Royal Free Hospital, UCLH or Saint Mary's?

[zoezzz]

Does anyone have any recent experience or views on the Royal Free, UCLH or St Mary's Hospital in London? I've left it rather late to decide on which hospital to book in for, and am having to make a quick decision! I live closest to the Royal Free, but I've seen some (not very recent) very negative reviews, although I've also heard that things might have got better.

I'd be very grateful for any tips! thank you.

I had two at uch 6 and 4 years ago. It was before it moved to the new building but they were both fab. I had a friend turned away in labour from the royal free due to lack of staff. I would go to uch, my sil had neice there last october and had no complaints (even though ended in cs).

Good luck x

Thank you so much - that's really helpful. zx

Thank you so much - that's really helpful. zx

I had my youngest child at UCH just after they moved to the new building in 2009. I cannot fault the care I received. It was really lovely and a, lthough the postnatal wards are very busy like all NHS London hospitals I still felt the midwives were very caring and knowledgable.

Are you aiming for a low intervention birth, though? UCH is possibly the best hospital in the world for high risk / managed births and for SCBU, but I'm not sure about the whole water bith/MW-led birth thing. Maybe someone else will come along who knows more about that side of things.

I had a horrible experience at the RF in 2005, but things may have changed since then.

I had one on the labour ward and one at the birth centre at UCH and the midwives were great. I would imagine that it is only better now. They have the best people help you to get your baby out safely.

I am having my next one at Stoke Mandeville and though I am sure it is fine a little bit of me would love to drive back to UCH.

I had my first baby at the Royal Free in 2006 and can honestly say it was the worst experience of my life - I literally had nightmares afterwards about the midwives' attitude. The birth itself was fine, it was the after care that was horrible (admittedly I was in hospital for 3 weeks after I gave birth but that did give me plenty of time to experience the care). The midwives were lazy, unfriendly and occasionally downright nasty. The defining experience for me was when my mother, a cancer patient, was turned away from the ward in the morning despite having special permission from the head of the ward to come in. When she told the midwife at the entrance that she was in the middle of a chemo cycle and couldn't stand outside waiting, the woman just shrugged. That pretty summed up their 'caring' attitude. Added to that, the bureaucracy at the hospital was abysmal - every appointment messed up, not recorded, the right person never there. AVOID!!

This is really interesting for me as I have to decide where to register for my antenatal care for my 2nd.
I had DD in 2008 at the Royal Free and did not have a good experience. After 3 days of labour they finally admitted me after I sat in a labor room and refused to leave. Then I had a failed epidural, in the end I had a crash csection. Which was bad enough but the after care was horrendous. They were 2 midwives short and had 3 on duty for 22 women. 5 in active labour and 6 post csection. I was told off repeatedly for not bottle feeding DD although as a colicky baby what she needed was to be held and walked around which I could not do with a catheter. The doctors were always lovely but I cannot say the same for the midwives.

I heard from friends that UCL is busy and some felt they were too quick to rush to a csection. Although from what I have heard from other Mums that late appointments and rushed midwives are to be expected everywhere.

Eager to hear other Mums more recent experience.

