London Hospital Help!!

[Ana03]

Hello All- I began my care at Chelsea Westminster hospital but, have not really liked the care I have received and after the hospital tour a few weeks back I decided to look into other options (overall bad feeling). I am not from the UK so wasn?t aware I even had a choice until I took my NCT class. My GP just said my hospital would be CW and I just assumed that is how it all worked. I now have the option of transferring to St Mary?s, hopefully the birth centre wing. Can anyone share experiences at both hospitals?? I need to make a decision this Friday and I am 36 weeks on!! Thank you!

I am having ante-natal care at C&W - haven't seen labour ward. What was it that you didn't like?

I have had received several iffy reports about St Marys ante-natal. I.E when my friend had her son there was blood up the walls! but this is not first hand experience.
I ended up having my DD at Queen Charlottes birthing centre and was very pleased with my experience and care.

I went to St thomas' which was dreadful, this is 6 years ago though, I can only hope it has improved.

I know quite a few people who went to St georges if not too far away and seemed to all have pretty good experiences.

Its the postnatal wards you need to watch out for so if you have a straightforward pregnancy and birth and don't need to stay in it possibly doesn't matter as much.

It may be harder for me since I have been used to seeing one doctor for all things in the States... Since I have been going to CW I haven't seen the same person once and none of them have given me more than 20 min. I also never really felt comfortable asking questions as I always felt I was being pushed out. About a month ago I suddenly got a bad UTI and when I rung CW they said sleep it off and take some paracetamol. I rang my GP the next day got an appointment and she couldn't believe I had waited more than a day to see a doctor. I was put on 2 weeks of antibiotics but was really sick for over a week. The hospital tour was the last straw for me and what really put me in a panic. The woman giving the tour could not have been less interested. The rooms felt dirty and paint was coming off walls. None of the rooms have private bathrooms and all the women in the wards looked miserable and all on top of each other. The worst part was the post natal 3 bays of 6 beds I believe and 2 bathrooms. We were told on the tour to bring our own cleaning supplies for the bathroom along with flip flops for the showers?! What also really scared me was how short the visiting hours are... If you have the baby in the middle of the night and are moved to the post natal ward straight away, your partner must leave and you are left alone with the baby... However if you have 820 pounds to spare and a room is available you could move into the private Kensington wing.

All above and encouragement from my NCT class teacher led me to look into other hospitals. At this point St Mary's is my only other option. The hospital ward was slightly better than CW, more room and less beds in the postnatal area. My hope is to get into the birthing centre there which is really nice and more of what I used to (private bathroom).

Hope this helps...

Gosh. Thanks so much for sharing. My pregnancy is high risk and so the ante natal care I am receiving is absolutely wonderful. I will be having a cs and am petrified of what will happen on the post natal ward. I have been told that me and baby will have to stay in longer. I really hope that I get a separate room.

All the best with finding a hospital. If your birth is straightforward you should be out after a day.

At the end of the day I think it is a toss up. You can have a positive or negative experience no matter where you go. I am just going on what I have experienced and seen to date.

sh77 you may be better off if you are having a c-section, I believe they do have 3 private rooms in the postnatal area they save for high risk/c-section patients.

Good luck!!

i recently had a baby at the C&W;Ana03 you are quite wrong about quite a few things.

Lots of the labour rooms do have private bathrooms (mine did; i used it!). At very worst it is one bathroom between two rooms; the door locks so its highly unlinkely to cause you any kind of problem if you are unlucky enough to have to share. Also, i see you are interested in the birthing suite at St Marys. For certain the active birth rooms at c&w (i think there are 3) all have their own bathrooms.

Whilst obviously on a postnatal ward you cannot have vistors in the middle of the night as everyone else is trying to sleep, your partner/relatives wont be sent home if you have the baby in the middle of the night; i stayed in my labour room with my husband and parents for many hours after giving birth; they only left and transferred me onto the ward when i was ready. My husband was allowed to stay outside visiting hours, but with the curtains around and speaking very quietly. Completely reasonable i think!

Unless your pregnancy is high risk, you wont see the same health professional twice in any london hospital (unless by chance). Having lived in the states myself, you just won't get the same style of care here unless you can pay to go private.

