did you have your baby in Whittington Hospital? What was it like?

[babynelly2010]

Hello,

I am pregnant in second tri and currently scheduled to deliver at Whittington Hospital.
I am going on the tour next Saturday.
I know they have birthing centere and maternity ward which i hear both are very good.
I have some concerns. I am not afraid of pain as much as I am afraid of people near me in pain. I get easily influenced by that. This will be my first time staying at the hospital.
Could you share your Whittington hospital experience with me? Did you give birth in the ward or in the birthing centre? How much privacy did you have? Did you have a private room?

Thank you.

Thanks Cardamomginger! I think I'm going to push for a VBAC waterbirth in the lovely new birthing centre, wish me luck!

Sounds like the rest of the hospital hasn't changed that much :(

Our son was born in the birth centre in April 2011. Having spent a night on the antenatal ward at 34 weeks, I was really hoping I would not have to come back to it. How can people recover from anything while hearing other women being induced or having their various procedures discussed?

The birth centre was fantastic. I arrived at 9am and DS was born at 3pm. I had the same (male) student midwife and another midwife all the way through the process. I was a bit surprised initially but then really glad to have a man there to help me out of the birthing pool when my labour wasn't progressing.

The midwives did all the work - from looking after the baby, me, cleaning, bringing me tea... and I think that makes a huge difference: you just see two people per shift rather than ten. I also received immediate help with breastfeeding and I'm pleased to report that DS hasn't seen a drop of formula up to this day.

I was told they stopped the tours of the birth centre but you may still be shown around if you have your antenatal class at the Whittington and there is not too much going on in the birth centre.

Regarding the length of your stay: the birth centre will keep you for as long as needed if there is nobody else waiting and you/your baby don't need any special care but it is getting increasingly popular.

Any more recent experiences of C-Sections and post natal care at The Whittington?

I've never heard a bad story about the Whit, although I didn't have my babies there.

UCLH for a c-section every time, imo! Best surgeons in the country.

Hi Cremedelacreme,
Don't mean to hijack the thread, but if you had such an awful experience last time, would you not consider the RFree? We have a dedicated clinic for mum's who have had a previous CS (whether they want an el.CS or a VBAC) & have have supported some of our mothers who have laboured and delivered on the Birth Centre & in the Birthing Pool !!
SC

Any more recent experiences of C-Sections at The Whittington? Are they open to choosing elective C-sections?

All I can say is try and go for a natural delivery in the birth centre so can be discharged after 6 hours. The post natal ward is hell on earth . The midwives are awful, there is no space and its hotter than the sun. If you are induced, the induction ward (cearns) is alright but the midwifes are a bit clueless there too IMO. That said, my friend had a normal delivery on birth centre and loved it xx

Im booked into the Whittington but im thinking more home birth. I don't like the policies on induction & monitoring during pregnancy and labour for older mothers.

whats their policy for induction?

I'm having a section there on the 7th October (had an emcs there in Jan 11) so will feed back. Main change in policy is that partners can now stay overnight in post natal which I'm looking forward to. I certainly didn't find Celier ward (post natal) 'hell on earth' in 2011 and I was there for 7 days! I spent a night on the antenatal ward (Murray) 2 weeks ago and it was fine, as good as could be expected.

Sorry, I had no problem getting an elcs agreed, but I do have clinical indication for it.

I gave birth there earlier this year. It's very busy but everyone I saw - especially the midwives - was kind and competent. Am glad I chose it.

thanks everyone, makes me feel relieved.

PseudoBadge, many best wishes for 7 October and look forward to hearing from you!

Gave birth there 8.5 weeks ago, in the birthing centre. It was amazing! The birth went exactly to plan, the midwives were brilliant. There was 1 midwife with us the whole time (occasionally popping outside), 1 more right towards the end when she thought she might need back up, and a third when baby was delivered, possibly a forth during stitching but I was pretty out of it by then so can't be sure.

The facilities were great, I had a water birth, had a private toilet and shower and double bed in there, gave birth at 6.30am and got to stay in the room and sleep relatively undisturbed all day with my husband.

I will definitely go there for my second.