Avoid RF like a plague. I had my DD at the Royal Free in Dec 2009 and it was horrible. When you go into labour, you have to go to the triage area first, so that they can confirm that you are indeed in labour. I arrived there at 6am with contractions 5 mins apart. Well, they only had three beds and all there occupied. There were no available beds in labour ward either, so they could not transfer the women from triage to the labour ward and we all had to wait until the beds free up. I had to wait SIX HOURS to be seen - the midwife in the triage did not even acknowledge my presence during the six hours except to tell me that 2 people accompanying me were too many and one had to wait in the hallway, while my husband and I waited sitting on the chairs in the triage. It was my first baby and I was terrified that I would give birth just then and there.
To add insult to injury, they don't give you a free parking ticket until triage confirms you are in labour, so DH had to run out to feed the parking meter every hour or so leaving me alone.
Finally a bed freed up some time past noon. They put a monitor on me and insisted that I lay on my back while the measurements were taking. It made the contractions even more painful. In addition it was pretty tough to get anyone's attention - doctors and midwives were coming and going. Midwives were pretty curt. I was not seen by the same doctor twice.
Once they agreed I was in labour, we had to wait for another 1.5 hour for a room in the labour ward. I could not get any pain relief in the meantime and by then I was very distressed, scared and in pain. No one even attempted to calm me down. Once we got a labour room, I asked for epidural because I could not cope any longer. Anesthetist came in and started asking me questions in the middle of my contraction, until DH pointed out to her that I was having a contraction and was unable to speak. She did a pretty good job with the epidural.
Shortly after we got a labour room I was told that the baby was in distress and I had to get an emergency c-section. I still believe that it was because I was in distress for the previous 8 hours! As they were getting me ready for the c-section I was crying and shaking uncontrollably. Again, no one acknowledged it or attempted to calm me down. The surgery team was very efficient and the doctor did a good job with my c-section. My scar is not tiny, but it is still fairly small. DD was born at 4:30PM.
Post natal ward was pure hell. They let you stay for a couple hours in the post-op area, which was OK, but then you are transferred to the post-natal ward. I shared a room with three other women - all post c-sections. The midwife on duty refused to turn off halogen lights during the first night - she claimed she needed light to check on us, but for some reason she did not want to use individual lights that we all had by our beds. So we spent the night with bright halogen lights blazing. It was also fairly impossible to get midwife's attention. At 6am a girl from the kitchen woke me up to ask if I had any food preferences or allergies. Why couldn't they put this info in my notes or on the computer, so that she could check them without waking me, is still beyond me. Food was pretty bad - DH usually brought me something from M&S nearby.
I was up and walking the next day mostly because it was so tough to get any help from mw - I had to get everything myself. So I just hobbed around with a pillow pressed to my abdomen to manage the pain.
When it was time to remove my bandages, mw told me to take a shower and then wait for her to remove them. After waiting for 40 min in wet bandages dripping water and blood on the floor, I went looking for her. She seemed rather annoyed when I found her and told me to go back to my room and keep waiting. Removing bandages took a minute and in the hind site I should've just done it myself.
A few times I had to send DH to find mw so that I could get my painkillers. No doctor ever checked on me.
After two nights, I wanted to go home to preserve my sanity. It was pretty tough to get checked out - mw insisted that a doctor discharge me and none could be found for over 8 hours. Again I went to look for one myself, approached a random consultant in the hallway and insisted that he should discharge me. He told me it was up to my mw. She told me it was up to him. I kept going back and forth between them, until I got sick of it and asked for a self-discharge. The doctor was taken aback and I think to spite me told me that if I self discharge, I would get no discharge papers. Luckily the mw was more reasonable and prepared the papers for me (although it took her over two hours to do so).
There were many other unpleasant things, but my post is too long as it is.
I am due again in mid-summer and am going with UCH. Anti-natal care there so far is head and shoulders above Royal Free. We'll see what happens when it is time to give birth.
Good luck to everyone.

I had ds at st mary's in 2007, a mc at UCH in 2009 and am back at st mary's and expecting twins this September. I am high risk so was very concerned about getting a hospital that would cater to my chronic condition appropriately. St mary's and UCh both had specialist clinics for it but ST Mary's standards were easier for me to meet than UCH's, they were closer to home and I was already in their system so I went with them. I never considered the RF because I have a phobia of the place having been diagnosed with said condition there when I was 3 and mistreated until I was 8. I can't walk into their reception without having a panic attack so it didn't seem the best place to be relaxed in labour

St Mary's was very good AN and labour ward wise (even though it ended in a c-sec) but a bit dismal post-natal. So the next time round I thought I'd try UCH to see if I could avoid a c-sec there as they would let me go longer before an eviction date was set than st mary's.

Here's the description of what happened with UCH www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/829979-Reviews-of-UCH-diabetics-or-anyone

After they called me twice more after that thread to ask why I wasn't attending AN appts I decided that I was quite concerned about their systemic failure and would not be comfortable returning so when I finally after much difficulty got pg again decided to stick with st mary's. Post-natal is unfortunately dismal everywhere in London.

I don't know what your situation is and you're sure to find good and horror stories about all 3 hospitals (although a lot more of the latter with the RF!) but the things to consider are:

1. How easy is it to get to from where you live?
2. How easy is it to get to from where you work?
3. Do you want a birth centre/more medically monitored birth? (All 3 have these options)
4. Can you do shared care with your GP and have AN appts at any or all of these?
5. Do you have any medical conditions which make any of these preferred?

