'.

Central London Hospitals in general are all oversubscribed and you have to be prepared to fend for yourself a lot I have found, which is why I went to Kingston, I felt they treated me more like a human being there. Loads of tips/support to be found on here though, and it should only be a day or two hopefully.

Congratulation BTW!

Ali

1. don't let your GP stress you out
2. have you considered a homebirth?
3. you can make any old decision as it's just something for the doctor to put on a form and then change your mind later

I went to St Georges in 2008 and had a great time and if I wasn't hoping to have a home birth for any subsequent children i'd go there again.

St Georges, every time. It's also a teaching hospital, so has a lot of expertise there. They also opened a birthing suite a few years ago. Also very, very good EPU.

The parking at C&W is dreadful - just getting into the carpark took so long I went into my first scan alone while DP parked the car - a bit of a worry if there's nowhere to park if you're in the throws of labour! I too have heard terrible after-care stories. I booked in there for DC3 but changed to St Georges and was glad I did. Wonderful MWs.

I've also heard good things about Kingston.

Hi there, I am also a wandsworth lady! I got the option of Kingston too which I went for. Hope that this helps

I'm towards the north of the borough, so went to St Thomas's - simply because it was both the nearest and simplest to get to.

The big London hospitals are pretty similar really, and I've heard good and bad things about all of them, each in pretty similar measure.

I would urge you to think carefully about the journey to the hospital: crossing The Thames might not be your idea of fun, and depending on your route, would you fancy C&W when Chelsea are playing at home?

Actually yes, and you attend all your anti-natal appts at C&W which means either train/tube/bus/congestion charge.

Thomas' have midwives in the area. All discharge you to St Georges midwives after the HV has stopped coming.

Hi there
Thank you for all these tips. I guess the only reason we were thinkin C&W is because it's closer towards work for us both, so more convenient for at least a couple of scans, but beyond that it probably doesn't matter so perhaps I should consider St George's, which I assume is near Tooting Broadway tube Northern Line?

Also, re being able to change later- does is cause delays in future scans etc.? Or can I go to C&W for my 12 week, see how I feel and then asked to be transferred with no knock on impact in terms of timings?

St Georges post-natal isn't great but with a bit of luck you won't be in long and the ante-natal care is great. Also they have an excellent SCBU should anything (god forbid) go wrong. It's about a 5 min walk (waddle!) from Tooting Broadway. My dd1 was born there.

Whereabouts in the borough are you? You should also be able to go to Kingston (many friends there had great experiences) or Thomas's.

I'm Putney-based and have had 4 with C & W, 3 in the hospital and one at home with their Putney team. C & W is great in many ways. For the last baby, they'd brought in extra local teams of midwives so you hardly go to the hospital before the baby if it's a normal pregnancy - just scans, really - and all the regular midwife appts are local to you. For me that was about 4 streets away and in fact the midwives did 2 of the routine appts at my house which made life even easier!

Scans at C & W are very good, differing from many of my friends' reports of other London hospitals in that they run on time - I hate waiting ... far too exciting!! I don't know what the other local teams are like but the Putney-based team is outstanding.

I had 3 awkward deliveries in the labour ward and the labour team on site were fab every time. The homebirth team that came out (3 cos they had a student too) were brilliant as well. It's really a case of the NHS at its very, very best.

Downsides of C & W: it's in the congestion zone (western extension - isn't Boris supposed to be doing away with that ...?) and some people have issues with parking (I've been zillions of times - 4 babies and cancer - and I have NEVER had a problem so I think it's a sometimes-thing.) Post-nataly they've got extra midwives on at night now to try to get away from the crap reputation they had for their post-natal ward, plus various other measures. Not sure how that's going but generally London hospitals have a poor reputation post-nataly bar Kingston which is blessed with many single rooms so at least you get to sleep when yr baby sleeps unlike in a noisy ward.

You can self-refer on their website - I didn't see the GP last time at all - and I guess you can do that with Kingston etc as well so you could just choose, ring them up/go online and self-refer. I believe you can change quite easily later in the pregnancy providing the hospital hasn't filled it's quota for the period you're due (Kingston's normally booked up well in advance).

Had both of mine at C&W- one in 2007 and one in 2009.
Couldn't fault them really. Both mine were born a few weeks early so needed a bit more help and I was in for 5 nights and 9 nights.

Ante natal care was great as I never had to go to the hospital- saw all the midwives in Putney round the corner from where I live.

Labour was great (apart form the pain obviously...). Never left alone etc.

Postnatally was fine. Sometimes a little bit stretched but nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be.

No problems with parking really either.

I would recommend them! Good luck

I'm Wandsworth based and had DS at C&W and will have DC2 there in November.

All my regular MW appts were (and are) at community-based clinics, not at the hospital, so it's not the case that you have to go in for every visit. Initial bloods and both scans were at hospital, and my visit to VBAC clinic there, too. Otherwise, have seen my team MWs locally.

Re parking: I've never had a problem parking there or travelling in. When DS was born, my DH was able to drop me off at the main entrance and then parked and met me in labour ward. I had a doula, so was not alone whilst making way to ward. Also, they validate your parking when you go into labour! :) Nice touch. (I wouldn't personally choose my hospital b/c of parking issues, but maybe more important for some.)

As for care, have been happy with all MWs (very hands off 2nd time around, but usual story) and experiences pre and during labour and delivery. After care was unexceptional, but I have heard that from 99% of mothers, no matter which hospital, St Georges included.

Consultants I've had contact with at C&W very good and attentive, too. Also, care from antenatal screening department very sensitive and caring. And VBAC clinic lead MW fab.

Have some experience with St Georges EPU and they are very good there. If you have any issues/concerns before you are booked in at a hospital, go there. You can self refer.

FWIW, I know a couple people who have had very good experiences at Kingston. Not sure if they let you tour wards, though, and that would be important to me.

That's true, at Kingston you are told you can watch a video in reception of the wards etc.

TBH though, most tours will show you the birthing areas then whisk you past the post-natal wards. Now I've had two babies I can understand why, the last thing you want when you are recovering is a group of expectant mums and dads paraded past you! [hsmile]

Thank you all for the comprehensive info about C&W. Am feeling much more confident about this now.

Jfly- I had to go to EPU in St George's this week as had a bit of bleeding- all fine though :-) they were excellent; prompt and really caring. But I'm a bit confused about the community based clinic option. At what point do you get that choice? Do the MWs in C&W ask you when you go in for your booking appointment at 12 weeks or should I be doing something now?

You could ring the antenatal dept reception and ask them about the community-based teams. With my last pregnancy I didn't hear anything from C & W so at about 11 weeks, knowing the cut off point for NT scans to be 13 weeks ish, I rang the reception and they set it all up there and then - the scan appt and the referral to the community team ... who came to my house for the booking appt (bonus!).

The antenatal reception has periods when it's extremely busy and periods when it's a bit quieter so if they don't answer straight away or ask you to hold, don't be put off - they're very efficient once they get going!

It wasn't a matter of choice, as far as I know, I was just told that's where my MW appts would be. I assume you are assigned a team (mine is the Elm team) of MW at your booking in appt and perhaps that team is based on your address? Ask the antenatal dept if you need to know before your booking in appt.

My booking in appts for both pregnancies were prior to 12 weeks. My GP faxed off a form to C&W, then the antenatal dept sent me a letter with a booking in appt. (Around 8 or 10 weeks, I think.) Then I was sent another letter for the 12 week scan appt.