I too heard horror stories about cleanliness however found the bathrooms that service the wards perfectly clean. As for flip flops; would you use them at the pool? Its just the same thing.

The midwives and doctors were wonderful; my midwife literally never left the room throughout the whole of my labour, and i had a bog standard, complication free labour. I was genuinely amazed at the level of care i received. I would return to the C&W for my next baby in a heartbeat.

You ulitmately must go to the place you feel the most comfortabel, but i just wanted to offer some balance for anyone else who is due to give birth at the C&W. Any specific questions, jsut ask

I had DS at C&W 3 years ago. I COMPLETELY agree with all the points that Chestnut has posted, my experience was identical. I had a bathroom with lock, DP stayed until we were ready for him to leave, bathrooms clean, brilliant midwife and student DR who stayed with me for my entire (long!) labour.

I saw different midwives and consultants as part of antenatal care - not ideal but they did pick up and deal with any issues I had - huge baby, low lying placenta, low blood pressure to name but a few of my ailments!

My post natal care was not brilliant but I have yet to meet a mother in London who has been satisfied with her post-natal care! I would advise a post natal Doula to support you if you can afford it.

At C&W my birth all went a bit tits up when DS got stuck (he was huge). A cast of thousands (well DP counted 10 people in the room!) descended to get DS out and breathing despite the fact the entire huge labour ward, 2 C/Section operating theatres and all birthing suites were full. I was so so impressed and grateful.

I would have any future DC there, no worries.

Absolutely agree with Chestnut and Mr Toad. I'm going to C&W again for DC2 (am 34 weeks).

FWIW, I'm American, so I get where you're coming from, although DS was my first baby so had no US experience of maternity care to compare to.

What you described sounds fairly normal for antenatal care at C&W and other London hospitals. Apart from missing a UTI, which is not good, certainly. I met about 8 or 9 MWs in my first pg, none of whom I saw during labour. Part and parcel of style of care here. Some were better than others, I agree.

If you were put off by hospital tour (and I admit I was) go look at another. I also toured St Georges and found they were much of muchness. You will find peeling paint in many hospitals, I suspect.

I had a bathroom to myself in the labour unit and was attached to pool room, as well. Unfortunately, I ended up with a EMCS due to placental abruption. The staff couldn't have been better during the whole experience.

Post-natal wards are unpleasant, they just are. But, hopefully you won't be there very long. With a CS I was there for 3 days. Not great, but hey ho. I have heard the same reports from mums at other London hospitals, so not sure what you will find elsewhere.

Remember, C&W (and Georges, maybe Thomas's?) are teaching hospitals and have many experts in the field. If things go tits up, that's where you want to be, en-suite bathrooms or not.

Also, I can heartily recommend a doula if you want continuity of care during labour. It made a huge difference to both my DH and I and I am having same doula again. Good luck with your choice, I know that it is an uncertain time and hard to face the unknown!

Good advice about doing a tour of another hospital - I had a look round St Marys (paddington) when I was PG and it was also quite tatty. All my Mum friends have their babies at Queen Charlottes (we are just round the corner!) and they also complain about the state of the wards and post natal care!

I'm booked for 3rd delivery at C&W in Feb and I have had very positive experiences. Having said that every birth experience is different, and as others have said you need to book where you feel comfortable. Going into hospital stressed before you even give birth will make the whole process much harder.

I had a single room after DS2 as there was one available, which meant my own bathroom and peace, it was lovely and the midwives popped in frequently to see how we were getting on.

The ante-natal wards have come under lots of criticism and have improved a lot since I had DS1 in 2005.

Book where you feel happy and comfortable, but C&W might not be as bad as you think!

Good luck.

I wanted to add that once I was transferred to the post-natal ward after my CS, I was there for about 4 hours before I was told I could have my own room (with own bathroom). This wasn't b/c I had a CS but b/c DS was in the NICU for observation. Apparently, b/c I didn't "have my baby", they wanted to give me some privacy (or maybe they were concerned I'd be upset by hearing/seeing other babies on the ward). Once I got DS back (only later that same day!) they didn't move me. I suspect it was b/c they were so busy on the main wards there wasn't room.