Have you considered the Whittington? They have a very good reputation for obstetric care. I have only heard bad things about the RFH so didn't choose to go there. I went to UCLH and had fab ante natal care but things went not so well on the birthing unit as they were very busy and I saw about 4 different midwives whilst I was in labour there. I ended up being rushed down to the labour ward where things got managed a bit better. I would definitely go to UCLH again but would go straight to the labour ward and not to the birthing unit.

I know this is an old thread but thought I'd add my more recent (2012) experiences in case they can help anyone. I found info on the NHS website and the hospitals' websites was not actually accurate.

I had my booking appointment at the Royal Free, they had been a bit slow with the administration side meaning I didn't get any letters through about appointments. My midwife was really friendly when I eventually met her and as I live in the catchment area she would come round to my flat at a time that suited us. This was really handy, she also was available to call or text should I have a question. She explained if she wasn't available I'd see one other person, having the personal touch was nice. The main issue with Royal Free was the time it was taking to get appointments with the specialists, as I was high risk. I also saw Royal Free don't let partners stay for the first 24 hours, whereas St. Mary's said on their website they do.

I transferred my care to St. Mary's as recommended by various people and saw a specialist, plus had a scan before I had even heard back from Royal Free. At St. Mary's I never saw the same midwife or Obstetrician, and always had to go in to the hospital on a Wednesday, which was often quite inconvenient. You could arrive early for an appointment and wait for over an hour, or they would have double booked. The main frustrating thing would be NONE of the numbers they give you on your notes actually 'work', they ring for hours, or are continually engaged, so if you want to make/change an appointment or get advice it is impossible to do this without turning up on a Wednesday and hoping to see someone!

Having said that all the Obs and midwives I saw were lovely and very thorough. I felt really reassured by the level of care, they were definitely on the ball. Having had a tour of the labour and postnatal ward I am transferring back to the Royal Free as St. Mary's is very old and cramped with no en-suites and for me, just doesn't feel comfortable to give birth in.

PROS AND CONS IN SHORT (In my opinion)

ROYAL FREE AND LABOUR/BIRTH CENTRE

• They initially took a long time to get in touch and arrange appointments.

• The hospital is modern and spacious with new large rooms for labour. The birthing rooms in labour and birth centre are all en-suite with a bath (apart from the birth pool room which has a shower).

• The birth centre is adjoined to the labour ward so should you decide you want an epidural, or should something go wrong, it is not hard to transfer.

• They offer car parking whilst you're in labour, 12 hours for free.

• They offer tours as standard on a Sunday at 2pm.

• One main midwife who will visit you at home (dependent on where you live)

• It is very wheelchair friendly.

• It seems secure and clean. CCTV in labour ward area.

• You share a room postnatally with up to 6 other mothers and babies. Each room has a toilet and shower attached for the 6 of you to share.

• Partners are not allowed to stay after visiting hours and cannot stay overnight with you after you give birth on the postnatal ward unless there is an exceptional circumstance.

• Partners stay to help you settle a couple of hours after you have given birth then go home to sleep and come back in the morning.

• Royal Free said if you were deemed high risk you wouldn't be in the side with the birth pool. You would be on labour ward side with a standard en-suite bath. Whereas St Mary's has a labour ward birth pool.

ST. MARY'S AND LABOUR WARD

• Good obstetricians and midwives. High level of care with tests and scans.

• Many labour rooms are not en-suite, I know the one with a birthing pool is, but it's very small and has a curtain around a toilet. The toilets are across the hallway. It feels less private.

• The labour rooms are small, the biggest (reserved for twins) is much smaller than Royal Free's smallest room.

• St. Mary's have a couple of single postnatal rooms, they are not en-suite though and are very small. The other postnatal rooms are two bed bays. They tend to keep the single rooms for people with problems. The toilets are down the hall.

• St. Mary's have a neonatal intensive care unit. I believe Royal Free have a special care unit, which can handle slightly less serious complications. The neonatal is a floor above.

• They don't offer tours of their labour ward as standard, I had to arrange this especially (which they agreed to on the basis of my individual problems)

• They don't have any car parking facilities so you would need to get dropped off or fill the parking meter when going into labour. This can be very expensive in that area!

I can't comment on St. Mary's birth centre as this wasn't adjoined so I didn't look around there. if you were low risk and didn't want an epidural you would normally labour in the birth centre.

I haven't actually given birth yet so can't comment on that bit!