Private consultant choice at Chelsea & Westminster Kensington Wing

[Sheepsy]

Hello everyone, I'm a new member and just had my 6 week dating scan. All's well and I'm very excited! :)

I'm going to have the baby in the Kensington Wing at Chelsea & Westminster as it's a 5 minute walk away and just wondered if anyone could help me decide which consultant to go with? I've looked through the forum archives and lots of people seem to recommend Mark Johnson, Zoe Penn and Keith Duncan a lot. They're all available for May 2012 so I've made initial appointments to see all three.

I was wondering how you all made the decision who to go with? It seems they're all very capable but they do charge around £260 for a first appointment which seems steep just to see if you like them! Did you meet a few of them or just take the plunge with the first consultant you met? Or was it through a personal recommendation?

I have to say, mumsnet has been the best source of information on this - don't know how I'd have got this far without it!

Thanks in advance!

Julia

My question is similar - I am hoping to go privately to Queen Charlottes can anyone recommend a consultant there?

Hi golden, I'll be interested to see what the recommendations are as I'm also hoping (eventually) to go private at Queen Charlottes.
Do the consultants at QC also change the same level of fee (ie c£260) as at Cheslsea & Westminster? It does make it seem steep (before even getting into the actual cost of care) if you want to see a few in making your decision!

I can recommend Keith Duncan and also Nick Wales. Good luck! :)

Zoe Penn is fantastic.

If you live around Kingston Hospital why dont you go to Kingston?

Congrats on your pregnancy Sheepsy- im looking for similar recommendations also- so thanks for posting this:) It's difficult to know who to " go" with although i think with the names you've mentioned and from the reviews i've see you can't go wrong!!!! Good luck with finding a consultant and your pregnancy :)
xxxx

I highly recommend Gubby Ayida at C&W. And have heard very good things abour Dr. Shailesh Kumar at Queens Charlotte.

Thanks everyone - all the names everyone mentions are the same names I've already heard recommended so quite comforting.

I guess it's difficult to choose the best one because it's very unlikely someone will have had a baby with each of them (!) and will be able to compare them.

I think I will see 2-3 of them and go from there (unless the first one I see is fantastic).x

I had KD, very happy - know people very happy with Mark Johnson as well. I would go back to KD. I didn't "interview" - I had seen KD when under the MWs for my first pregnancy and I liked him and the fact he does your scans as well. I agree with QTPie - just pick one and go with him/her, unless you are super wealthy and happy to spend £260 all over the place that is. Else you might find the slot has gone by the time you have the consultation anyway!