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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Portland Hospital vs Kensington Wing - Recent experiences?

57 replies

skandi1 · 05/11/2010 13:18

Newly pregnant again and happy to pay to avoid UCLH (again! First time was pretty shocking.).

Given distances, Portland is closest but heard bad things about it and wondering if anyone here can put me in the picture on their recent performance please?

Kensington Wing at Chelsea and Westminster sounds good - anyone here tried it?

Please let me know what you thought of them and whether you thought it was worth the extortionate prices. Or whether I should just hotfoot it back to UCLH and suffer the awful postnatal ward.

tyia

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OkieCokie · 05/11/2010 13:59

I am scheduled to give birth to my 2nd at the Ken Wing at C&W any day now. I looked at Portland but went with Ken wing due to closeness (DH can't even find his way to the end of our road sometimes!) and the fact there is a neonatal ward on site too. I dreaded the thought of having a c-section and my baby being transferred to another hospital and me not being able to go with him/her. I gave birth first time around via the NHS system and despite having a pretty hideous time (assisted forceps delivery and PPPH resulting in a spell in HDU) I thought the care was fine when needed. However, psychologically I feel far better being with a different hospital this time.

I have been very pleased with the care so far at the Kensington Wing. You can opt for MW led care or CL care. If you choose CL care you need to call the ward and ask for the list of the consultants and call each secretary to see who has space when you are due. I did this pretty quickly as they do get booked up far in advance. MW led care is also fine if you qualify but you don't get the same MW throughout your pregnancy. CL led care offers consistency of care with one person, a midwife available to you throughout your birth and the consultant does all examines and delivers baby. Despite being CL led my birth plan is to have an active and water birth so if that is your idea check with the consultants if they are pro water birth (some are not!) I would be happy to come back and give a full account of the experience once this one arrives!

Hope this helps a bit

skandi1 · 05/11/2010 14:12

Thank you Okie! That helps.

Had obstructed labour and emergency c section last time so doubt I would qualify for midwife led care anyway.

Out of interest, do you think you will get change out of £10k by the end of it or will it cost you more than £10k?

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pinkpeony · 05/11/2010 16:05

I gave birth to DS at Portland last May and am booked to give birth to DC2 at Portland again in Jan. I had a wonderful experience there (was under consultant-led care), everything from the birth itself, the quality of the midwifes and staff, the facilities, and the post-natal care were top-notch. Plus clean rooms (I stayed 3 nights), good food, midwifes taking care of you day and night, etc. Had a normal delivery. There is a SCBU and NICU on-site as well as emergency care for the mother, so your baby does not need to be transferred to another hospital if there are problems. If you want a water birth, Portland does have birthing pools. Also has great record with respect to cleanliness and bugs - only maternity hospital in London without MRSA ever. And I live near the C&W so would have been much more convenient for me.

I recommend you visit both and make a decision when you have seen them. I think costs are broadly similar - if you go consultant-led, the consultant will charge his own fees regardless of where he delivers you (usually £5-6k for antenatal care & delivery), and then the hospital will charge a fee (another £5-6k) depending on your length of stay and whether normal delivery or CS. You won't have any change from £10k in either place unless you go midwife-led (Portland has that option too). Hope that helps!

skandi1 · 05/11/2010 20:00

Pinkpeony,

Thank you so much! Very very useful.

I am going to see both but its much more useful to hear what people think of their experiences there.

I didn't think I'd get change out of £10k (or even £15k).

I had wanted to go private for birth with DD (my first) but was put off by lots of people telling me scare stories and that therewould be no NICU/SCBU or emergency care for me if it all went wrong. So I ended up wussing out and going NHS at the brand new UCLH.

To be fair to NHS, considering you pay absolutely nothing at all (most other EU countries have some maternity charges and yes we pay tax to fund it.), it was very very clean and shiney (new) and most antenatal care was fine and they ticked all the boxes in terms of the checks they made on your health. But the birth bit was pretty awful. 50hours of active labour followed by an emcs. And postnatal ward was a total nightmare. Had an argument with Head Midwife over his refusal to remove a cannual which was painful (in for 2 days already) and as punishment for disagreeing with him, he disconnected my callbutton and I was left only hours after an emcs for a total of 8 hours with no help, no water, overflowing urine bag (yuk yuk yuk) and had to lift DD and change and feed her with no help at all.

Just want to avoid that again and if all I have to do is pay £10k+ then its a bargain I suppose.

