As a private patient, where to give birth C&W Kensington Wing, Lindo Wing? Queen Charlotte Sir Clayton?

[Billy11]

Hi
I had my first baby abroad. Have no idea which hosptial to go for here in the UK. i live in Richmond so West London is quite easy to get to for me.

I am looking for a unit that has neo natal facilities just in case and 24 hours nursery care after the birth of the baby.

I am strictly looking for a consultant led birth

Please ladies all your advice on the above hospitals is welcome...I will be delivering in August

I've heard good things about Queen Charlotte.

When I was pregnant 9 years ago John and Lizzie's had a very bad reputation for being star struck, but it might have improved by now. Slebs got great treatment. Civilians, including a friend of mine, were left in agony and given short shrift. By comparison I was in a busy NHS hospital but had more blood pressure checks than cups of tea. I'd check which hospitals have good reputations (among mothers!) for maternity units, regardless of private or NHS status.

Kingston has a private maternity ward and is closest to Richmond. Definitely has a superb neonatal unit (NHS so free) so if baby has any problems, there's no need to transfer which I think happens at some private hospitals. I've no idea about 24 hour nursery - you'd need to call them - but I guess the whole point of private is that you pay for what you want ...?

Chelsea and Westminster ticks all the boxes. Private wing in big NHS hospital, nice facilities, nursery etc. And pretty easy from Richmond I would have thought.

Queen Charlottes is fantastic. I had my DS there three years ago and under consultant care there now for the second. The private ward isn't flash, but rooms a good size, and quiet, very clean, and the staff are wonderful, lots of support staff and they have a nursery where they can take the baby off too day or night. It is also very reassuring they have the back up of the neonatal ward and also the NHS hospital/ HDU should anything complicated happen to you.

PM me if you'd like any more info or consultant recommendations

Best if luck with the rest of your pregnancy

I also live in Richmond, but I chose Queen Charlotte's over Kingston when I had my DS 6 months ago. Basically, I second what helenlouisey says above - it is a great place, and the nursery there is great - they took my baby for a few hours each night just so that I could get some sleep & recover. They also picked up a late complication with my baby at 37 wks, & delivered him safely so I am forever grateful to them, especially my consultant. Friends have gone to Kingston & have said that it is just was too busy even in the private ward. From personal experience I can say that the postnatal care at Kingston was awful I'm afraid (you can't have your postnatal appts from QC if you live in Richmond unfortunately).

Strangely enough I found it quicker to get to QC than Kingston from Richmond as well, and it's easier to park there too if that is something you were wondering about.

Fantastic...Thanks so much for your answers they mean a lot

all I need to do now is choose a consultant at the kensington wing...i hear a lot about keith duncan but he is way too busy ..any other recommendations for consultants?

Nick Wales is brilliant. Good luck!

C&W is awful for maternity but the NICU is amazing. My DS was born by EMCS at The Portland-amazing amazing amazing. DS was born at 34 weeks, was taken to NICU at Portland for 3 nights but was then transferred to C&W NICU. I too was transferred to private ward and have an ongoing investigation due to their incompetence. 3 other mothers gave birth there and they too have complaints.

I would disagree that C&W is bad for maternity! I have had two great experiences. My consultant spent a good deal of time in the delivery room each time, chatting and reassuring throughout labour and certainly didn't just rush in at the end. We have a great relationship, helped by seeing him throughout pregnancy.

He knows my body and its capabilities. When things got a little hairy in one birth there was no panic, nor did a doctor have to be 'summoned' as he was already there. (Compared to one of my NHS births where the midwife suddenly bowed out, pressed an alarm and summoned a complete stranger of a doctor to deliver, which I found quite stressful.)

My husband stayed two nights which was magical and fantastic for family bonding. The baby was looked after by midwives for a three-hour stretch and we both slept. It certainly doesn't screw up bfeeding or bonding to have a three hour break, you just feel a bit human again!

