St Thomas's, Queen Elizabeth, Lewisham Hospital and Queen Mary

[ST82]

Hi mums :)

I am 8 weeks pregnant and a first time mum. I need to make a decision on which hospital i am going to for the childbirth, so far St Thomas's hospital is the one that stands out to me as one of the best in London. I live in South East London (Blackheath) and my other options include Queen Elizabeth, Lewisham Hospital and Queen Mary.

I would be grateful if anyone can tell me a bit about the care, the labour rooms, cleanliness and other aspects of any of these hospitals, particularly St Thomas's. I have looked at the Health Commission survey but would love to speak with someone who has actually given birth there just for a few tips!

Thank you so much,
Silvi

I think i will arrange to visit all the hospitals i have short-listed, though i will soon be running out of time!

Are there any other experiences/opinions/recomendations that people would be able to share?

thanks so much

Hi again I've been thinking about this a bit more and have read all the other messages, I echo the comment that if all is well and anticipated to be well your local hospital is probably just as good as any other the vast majority of births are fine and considerations like distance etc are worth considering too

Care in Lewisham labour ward was pretty good (apart from an unnecessary epidural - make sure they check how dilated you are before they administer. I was 10 minutes from giving birth, it turned out), but as others have said, the postnatal experience was pretty rubbish. I couldn't wait to leave and get home! I transferred from Kings, as I moved during pregnancy. I think the antenatal care at Kings, and certainly the facilities, were far superior. However, I think distance can matter quite a lot - you don't want a mammoth journey. Lewisham was fine - no bells, no whistles, but the labour rooms are actually quite nice.

I'm also in Blackheath. Various friends have had great experiences at Lewisham's new birth centre recently - if you are low risk I'd certainly consider that given it isn't nearly as awkward to get to as St Thomas's (I think you have to consider rush hour times as well as middle-of-the-night ones.

I am planning a home birth. The NHS care I got from the QEH midwifery team for my last home birth was very good - they were very hands off much of the time, and encouraging/helpful when required.

The QEH home birth midwifery team were lovely for me too Pootlebug - although I ended up 'born before arrival'. Of course, for a home birth you will generally need to go with the team from your nearest hospital as far as I understand.

If I were you I'd choose the MLU at Lewisham, I've heard nothing but good things. I wish I still lived in Blackheath so I had that as an option!

Really, one hospital is much like another though. Postnatal care is pretty much a bit crap everywhere, I'm afraid.

Tommys are great by all accounts but don't always take people as far as B
Avkheath. Also a friend from Surrey Quays was meNt to be at Tommys, as his wife went into labour they refused to take her?! Despite all being pre agreed. He ended up at royal London (so dont recommend)!

We're at uclh, all v new and great staff.

Good luck!

I had my ELCS at Princess Royal - not the case that you can't have one there as another poster said!

Was lovely - postnatally they are very stretched and it showed, but tbh prob most hospitals are like that, I don't have anything to compare it to.

I would say that the community midwives are all absolutely lovely without exception, they are the ones you see antenatally and afterwards, and they work in the Oasis which is the MLU within the Princess Royal. However on the labour ward and postnatally there are some utter witches. An because of lack of midwives, there are lots of healthcare assistants and I found they varied, some were just lovely and others clearly couldn't give a shit about a hormonal weeping new mum! Again the increased use ofhealthcare assistants over midwives is probably across the board.

Hello, i had my DS at lewisham in august. Was originally booked into the mw led unit, but went overdue and was induced, then ended up with an emcs due to baby being on a difficult position. I can't fault the care i had from any section of the lewisham hospital services. The antenatal and postnatal wards are very hot and the staff are pretty stretched so they don't treat you like a princess! But they are friendly, polite and professional. Above all i felt completely safe and "listened to" throughout my stay there, and for me that turned a scary situation into a really positive one. And the midwives i had during my labour were SO lovely.

I had an EMCS at Lewisham and had good care. They saved my baby's life. Antenatal care patchy though. Friends have generally had good care at Lewisham and QEH.

St Thomas' is very busy so you can wait for a room/be kicked out very quickly so it's something to bear in mind.

Also I wouldn't assume you'll be in labour for a while as its a first baby-they can be very quick. Car journeys are also uncomfortable when in labour, and being stuck in rush hour traffic on the a2 would be pretty nasty.

Good luck!

Hi st I think you have lots of good advice here. I had DS three years ago at St T's. I live in Greenwich and I had a private midwife who visited me at home for antenatal care (so I didn't have to trek to Southwark for clinics) but when things kicked off I got to the hospital in a cab in the middle of the night. Couldn't fault the care for an EMCS at 36 weeks. Fantastic consultant and registrar.

Antenatal care, however, was dire. I won't go into too much detail here but it was extremely bad (and I am not just talking about not getting a cup of tea when I felt like it, I mean midwives not being able to explain what the medication was that they were trying to inject me with at 3am (turns out it was just heparin)). I complained months later and the hospital responded very well and said that various steps had been taken to address the issues I raised - but the fact remains that they are an extraordinarily overstretched maternity service faced with delivering many more babies than they are supposed to be.

I have heard more recent postive things about QEH and Lewisham. Like others have said, antenatal care is probably patchy there too and like in any busy hospital you will need to be assertive.

Best wishes!

I meant postnatal care, sorry

I'm just half a mile from you.
StMary closed.
St Thomas' not accepting anyone east of Deptford
Kings only accepting complicated cases that QE cant cope with.
Lewisham fine if you're having twins or can stay MLU, but I gather the rest isnt as ideal. I have a friend suing them following her experience there. I'm declining Lewisham if QE is overbooked.
I was a home birth trf to QE. It was fine. But that's all. Fine. Am content to be under them again. Everywhere is stretched.