It was a great improvement on the main ward, especially for the noise factor. But I would imagine getting a private room was an exception, rather than the rule. As nice as it was, they forgot to feed me a couple times! I think it was b/c I was out of sight, out of mind. Thankfully DH could bring me some nice treats from Carluccios. :)

Will be giving birth there in March (all going well. Thanks everyone for posting their experiences. Really helpful.

Did anyone have a CS on a Friday? If so, were you happy with the level of care over the weekend?

I don't think there is a single NHS hospital which has had universally good reviews. I think it is down to timing and staff there on the day.

My CS was 2am Thurs. Friday was Good Friday and I was discharged midday on Saturday. (It was snowing!) They were very busy, but MW were available when I needed them and I saw paed without delay when was ready to go home.

I have worked at cw just to clarify a few things only one the labour rooms (room 5) and one of the birthing rooms (room 1) have own bathrooms. The pool room bathrooms in birthing unit and labour ward are actually interconncing bewteen the adjoining rooms as are the rest of the bathrooms.

The single rooms on postnatal ward are not reserved for c-sections! they are usually given to mums with twins or with baby's on nicu. B bay on the ward is usually full of c-section. There are 3 bathrooms on postnatal ward.

20 minutes antenatal appt are standard in the nhs as is unfortunately not having continuity of care.

The birth centre at st mary's is wonderful! (I used to work there too)

btw if the surroundings are so important to you why not give birth at home no visiting hours to worry about and our own bed and bathroom!

Well, then I clearly was wrong about being attached to the pool room, as my bathroom was definitely private. It was more of a cloakroom, so only one door and that was only accessible from the main room. Luck of the draw, but truly when you are in labour you aren't really that concerned about bathroom layout.

This is a really interesting thread. Thank you.

Currenlty I'm booked at UCHL, however we have just moved south of the river, and now I have to pick Kingston or C&W?? A friend who's due 3 days after me, has moved from C&W to UCHL due to it being closer for her. However when I spoken with her she said UCHL was much better, cleaner and she just liked it more. Said that C&W was old, dirty and not as light.

I don't know what to do, stay at UCHL and hope baby doesn't arrive at 5pm on a Friday or just go for Kingston or C&W?? The care i've had a UCH is brilliant and i'm not sure if I want to move....? Will speak with my GP but i'm sure he will suggest a 'local' hospital.

Again, go tour the hospitals. Talk to people who have had babies at them. Also look at <a class="break-all" href="http://www.birthchoiceuk.com/BirthChoiceUKFrame.htm?www.birthchoiceuk.com/Tables/Table3_LON.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Birth Choice website.

Do some research, and don't worry too much about aesthetics. I was concerned about the bleakness of the hospitals when I first toured. But I was reassured that it is about the care, in the end. Hospitals are not particularly pleasant places to be, full stop. Saying that, C&W feels quite modern and has a nice bright atrium, so not sure what your friend is referring, too.

And I would strongly suggest choosing a hospital that isn't across London from you. Not only for getting there "in time" but also for your DH coming to visit. If you have to stay for a couple days, it will mean a longer journey for him and the hassle of traffic and whatever else. Just something to consider.

Just like to add that had both mine at C&W and both were great.
Completely agree with everything Chestnut said as well.
I actually fety I did have continuity ante-natally as I had all my appointments at a clinic in Putney and often saw the same MWs. I then saw a fair few of them on the labour ward too.
Both of mine were a few weeks early and we had great help in labours-an army of staff!
I was given a private room when DS was in NICU for a couple of days and then moved out when someone else needed it more. I was moved back in a couple of days later when he was very jaundiced. To be honest, I sometimes liked it on the ward more. I felt a bit isolated in my own room especially as DH wasn't visiting as much because DD was at home.
(We were allowed to stay in the labour room for hours when DD was born and then he stayed on the ward well after visiting hours (very quietly).
Re the decor etc- I had to go with DD to the Cromwell recently, a private hospital in Knightsbridge. Apart from the Molton Brown toiletries and tea and toast on tap there wasn't much difference in the rooms at all, both a bit scruffy!
You will always get good and bad stories about every hospital I think.