Phew sorry for long off-loading post...

Any other advice appreciated.

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BagofHolly · 05/11/2010 21:39

I'm booked into the Portland for the birth of my twins and I also had my son there in 2009. What would you like to know?
I chose there because of the aftercare - you press a button and things happen, basically. You don't have to think about anything - it's all sort of done for you, and they supply everything too.
Does that help?

skandi1 · 05/11/2010 22:21

Bagofholly,

Thank you! You make it sound right up my street.

Can I ask a really stupid question.... Did your consultant stay with you for the whole birth without leaving you? Or were you left alone for long spells during labour?

As well as deciding on venue, I am also trying to decide whether I want to risk a VBAC or go straight to section.

Were they friendly and was the food good?

If you had painrelief, were you able to get gas&air, diamorphine as well as epidural? Sorry sounding bit desperate there but you never know what you may want once in labour.

Thanks again.

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BagofHolly · 05/11/2010 22:48

Ah, I had a planned section! So my cons was there throughout. I also had a lovely anaesthetist whom I've requested again - she stroked my hair when I was scared. Smile
And she wrote me up for endless corking pain meds afterwards so I was never in any pain! They seem to take the view that most pain is unnecessary so i can't imagine they'd be mean about it in labour, having seen how they were with sections.
If you pick a consultant, just call their secretary and they'll tell you about what happens in labour.
The food is VERY good, with room service - very handy if you're suddenly starving in the middle of the night, breastfeeding. They even have a winelist! Grin My friends came over and we all had tea and cake, as well as the usual meals!
They'll put a bed in the room for your husband if you want, and will do anything you ask, within reason. (I think I was reasonable!)
They were very friendly too, and the place is incredibly clean. As I say, everything is thought of for you - clothes, baby clothes, nappies, knickers, pads, bottles, pumps etc etc.
I think the first step is to find a consultant you feel confident with - I can recommend mine but I don't know what he's like with labour, only ELCS.
Obviously there are a few negatives - I got lots of conflicting advice about breastfeeding - they were all very pro (and very pleased as they have a lot of ladies who don't even try to BF so you're treated like a megastar if you give it ago.) but all told me different things but it was my first baby and I didn't know what to do. We were find though, and I BF for a year.
I wasn't keen on SCBU for reasons I'll go into privately if you like. And the clock in the bedroom ticked really loud Hmm so I plan to get my H to disable that when we arrive!

ttalloo · 05/11/2010 23:08

I had DS1 (2007) and DS2 (2008) at the Portland, under consultant-led care, and was really happy with the care we got. (I too would recommend him highly, and would have had the children at whichever hospital he was at, so that was the driver for me to go to the Portland rather than anywhere else.)

I had a planned CS with DS1, as I had pre-eclampsia, and he was then in the SCBU for a week because he was a month early. They looked after him brilliantly there (although I think they could have let him out a few days earlier than they did, and had I not been a nervous first-time mum I would have protested more and got him out sooner).

I was in labour with DS2 and got an epidural within two hours of arriving there, without any argument. I ended up with another CS because of failure to progress, and had the same high standard of care as I did with DS1.

Lots of support with breastfeeding, and some lovely nurses and midwives who really helped me when the baby blues kicked in at around day 3/4.

And it's clean and completely MRSA-free.

The only things about the Portland I didn't like are trivial: the lifts (incredibly, pointlessly slow); the fact that my room was either too hot or too cold; and the revolting pink wallpaper in there. (For some reason I'd imagined it would look like a very modern boutique hotel inside, with Prada hospital gowns Smile)

BagofHolly · 05/11/2010 23:12

The walls were indeed pink but I hear they've done some of them up. I didn't care about the walls as I was smacked off my head on morphine, which was lovely!
They have Molton Brown toiletries, but you only get them as you leave, whilst you're there, it's just hospital issue stuff. YOu get a Panda Bear, and a little bottle of champagne too. Not that any of that matters...

ttalloo · 05/11/2010 23:15

I forgot about the Molton Brown toiletries and pandas, bagofholly - very nice they were indeed.

As for the morphine - it gave me only the fondest memories of my two CSs!

vanitypear · 05/11/2010 23:18

I had DD (2006) and DS (2009) at C&W. Second time round I went for a consultant and the ward had been refurbed. I love the place. I've now moved away but cannot imagine having any more babies anywhere else!

Any consultant will only come for the delivery (same for friends at Portland) - as nice and approachable as some are, they are not hand holders but senior medics. But there are plenty of MWs around.