Ships - I know someone suing (or at least planning to) QE, yet have heard good things about the main labour ward at Lewisham. I think it depends who you happen to know on that one. Totally agree that it's often an illusion of choice rather than an actual choice on where you go to give birth. I was told it was Lewisham or QE and they were my only genuine options too.

ST82, please can you let me know, why do you say that you are running out of time? I am 32 weeks now, also in Blackheath, and still have not decided where to have my baby. Did I misunderstand that you are 8 weeks (9 weeks) now?
Concerning your question, I have heard good & bad things about all the hospitals. Hence why I'm still undecided. I would not consider St Thomas' because it's inconvenient to get to at any time other than during the night / until around 6.30am, and far too busy (my mum was in for major heart surgery last year and I vowed never to go back if I can help it - especially now when heavily pregnant, I need everything to be as simple as possible).
Initially I was not at all impressed with QE from ante-natal visits (the place where you go for scans is fairly horrible) however recently I visited the labour ward and found it to be clean & calm, with friendly staff.
I have yet to visit Lewisham but have heard that whilst the birth unit is lovely, the hospital (should I need to be transfered) is not very nice at all.
I suspect I will end up choosing either Lewisham (since I have a normal pregnancy so far... touch wood) or QE, mainly for the convenience.

SecondTimeLucky - why is the person you know planning to sue? What happened?! I am imagining all sorts - please tell.

Um, I don't really want to say because, coupled with the name of the hospital it is rather identifying to her. I'll just say mismanagement of the labour resulting in a (non fatal but long lasting) birth injury to her child.

It was a pretty specific set of circumstances. TBH, I'd be more put off by the 'dilation race' I mentioned above for the birth pool and other stories like that. I had a lovely tour of QE when pregnant (3 years ago) but found on the day they were not at all supportive of natural birth. Personally i'd always go for Lewisham if low risk on the grounds that the MLU is lovely and they are much of a muchness if you transfer. At least with Lewisham you start out somewhere nicer.

That said, in a low risk pregnancy I would never again set foot in a hospital of any description unless I was transferring in. Home birth all the way for me now. .

I live in Dulwich, my closest is kings but I picked st Thomas because I have friends who gave birth there. I started a thread which may be of interest to you. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/a1407512-Which-hospital-Kings-College-vs-St-Thomas-Hospital-London

MNers feedback are good for both hospitals, but what I currently find is that I need to go to somewhere south of elephant and castle (not close to any tube or rail station) for midwife appointment and that is a pain in the backside.

CreatureBump i have been advised by my GP that i need to make a decision in terms of which hospitaal i will be going into for labour, as that will also determine ante natal care. So far, i have decided to go with St Thomas and my GP has written to them to request a place. I should know by end of this week if i get a place or not. If not, then Lewisham and QE will be my 2 options i guess and very confused on which one of them i would ultimately chose!

I have decided to go with St Thomas on the basis that this is my first child and hopefully i will not give birth within the first hour or two, hence allowing me enough time to get there. I intend to book one of the private rooms for post natal, however i understand there is no guarantee i will be able to get one of these rooms - it depends if they are all taken by private patients or not.

I have not had any appointments with a midwife so far so i am starting to feel a little nervous now. Obviously, i will also need to make arrangements for the first scan, due in 3 weeks time!

hi there, I gave birth in Jan 2011 at Lewisham Birthing centre and had a very positive experience which I wrote about here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/1141657-lewisham-hospital-Jan-2011/AllOnOnePage

I think there are both happy and horror stories about every hospital. I'm afraid it is just luck of the draw what is going on the particular day/night you arrive. (I was put off Kings by a horror story of someone labouring in a cupboard because they were so busy!! but have other friends who had very good experiences there) The birthing centre at Lewisham is amazing if you want a natural birth (ie: only gas and air/pethadine as pain relief) and all the staff I encountered both there and on the labour ward at lewisham were caring and helpful, despite being extremely busy. Good luck!

Hey, I've noticed you've decided to go with St.Thomas, have nothing against them, they're excellent!

However, have you thought about how things will be if you're in for a long time or you get discharged during rush hour?
I live 2 miles from QEH (highly recommend it!), and we got discharged at 5pm on a Thursday, was awful getting home in the car with newborn (took 45mins).
Also, I had to stay in for 2 days at 37wks & was in for 3 days before & 2 after giving birth (problem with baby that resolved when he was born), the MW's were fantastic & reassuring (many hugs & late night sarnies!).
DH had real trouble getting in for the 10am visiting time because of traffic/parking.

Good luck at your first scan and for the rest of the pregnancy!!

Hi OP, I've given birth at St Thomas' (2008) and Lewisham (2010) and although I was happy with ST at the time, my experience at Lewisham was far and away the best of the two.

I also live in Greenwich and would echo all the comments about a local hospital being easier especially if you go in early, have to come home and then go back again. Also, first labours can be quicker than you expect, mine was! Good luck with your decision.

Also forgot to say, I was referred to St Thomas' for my second but they refused to take me because we lived too far away. I didn't live in Greenwich when I had dc1. I was really upset at first that I had to go to Lewisham for dc2 but so glad it worked out that way now.

It's interesting, we seem to have very different experiences despite living in the same area! The midwife team I've been seen by (Greenwich Cutty Sark) said nothing needs to be decided - all can be changed as we go along. So I had my scans at QE, even though I am not 100% decided that I want to give birth there. I don't think you should feel pressured into making any decisions, especially so early on. I found that I've changed my mind about so much, as the weeks have passed. Good luck with everything and please contact me directly if you'd like to, since I'm some weeks ahead of you I can pass on anything I learn along the way (only 8 weeks to go now for me :))

SecondTimeLucky: Thank you for replying, and sorry to seem nosey. I completely understand you can't go into too much detail on here.