Hospitals: St Thomas' vs UCLH

[yuls]

Hello,
I have just found out i am pregnant for the first time, great news

i am choosing a hospital for antenatal care now and would really appreciate any help.

i am considering either Guys & St Thomas' Hospital or Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital at UCLH (University Colledge London Hospital).

any help appreciated

Thanks

Don;t know UCH but I liked St Thoms v much - I know some of the staff there and they are v committed to women-centrered birth. Also have good hi tech stuff too. Short staffed, of course, as all London hosps are, but clean and well run. There's also the most fab view from the Home From Home Birth Centre there!

I'd really like to go with St Thomas' but have been told I can't because it is not within my PCT - unless I can make a case why I should. Anyone know what kind of case they might accept? A friend loved St Thomas' - but had a bad time at UCL.

Hi,

Firstly congratulations!!

I had a scan at St Thomas' and thought the staff there were great. Equipment was much better than my local hospital and midwife was really sweet. If I can swap I would do.

If you can, visit both Trusts before you decide.

Best wishes for your pregnancy.

Thank you all for your messages

Judy - I was told that if you're outside area they may accept you if you've previously been treated there for any problem (I was in the SANDS unit which is a bit of a drastic way to qualify).

Thanks Poppy34 -- no qualification there, fortunately... I'll keep thinking...

I had bad antenatal care at UCH - and at 39 weeks appt registrar wanted to give me a sweep to induce me - but was not worried about symptoms I had that were typical pre-eclampsia symptoms (he was talking about doing the sweep before I had a chance to talk to him about the other stuff, he thought that a sweep was standard at 39 weeks )

Pure fluke, next day I was speaking to a relative who worked at Tommies in the obs dept and almost in passing I just happened to get a second opinion off her as to how often were my pe symptoms just one of those things that occasionally are pe but not usually - as my doc had sent me home and told me to come back in a week or two.

She was horrified - said she would have maybe let me home if I had had a friend or dh with me but only to go and get my hospital bag, she would have admitted me there and then really. And bless her, she took me down to the hospital despite it being quite late at night and did the tests herself, I did have pe, was admitted and induced a couple of days later.

had fab care, and I'm sure the delivery rooms were a heck of a lot nicer than the ones at UCH - for a start they all had en suite toilets/shower rooms, rather than ones you had to go down the corridor to and that other people might be using or have left dirty and horrible (just due to the messy nature of labour and not being able to clean up after you as you would normally). That on its own would put me off from ever using UCH again (not sure if they have now changed this - definitely worth finding out) if I still lived in london. For me at least - being able to stagger over the loo when I needed, stay as long as I needed, have a bath, etc, all made a big difference to how well labour went.

My last St Thomas experience was extremely poor ranging from what could be considered as unimportant (no food or drink for 24 hours on day I was sent home) through to important stuff like misdiagnoses and lying staff and ward staff being I presume entirely agency since they were unable to operate machinery (needed name badge to swipe) and access drugs. There may have been some perm staff but they were presumably refusing to help the agency staff

I would go for uch

But worth considering the journey to both and how services are provided eg are you covered by comm midwives from both?

Oh Mrs M what makes you say St t is the best? (curious not challenging IYSWIM)

Sorry for lack of punctuation can't find the right button!!

Sorry again I would choose uch because of the positives I've heard not as St T avoidance IYSWIM

I had an excellent service from st Thomas's- quite a complicated labour where they diagnosed pre-eclampsia, UTI and back-to-back baby which ended in EMCS but for very good reasons.
I felt they made the right decisions at the right times and the consultant was amazing.
ALL the staff except for a few of the night midwives ( the only blip) were lovely and friendly and one night MW helped with feeding my son with a tiny tube as he was refusing to suck and I was going mental about it being all strung out without much sleep and baby blues - couldn't have done it without their support ( in for 6 days ).
I am going back there for this one and wouldn't have it any other way.
Good luck whichever you choose.