Best hospital for c-section delivery in SE London

[Sparklies]

I'm due with DC3 in May, and I absolutely medically have to have a c-section (permanent transabdominal cerclage (aka TAC) means nothing bigger than a pea coming out that way!!) which means I have to face the horror of a London postnatal ward for several days yet again.

I had a horrendous postnatal experience at my local Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, and that was just with a vaginal birth although their mistakes landed me back in hospital two weeks later with a post-partum infection so I know all about their postnatal ward. Never again.

DC2 was born at Kings College via EMCS - can't fault the medical care, but was very, very unhappy on the postnatal ward.

DH has BUPA cover through work and worst case scenario we can go private at Portland or St. Mary's (anywhere else is too far or not covered by BUPA) but it will cost a lot of money to cover the shortfall for the consultant.

I'm currently booked at Queen Elizabeth for practical reasons.. so I don't have to travel miles to midwife/scan/consultant etc appointments. I have no real complaints (yet!) with the consultant care there. However I am most definitely planning on swapping out at around 34 weeks.

Essentially I'm looking for the best hospital for postnatal stay following a c-section. A private room would be perfect but there are no guarantees anywhere for that. Also some vaguely competent doctors as I'm high risk * 2 or even 3 would be useful as well..!

I'd preferably like to go to a hospital that doesn't take two hours to get to, due to necessary end-of-pregnancy appointments and having two DC to lug around and me with SPD. I'm also at risk of PTL which means I might need to get there in a hurry due to ye olde ruptured uterus fear. So that leaves these hospitals:

Queen Mary, Sidcup
Princess Royal, Orpington
Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford
Lewisham Hospital
Kings College (already done, not too happy with the postnatal care, hard to reach in traffic)
St Thomas' (might be a bit far)

Or a bit further away - will only consider if it's really worth it!

Chelsea & Westminster (had my TAC here, loved Annie Zunz ward but it's not same as postnatal)
Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel
University College Hospital
St. Mary's, Paddington

All opinions and anecdotes welcome! Thanks!!

Poppy - Wow, what a dramatic stay! I'm sorry you had such a painful labour and delivery though.

Glad to hear the NICU was good there although I am sorry to hear you had to find out about it.

I think it makes a huge difference having a single room rather than a shared ward - most of my issues do stem from antisocial people on the ward, and the usual lack of resources. The lack of resources is annoying but it doesn't usually stop you sleeping, unlike when you're on a shared ward!

Congratulations on your baby and thank you very much for coming back and sharing your story!

Have you considered Darent Valley?

I had my lil man by C section 2 1/2 years ago (semi-emergency; failure to progress after 4 days... NOT even 1 cm despite ridiculously strong contractions!!!) The 4 days was bloody awful but the section itself was the first positive experience of my 'birthing experience' The op was great, no probs with the spinal; theatre staff fantastic, nice neat scar, minimal blood loss, no infections etc etc... I was kept topped up with morphine for the first 24 hours then they ensured that i kept taking the pain relief regardless of whether i felt better (which is what you should do) I was not pushed to do things to quickly yet they did assist me in sittng in my chair, walking etc the next day. I found the first night post natal care amazing. The 2nd night was not so great to be honest but that was mainly due to the (young) girl opposite me watching Jeremy Kyle with the sound on at 3am and leaving her baby to cry!!! CHAVTASTIC!!!
I only stayed in 2 nights and was pleased to get home, if only to get some sleep... I was sent home with loads of pain relief and advice to call if i had any problems at all. Luckily, we both seemed to be naturals at breastfeeding so didn't need any support there...
I am due back in 3 weeks time for my 2nd section (30th December; Elective this time!) and am really looking forward to it. The care has been really good so far, regardless of how busy they are. The Post natal rooms are clean and spacious, the Sections beds are lovely and there's a maximum of 4 to a room with 1 toilet per 3 people (dunno how that one works with 4 in a room!!!) They do hospital tours on a sunday afternoon so go and have a look if you can.
I was originally booked into Basildon last time as come from just over the Bridge, but transferred to Darent at 32 weeks; was bloody pleased that i did too!!! It is like a private hospital compared to Bas! Booked in this time from the word go :)
Good luck wherever you decide to go anyway and hope this has been helpful!
xxx

Bixie - Darent Valley is definitely one I am considering. It's the only one I've not heard that bad things about! It's only about half an hour's drive so not too bad at all.

I have to admit, as snobby as it sounds, that part of the things that put me off some of my very local hospitals is because in general the patients just seem to be that much ruder.. which reflects their behaviour locally too. I spent two nights at Chelsea and Westminster recently on the gynae ward and everyone was so polite and respectful of each other. I have no problems sharing a ward like that. But at QEH, and again at Kings, there were just so many people who didn't care about making other people's stays unpleasant.. as you experienced!

Mind you, the care still sounds a lot better than ridiculously under-resourced QEH. I was chatting to a woman only yesterday who had her first up there six weeks ago and it's quite clear things have only got worse from when I had DC1 there four years ago. So anywhere-but-QEH at this point! I'd far rather have decent care and annoying patients than crap care and annoying patients, heh!

Thank you very much for the review and I hope everything goes great with your ELCS in a few weeks! Congratulations!!

I had DD#3 at Darent Valley, though in the midwife led unit and only an overnight stay. All I can say is that it was fantastic and a far far better experience than DD#1 and DD#2 at Queen Marys.

Darent Valley is my local hospital but it is now totally overrun by people coming from surrounding areas. Most people who should deliver at the now closed Queen Marys in Sidcup are coming to Darent.

This is really annoying as its affecting patient care. My friend had her baby over christmas and they had 42 babies born when they normally only expect 15-20.

I've now been told that when I go into labour its highly likely the unit may be closed because it is regularly closed to new admissions. People who are booked into QEH or the Princess Royal are just turning up to deliver!!

Please everyone just go to your local hospital!!

I think it's unfair for people to show up at hospitals that they're not booked in at (emergencies aside of course, or if their booked hospital is full!) but it is right that we have the opportunity to at least apply in advance to other hospitals in the area. Then it is up to the hospital if they have the space to accept us or not - they're at liberty to turn down a referral and often do. Many of us have very good reasons for not wanting to go to our nearest hospital.

All the hospitals in the area are over-run right now thanks to closing QM (QEH was already regularly turning people away years before the closure) so there's no reason one hospital over another should be avoided.

The bigger issue is the lack of maternity services in the area rather than people exercising personal choice well in advance. We've all got to deliver somewhere and they're all overcrowded.

Hi Ladies.
I had 2 cesarean section at Lewisham Hospital.
I really happy with it! The operation goes smoothly.
Postnatal care.. i never thinking of this , because i just focus on my baby.