Lindo Wing St Marys or Kensington Wing ChelWest

[blossom11]

Hi All,

Just after any help/advice thoughts on the above??I've been reading through other posts on here but some go back quite a few years now, so just wondered if anyone has any recent comments on either??(obv The Lindo wing has been closed all year) so any comments on the temporary arrangements??Facilities/staff??? Am in very early preg, so it seems crazy to be thinking about this yet, however from what i understand these things get booked up verrrrrrry early, so im just trying to do as much research as poss. If anyone has any recommendations on consultants i would also be extremely grateful!!

Thanks all
Blossom x

Hi Blossom,

I am due in March and after extensive research I decided to give birth at the Lindo Wing. The Lindo Wing is due to open in January after several delays although I called the hospital and the staff didn't sound 100% confident that it will open in January - fingers crossed it will! If you read the threads about the Lindo Wing and Chelsea Westminster on mumsnet you will be able to compile a list of popular consultants (for example Guy Thorpe Beeston @ CWH, Tariq Miskry, Karl Murphy, Tiong Ghee Teoh, Raj Rai @ SM). I agree that you need to find your consultant soon... some of them get booked up very fast. The reasons why I am going to the Lindo Wing are: 1. closer to my house 2. they seem to have a good variety of well known experts in case of any complications 3. I've been told that the new facilities suppose to be the highest standard and assuming/hoping that everything will be very clean 4. recommended by a few friends that gave birth there. I was disappointed when I called them recently. Even though I am already registered with an Obstetrician they were quiet unhelpful, arrogant and rude when I asked them one simple question - I almost felt like an intruder or maybe I was disturbing someone during their lunch break. I hope this will be different when I give birth and hope the staff will be more friendly once I'm there. I never visited the Chelsea Westminster Hospital but they were very nice on the phone when I called them few months ago and they emailed me immediately an information pack including fees and list of doctors (so far I haven't received anything from St Mary's). Also it doesn't seem to be a problem to visit their facilities.
Hope this helps a little and good luck with your search!

I had DS at the Lindo a couple of years ago - so can't comment on the facilities during the refurb. But the care I received at the time was brilliant. Obviously I knew my consultant by that stage but all the "new" people I came into contact with were great from the anaesthetist and the rest of the delivery team, to the midwives looking after me and DS (and DH!) afterwards. I found the midwives incredibly helpful, one stayed with me for an hour at 5am helping me breastfeed, all were friendly and supportive. The food was good too :)

Nottinghill30 I am supposed to be having DS2 there in late Jan so they had better be ready by then :) I did call them up a few weeks ago and spoke to someone who was quite helpful and insisted they would be open... We shall see! I have always found it quite difficult to track down the right person to speak to there though, even before the refurb - they never seemed to really blow their own trumpet which struck me as odd. Like you say it has excellent consultants working there, you are on an NHS site if your newborn has any problems and it is (or was - not sure of new prices) cheaper than say the Portland which is a big deal if you self-fund.

Anyway good luck with your pregnancies, both of you.

it's not crazy, the most popular ones are booked by 4-5 wks! They only take so many women per month.
I had great experiences in C&W and the facilities are really nice after the refurb. I do think proximity to your house helps (and which area you have a resi permit for, a K&C permit was a real help for appointments at C&W).
Since moved out of the area but would still return.

I had Toffeeha'penny at St Mary's last year (sadly not in the lindo as we found out too late to book and it was already full!) with the same consultants.

Even though I knew the level of aftercare on the regular ward was rumoured to be less than ideal I opted for St Mary's based on the reputation of their consultants and the fact that the neonatal emergency department is there (if your baby has serious problems at another London hospital they'll be moved to the specialists there so it seemed less risky if we were already there)

The medical level of care was excellent, I had some nasty complications (preclampsia developing into eclamptic fits at the end) and I will forever be thankful that I chose St Mary's. I was consultant led care the whole way (Murphy first, then Teoh, Lakasing, and I think, Gould). All were very good and I'd happily put up with the maternity ward again just to ensure having that level of expertise.

As a unexpected bonus I have the neatest c-section scar of anyone I know.

I gave birth in the lindo wing two weeks ago and though the facilities were pretty rubbish the staff were incredible. I had a senior midwife ( the most junior on their team has 17 years experience) who stayed with me the entire time, she was fantastic. My obstetrician popped in when I was fully dilated and decided I needed an epidural after a quick scan ( baby back to back, head in a funny position) and I had been in labour for four days ( three of them were at home) the anaesthetist was there in 5 minutes and half an hour later I had a healthy baby in my arms! I couldn't stay as there were no rooms for me and though the delivery room had a shower and loo, it didn't have the lovely things I expected from the last time - shower gel, soap, shampoo etc. If you want excellent care in an NHS ward I would recommend the lindo wing - oh and I booked mr teoh when I was 6 weeks, as he was almost fully booked already and I didn't want to miss out.

Thanks for all your comments ladies and good luck with your pregnancies! i didnt seem to get off to the best of starts with the lindo wing.... they forgot to email the information so i had to chase ( grrrrr) and then when they sent it through they only sent the price list!!....I was really after some kind of brochure with information regarding facilities etc etc and i didnt find them to be very nice on the phone...almost rude!!!! Im sure i just caught someone on a bad day and i realise that a receptionist shouldnt detract from wonderful care that the consultants and mw's give.. it was just a little dissappointing from my point of view. The C&W on the other hand were very helpful and we had decided on them, until i had a wonderful recommendation for a consultant who delivers at The Portland, and so we have gone with him and are verrrry happy, although The Portland wasnt my first choice and i still have reservations about it..... we are elated with our consultant and trust him fully.

Good luck everyone
xxxxxxxxxxxxx

They are now opening middle of Feb, i was just told yesterday as I am also due end of Jan. Is it true that you can only stay one night if you have a normal delivery and 2 if you've had a section?

I highly recommed C&W Kensington wing. Great in every way. However I do feel the consultant is the more important thing so I would be guided by that.

Blossom, the most important thing is to decide on a consultant first. I would have happily delivered in the jungle with mine (Mr. Miskry) he was that good. Would never consider delivering with anyone else and I met with all the big hitters at the Lindo....

best of luck

I had my first at Lindo Wing and couldn't fault them. Had a wonderful midwife for the duration. Currently pregnant with number 2 (due early June 2012) and already booked in over a mont ago. Will be interested to see the changes they've made.
I did visit a friend in C&W Kensington Wing and was impressed with size of the rooms. They do also offer birthing pools which the Lindo Wing doesn't and isn't planning on after refurb. Much smaller point - there's no parking at St Mary's Paddington, whereas C&W does have it.

I was really happy with my consultant and am sticking with him next time round, and he's at The Lindo Wing.
If you haven't already made your decision, hope this helps!

Hi, I recently gave birth at the Ken Wing at C&W and was v happy with everything. Only decided to go private relatively late into my pregnancy so I didn't have all my scans through them but did have couple of appts prior to delivery with my obs Nick Wales and he was great - really friendly and relaxed. The delivery itself couldn't have been a better experience. Calm and stress free, all the midwives and other staff were polite and friendly and treated you like a human being (which having given birth previously on the NHS at C&W isn't always the case. All in all highly recommended and well worth the eye watering sums involved!

Has anyone heard any updates on when the Lindo wing opens (for sure!?) I am trying to decide between a consultant at CW Kennsington or Lindo and am really nevervous of going with Lindo one until I see the facilities and I know they have a good team there. Any help would be much appreciated :)