I got some change from my £10k but I had no pain relief and just one night stay.

OkieCokie · 06/11/2010 09:31

Some of the same consultants deliver both at C&K and the Portland. Skandi if you want to message me with your email address I will email you the info sheet with all the consultants and the current fees for each option and the costs of bloods and scans etc.

skandi1 · 06/11/2010 10:24

BagofHolly & ttalloo,

It certainly sounds great and I think I can live with the pink walls.

Vanitypear, Thank you! Understand what you're saying about consultants not being handholders etc. I just wondered.

Okiecokie, I've PM'd you for that list. Thank you so much.

Anyone else?

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OkieCokie · 06/11/2010 13:42

E-mail sent Skandi

skandi1 · 06/11/2010 19:49

OkieCokie

Got it - thank you so much.

One question for you. Did you have your scans and bloods done at C&W and if so did you have to wait hours and hours with the NHS patients in their ultrasound dept??

Thank you.

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OkieCokie · 06/11/2010 20:33

No, I had these done privately too at the Woman's Wellness Centre opposite the hospital. I think most of the Consultants use this facility. Some of the consultants also do your scans themself but at the WWC. If you want to avoid that cost I don't see why you could not use the hospital NHS service for this and just try for early appts to avoid the wait times!

skandi1 · 07/11/2010 11:47

Thanks Okie! so helpful. wanted to avoid lots of hanging around as its hard to get childcare for dd as we have no family within 1000 miles.

did any of you ladies book from very early pregnancy or did you wait until 12 weeks?

I wanted to book soon but then thought, what if I mc early on, it would be a massive waste of money.

argh. this should be an easy decision but i seem to be chasing my tail.

will make apps with both places and take a tour.

any other recent experiences out there?

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kitstwins · 07/11/2010 12:06

Hello,

I'm booked with the Kensington Wing for my third baby (previously I had my twins at QCC's - NHS care up to point of delivery, which was horrendous, and then private postnatal care).

I'm 20 weeks with a singleton and have opted for consultant led care as my last experience was so traumatic and there's a chance I'll have to have a complicated caesarean delivery (am hoping to get a vbac but it's a long shot). Anyway, so far I've been really impressed. My consultant is excellent. I Googled and read up on the various consultants and made a short list of half a dozen with my preferred consultant at the top. I think I booked when I was around 5 weeks pregnant as I'd heard that they got booked up very quickly. Certainly, his secretary didn't seem surprised when I told her how far along I was and thankfully there were no issues with availability so I'm glad I rang this early. I first saw him at 8 weeks for in initial consultation (and scan thrown in for good measure) and have been seeing him every four weeks or so since then, although obviously I'm able to see him whenever I want if need's be.

So far it has been excellent and I can't fault him. I feel in very safe hands. If I manage a VBAC I imagine my care will come in under £10k but if I have to have a caesarean then I'm looking at £12k to £13k. You pay the kensington wing fees (I think £5k) separate to your consultant fees. Consultant costs vary - mine is £6.5 all in (VBAC or caesar). It's a lot of money but after my, frankly, horrific experience last time I'm happy to liquidate some savings.

Feel free to ask more questions.

blondecat · 08/11/2010 05:38

Due to give birth at ken wing shortly.

Experience so far has been very good.

In consultant led care and super risk averse DH and doctors in my family ( and ok scared little me) all placated by level 3 NICU literally next door to where you give birth - ie no baby transfer even if things get very serious AND all the other doctors you may ever want in the building. Apparently 40 minutes transfer time is too long in a 1 in a million? case when I might need a neurologist / cardiosurgeon / whatever.

The only gripe so far is that I wish they did their scans on site - they take bloods on the Ken Wing but ultrasounds are across the road which is fine but you pay separately - except for Keith Duncan I think who specialises in ultrasound and his fees include scans.

From what I have heard Portland might have better food and drink for afterwards - not sure but plenty of delis and restaurant across the road from C&W so DH will be a runner if necessary.

Also ditamce is a factor - at a push I could walk toC&W - knowing that makes me much more relaxed.

Finally, my consultant's pitch was hey we all work here - well not all of them but some do - so we are available and we have lowest NICU admittance rates.