I have lots of friends who have given birth in the Kensington Wing and have not heard any complaints.

midwivesdeliver I can tell you categorically that having a 24-hr nursery helped me to bond with my baby. I knew the baby was being well cared for while I could get some sleep overnight, and brought to me when he needed feeding. I had a good night's sleep and left in the morning refreshed and ready to go it alone rather than worrying about falling asleep feeding or fretting over every little squeak. I would highly recommend Kensington wing.

and there is a private midwifery staff attached to the kensington wing - good staff ratios - many familiar faces when I went back for DC2.

I had my son at the private maternity at C&W at the end of 2010 and my experience was terrible. I would never go back there. When we arrived on the day of the birth, the first thing (before checking me) they told us was that they wanted to send us back (as the ward was very busy as we found out later). When they finally checked me, I was 5cm dilated and had strong contractions every 2 minutes. I was under consultant led care but we were left with a completely incompetent midwife who was constantly taking notes and not supporting/helping us at all! The birth ended up as an emergency delivery by ventouse and ds ended up in NICU for 24 hours. I was traumatized and still don't want to think about having another child. The aftercare is ok, you have your own room, dh could stay over night, etc. but to be honest, I would have much rather gone home asap and recovered there. We had paid more than 15k£ for having the birth at the C&W and it was so not worth it! If you want good aftercare, I would much rather invest 1k£ in a private midwife who looks after you at home postnatally. I think the private wings and consultant led care is good if you want to have an ELC but for us it was certainly not worth it.

Thanks very much ladies...
I have finally decided to go for C and W Kensington Wing.
Someone asked me why I need 24 hour nursery....after my 28 hour labour last time all i could think of was getting my strength back so I could bond with my baby and for 3 hour stretches I did get that...A midwife practically made me cry saying i should persevere more to breastfeed which lead to my baby dehydrating 4 days after the birth as i was only breastfeeding but my body was not producing enough milk. The peadiatrician immediately ordered formula and said I had been starving the baby.
My breasts simply do not produce enough milk no matter what I try.
The consultant was able to detect what hormonal dysfunction was causing it and this time I need a consultant to tell me again.

I have to say ladies...I am a bit shocked...5000 pounds deposit for the consultant before you even get to meet him? 3500 pounds deposit for the hospital before you have even seen the hospital with a very insensitive note saying if your baby is stillborn we will keep your deposit??????????
I am starting to think this whole private business is a money making circus rather than health care providing?
Also if you are not out of the door after the one night stay by midday you get penalty charged 100 pound an hour....how shameless...what if i have the baby 4 in the morning....do i get to stay the night or do i get kicked out by midday

I have my first appointment with Keith Duncan this week. But ofcourse only after I have paid his deposit am I even allowed to meet him...it better all be good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have developed SPD and need to be able to opt for a c section which is mainly why i feel the need for private care.

I have had 2 babies at the portland,and would have run a,mile if I had to pay a hefty deposit before meeting my consultant. What if you don't like him? You need to meet a few. He sounds a real prima donna!

If you want to meet any consultant you just book an appointment - you just have to pay for it. Like seeing any doctor privately. He's a very nice guy actually and not a prima donna! You can also go for a tour of the Kensington wing if you ask, without paying a deposit. But you have left it quite late to book which is perhaps why you were advised to pay up quickly. Generally people sort this out before 12 weeks.
This information you've had doesn't accord with my experience (currently on DC3 there), but appreciate it can vary depending from one receptionist to another.

Im sure the mentioned consultant is a very nice chap but I think it is unreasonable to pay a huge deposit before you have even met them.With both my deliveries I paid for an initial consultation and at 12 weeks paid a deposit and if I had to withdraw pay up to the nearest month. If you book within 12 weeks at the Portland you do have to pay a deposit but you can have a tour first.

Of course it would be unreasonable to pay a deposit before you had met a doctor. But it is not the case - that is why I was pointing out OP could arrange and pay for an initial consultation before doing this.

This does sound very unusual. Are you sure you're not mixing up the full fee with a deposit? With my consultant, I didn't pay anything until after my six week check.

