Portland Hospital vs Kensington Wing - Recent experiences?

[skandi1]

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

Am with Guy Thorpe-Beeston for DC2, he delivered DS as well (Portland for both), he is fantastic and delivers at both. His subspecialty is fetal medicine so he does all my scans too, the continuity of care is nice. Mark Johnson also came highly recommended by friends, he delivers at both as well. Also Teoh was highly recommended - he delivers at Lindo & Portland. All get booked up really early.

Thank you so much for the consultant recommendations. Very helpful.

DH and I are sifting thru tonight. Hopefully there will still be some availability.

For those of you who had an NHS birth first time around, did you request copies of your notes of your first birth or is that unncessary?

Sorry about all the random questions.

Thank you again.

I am with Zoe Penn and like her very much. I have just been transferred to Mark Johnson as Zoe is now out of action for a couple weeks due to needing an operation herself and I am past my due date so Mark will deliver me, I meet him tomorrow for the first time assuming I don't go into labour tonight in which case I will meet him in labour! I really liked Zoe, very open and honest and had built a good rapport with her.

I did have Keith Duncan for a CVS and although I could not fault him doing the procedure I found his manner terrible. I think I caught him on an off day as he did my anomaly and was fine. However he really did nothing to put me at ease for the CVS which was a very stressful time.

I did get my previous notes from my NHS birth mainly as it was quite traumatic and it helped me to go through with Zoe for closure, understand what and why things happened and for us to discuss likelihood of things happening again. I also think it was good in helping her understand me a bit more. I would highly recommend doing this.

Good luck

Okie,

Thank you so much.

May request my notes as they may prove useful.

Thanks everyone for helping me out. Not sure why I'm flapping around so much really as this should be easy.

If there are other tips please let me know

Blondecat that's really useful. I will book a tour and hopefully get to have a nose around. I like the idea of being in familiar territory when I give birth as I find the whole concept pretty terrifying after last time. Hospitals now bring me out in a cold sweat, which is a tad unfortunate...

Skandi1 another thumbs up for M. Johnson from me. He's fantastic, although I haven't made it to delivery yet. He has a lovely manner and I can't fault him so far.

Paul Armstrong both times for me, at Portland. Really nice and approachable and a great air of calm and confidence.

I just had my second baby at the portland 8 weeks ago. Standard was just as good as it was with my first back in 2007. A quick buzz on the call button and you have an unstressed attentive midwife in your room ready to help out with breastfeeding/painrelief/ general questions etc. It is absolutely fabulous and if I ever have any more babies I would def go back and use the same consultant.

I used Donald Gibb both times and would highly recommend him if you need a no nonsense consultant to calm you down and get you and baby through safely. I did due to previous NHS nightmare botch up hence originally going private, he is fabulous. In fact I cried when I went back for my 6 week check to say goodbye to him .. I am very emotional at the best of times.. He is fab

but consultants are a very personal choice so one woman's weepy consultant hero is aonther woman's complete nightmare so it is best to go and vist as many as possible before you make your final choice. Congratulations and good luck

hi everyone.

thank you all so much! as much as i am delighted to be pregnant again, i have been dreading the birth issue after last time.

you have all really helped me face the fear and get myself booked in somewhere decent.

Mostlymay, thank you for sharing your very recent experience.

am really looking forward to this baby now.

Where and who have you decided on Skandi1

Like mostlymay I heartily recommend Donald Gibb at the Portland - he looked after me through both my pregnancies, managed all my fears (after two MCs) and saw me and DS1 through pre-eclampsia and early delivery, and DS2 through an EMCS after failure to progress. He is brilliant.

But when he delivered DS2 in October 2008, he did say that he wouldn't be taking on any new patients, only ones whose babies he had previously delivered - which was good to know if we ever go for a third.

hi.

thank you ttalloo.

so far i have made a shortlist and have phoned a few to see whether they have availability.

am keen on kensington but may not have space.

doing tour of portland next week to have a look

I gave birth at The Portland 10 weeks ago, it was superb. I wasn't so much swayed by the lovely hotel room type after-care (although it was great to have a private room and bathroom and DH sleeping over with me). But the 1-1 care I had during antenatal appointents and labour was excellent. Arrived in labour, was taken immediately to a private room with a wonderful midwife. My consultant arrived and stayed with me throughout, delivering DD safely. (I can recommend my consultant if you like - he was kind, professional, reassuring and positive). I had a very good birth, epidural, no complications, no interventions. They left DH and I alone in our delivery room to bond with our newborn for a couple f hours after the birth.

Good luck.

appointments

Thank you Skatergrrrl! Sounds very good.

Congrats on your DD.

skandi1 one thing which certainly would worry me about portland is that they don't have all the specialists. if there is any emergency for the baby after the birth, they are transferred to UCH.

Apelsinka, the Portland has a SCBU and a NICU. Babies are only transferred if they need a higher level of NICU and then they go to the nearest highest NICU with available beds.

Thank Bagofholly,

I've just had a look at some maternity statistic online.

Apparently UCLH where I gave birth last time, only does 2,300 deliver per year, making it a small facility.

The Portland however does 4,800 deliveries per year. You would have thought all that experience amongst staff would add up?

What I was interested in was neonatal and maternal death stats (really morbid and paranoid, I know) but I cannot find any.

Hello Ladies,

I am very new to this whole process and only 6 weeks pregnant (with first baby). I live in Fulham and am interested in the Kensington Wing as it's local and gets fabulous reviews.

In France, a lot of women only give birth with MWs (no consultant). Is that not a good option in England? (everyone talks about their consultants and I get to wonder)

Also, would any of you have an idea of how much giving birth with midwives costs at the Kensington Wing?

I hope to hear from you soon.

hi.

you can opt for a midwife lead package at c&w which is cheaper than the consultant package.

there are restrictions on whether you can go midwife only such as age (under 37) and whether you have had a previous difficult delivery/c section/health issues.

as you can see from the above quite a few of us did nhs first time or had emergency c sections so are having go go concultant lead this time.

if you go with midwife package it will cost you about £10000 if there are no complications and you go home within 24hrs. i guess as things can get more complicated you should budget for £15000 just in case.

ongrats on your pregnancy!

sorry spelling on phone crap! congrats on your pregnancy.

Thank you very much Skandi1!

If you are in Fulham you must go to the kensington wing - it's brilliant.
MW care is very good but you do not get the same continuity and total care you get with a consultant obstetrician - but if all goes to plan, they are very skilled at normal birth and lovely with it. There is not a high turnover of staff - at least two particularly lovely MWs from my first birth (Lucy and Mahnaz) were still there when I had my second child (2 yrs ago).
Keith Duncan and Nick Wales are very good OBs with nice manner. KD does all your scans too which is nice.

another thumbs up for the Portland.
had the most amazing midwives when i went in both times - both CS.
2nd time was much better as i made full use of the nursery.
5 days of solid sleep, care, drugs and food made sure that i came home fully rested to deal with DC1 and new baby.

One thing to consider is any problems with baby will add to your cost at portland as no nhs baby facility but babies are nhs if you have baby at c and w so will be treated for free. May not seem important but two days in scbu at Portland is very expensive.

If you book with Portland and have any complication you need to be moved to an NHS hospital. Also they cannot look after preterm babies.
I would choose Chelsea & Westminster over Portland. Call me paranoid on safety but the Kensington Wing was Superb! :)