As to cost - with consultant led care you will have not much change from 13k plus for a c section. Otherwise count on 10-11 if things go smoothly. With midwife package which sounds really good too id imagine it'd be about 3k less? The bonus part is that as long as you qualify for nhs you don't pay the baby's NICU fees which if you were unlucky could really add up

Good luck

kitstwins · 08/11/2010 11:28

Meant to add that for my scans I'm being sent to the Fetal Medicine Centre in Harley St, although I could have them over the road at the Wellness Centre I think. However, consultant's recommendation to go the FMC and as I used them last time for my twin pregnancy I'm happy to roll with this.

Blondecat have you had a look round the Kensington Wing yet? It occured to me the other day that I've no idea what it looks like (other than from the brochure) in spite of having laid down a large lump sum to give birth there, but I'm not sure if it's normal to have a look round beforehand?

blondecat · 08/11/2010 13:05

kits twins
Yes, I have. Sometimes they see us in some of the rooms and one time I asked to be shown around - just call in advance to make sure someone is available to do sop around your appointment. And bear in mind they are now a bit snowed under by February's snow babies and they can't show you rooms if they are full

both birthing and recovery rooms look similar but the birthing ones are in a cluster at the front near the internal desk and are slightly smaller.

Some look outside onto fulham road and rooftops but other have windows opening onto the hospitals inner ourtyards. There seems to be practically no difference pin light between the two but I think we would all prefer outside looking rooms. One birthing room seems always to be set up with a birthing pool and balls but th ey said they can bring them to any room own request.

All have your usual high adjustable hospital beds. There is space on the floor for a mattress which they bring for birthing partner to use if needed.

All rooms have modern small ensuite bathrooms with towels and some toiletries. You are advised to bring extra shampoo etc for a longer stay. They used to be molten brown, now it's something similar but I forget the brand. Oh and they have baths or showers and try to give the showers to women after a c section.

The rooms are light with cream/ magnolia walls, a huge panel for plugging in kit behind the bed, one bedside table, a small wardrobe - adequate for a few days worth of stuff and a giant flat screen tv on wall opposite the bed above a sideboard. The TVs also functions as a DVD / music players I think. there is wifi and the sideboard can be used as a small desk by the daddies in need of a laptop fix - apparently their biggest emergency in the week I visited was when wifi didn't - they had a lot of irate men running around. DH is planning to bring his laptop of course - guess how I
feel about that.

The postnatal rooms also have a breastfeeding chair and one of those small wheelie cots with transparent sides for the baby. They told me they leave junior with you as much as possible but will take it away to nursery if you ask so that one can rest.

It all seemed very clean. Although one time I was seen in a birthing room for monitoring minutes after someone left with the ward completely full of women - everything was fine except for a small stain on one of the stirrups which I pointed out to them - I think they
were to rushed to notice it, Blush.

Hope this is not too much info.

Someone who just gave birth said the most annoying thing was small size of bath - but that means you can climb in after c section and the waitress who kept asking do you want tea / pasta / food as she was trying to focus on birth. I think you could prevent that by getting dh to guard the door.

Oph they seem to leave doors to labour rooms open but have a curtain they pull across if they do.

blondecat · 08/11/2010 13:06

Ps

Id definitely ask for a tour if I were you. This way the place is familiar when you go in on d day

pinkpeony · 09/11/2010 09:42

Skandi - I would also recommend booking early. For each of my DCs, I called the consultants around 4-5 weeks pg. Most of them have their whole holiday schedules a year in advance, so some could already tell me they were not available for my due date. Also, I think most consultants take on a certain number of private patients per calendar month, so if your EDD is at the end of the month, the consultant may already be fully booked for that month (or you can tell them that instead of being due 30 June, you are due e.g. 1 July so they will take you on...). In any case, worth calling now, and a lot of them deliver at both Portland and Kensington wing so you can still decide later for the hospital.

skandi1 · 09/11/2010 12:31

Pinkpeony

thank you. I had wondered if it was too early but seems not.

I am looking at a list of consultants now with a view to ringing around to see who is available.

Could I ask you ladies for recommendations for consultants, if you don't mind sharing??

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blondecat · 09/11/2010 14:49

Mark Johnson is the star of the unit. As is Gubby Aiyda.

I am with Nick Wales and think he is fantastic. A friend has Zoe Penn and likes her.

Keith Duncan did my ultrasounds and seems OK.

If you have any particular issues with your pregnancy you may want to go for someone who has it as their special interest. If not I'd go with someone who is available for around a month around your due date (since babies are unpredictable) and who you feel comfortable with. Some consultants are loved/ hated by different people - it depends on them and on you