At the risk of being found to be talking out of my arse here, you don't have to pay a deposit to take a tour of a private maternity ward. They would all go out of business if they had such a silly policy.

I think you'll also find that 'one night stay' means exactly that. You have a baby at 4am on the 14th (say), you stay the night of the 14th, and you check out by midday on the 15th. You won't be leaving at midday on the 14th, unless you wanted to, of course.

You sound a bit overwrought, tbh. I would call your consultant's secretary and confirm their billing practices, and then whoever is responsible for accounts at the Kensington Wing, and do the same there and get the details straightened out.

Agreed - you can book a tour at C&W beforehand to make up your mind and the deposit of £3,5k is due within 28 days.
You can also , briefly, meet the consultant of your choice without being charged for it, just speak to either the very nice receptionists if he/ she is around and has a few mins time or set up a slot with their secs. Nobody expects you to buy the cat in the bag!!

C&W still has the highest rate of c-s (apart from the Portland of course) and the lowest number of babies ending up in NICU. Like with everthing, you can have a good or bad expierience everywhere, sometimes it's just (bad) luck.

Do you have private health care? If so, check if they cover csection for medical reasons. My healthcover did. So i had an independent mw for pre and post natal care and met a private consultant near the end of pregnancy, in case i needed a cs. In the end i had the cs booked in with him at portland but went into labour naturally the day before so went to uch with my mw. Ended up having emergency cs anyway buy then transferred to portland to recover, where bupa paid for 4 nights. Which was just great, went home full of strength! Just another way of doing it. ...

i think the issue is that i was with a local gyno till 20 weeks ...she said i can transfer at 24 weeks no problem as it was a bit further travel.
Other consultants I have checked do not charge advance money at all.
But yes, I have been in touch with a lady who deals with insurance and she has been great about everything, even with delaying paying the deposit for insurance reasons.
The PA insists still that a deposit is payable NOW!
I have managed to agree not to pay it before seeing him but all other consutlants apart from one are booked up now so im sort of stuck.
I think it is more the attitude of the PA as the other admin lady is really helped out sorting things with the insurance as well.

My husband still feels that this is a complete rip off.
But let's see what happens after my first appointment as I have heard so much good stuff about him.
Also the referral to the hospital was done by keith duncan's PA, I had asked her about the tour..and she said she would send me some info...the info does not mention a tour...
when i called the hospital and asked they said they could arrange for one, 10 days later i am still waiting for someone to arrange it with me...
They were very friendly at the hospital i have to say ...and quite embarrassed that i receveived the bill before a tour was offered.
Dont know how to get around this PA...she's really not someone I want to be dealing with...
I will def post after meeting the man...I really hope it goes well.
I am feeling really uncomfortable about having to ever deal with his PA again though !

Hi ladies

I have private health insurance and plan to give birth at the Lindo Wing in October (I've been seeing a private obstetrician for antenatal care). My health insurance policy pays out a max of £12k towards "normal pregnancy and birth" plus additional costs for the treatment of medical conditions arising during pregnancy and birth.

I was wondering if any of you who have given birth covered by insurance could let me know if there are any insurance loopholes or other factors that I need to be aware of? I understand that there will probably be a bit of a shortfall in that the £12k probably won't fully cover it even in normal circumstances (I envisage it will be more like £15k if I'm staying a couple of nights) which is fine, but is there anything else I need to be aware of? For instance, on another thread a poster mentioned something about insurance not covering the baby - is this right?

I chose the Lindo Wing because friends said it was better to give birth at a facility attached to a full NHS hospital in case things go wrong. So, if I am transferred to the NHS part, will this be normal "free" NHS care, or would it be chargeable because I have elected to have a private delivery?

I am a lawyer by trade, so should know better than asking for this kind of general advice when of course it depends on the policy wording and the specific scenario , but having no previous experience of pregnancy/birth, I am finding it hard to understand how the policy would apply. I am in contact with my insurer, but if anyone could give me any general insights, it would really help in terms of knowing the right kinds of questions to ask IYSWIM...

In case it is of use, I have AXA PPP Gold plan.

Thanks in advance!