Homerton vs Whipps Cross please helo

[mia1972]

Hello ladies,
I have a dilemma and I hope I can get advice. I am currently 6 months pregnant and registered at Homerton Hospital which I am pretty happy with. Had my scans there and have consultant led care and an overall positive experience so far.
Now I am moving house in about 4 weeks so quite late in the pregancy :( not ideal but that is what is happening - and I am moving very close to whipps cross university hospital, I'd say about 6-7 minutese walking distance to the hospital. This has made me think about changing hospital for convenience ....baby is due during the olympics and getting to homerton might prove a nightmre....but not sure that it would be a great idea at this stage + I don't know much about whipps cross ...so i was wondering if any of you know much about whipps cross and any comparative stories of births in these 2 hospitals...
Please help ...

I don't know if it's any help, but I live near Whipps Cross and am going to Homerton because of their better reputation.

In my NCT class is a woman who lives in a street adjacent to Whipps and is going to UCH as she wasn't happy with her experience there last birth.

I would stay where you are.

I'm in a very similar situation (buying a house near Whipps Cross and likely to be moving in June, about three weeks before the baby is due - argh!!!) and have been strongly advised by my doula to stay at Homerton rather than moving to Whipps Cross.

I had my first child at the Homerton in early 2010 and although it was a failed induction and I ended up with a C section, overall I had very good care and the post-natal ward was not as horrific as I'd been led to believe. And everything I've heard about their new birthing centre is amazing.

Good luck with your move!

Thanks I spoke to somebody on the train who said she was very happy with whipps cross and started wondering but will probably stay where I am !
Thanks

Mrsfox, thanks so much for your message , I feel a lot better knowing that I am not the only one doing this crazy thing.
I think i will end up staying in homerton and it's intersting your doula is advising you to stay there...she must know...
I find it quite daunting to move so close to the birth also because we might have to do some modernisation to the house :( I am due at the beginning of august and also moving in June ....How are you going to manage the move so close to the birth - I guess getting hubby to do most of the things ...and not do much yourself.
Good luck with your move and birth too, i might bump into you with a new born baby around that area!

It does feel completely crazy! But I went to 42 weeks last time so I am figuring that at least if that happens again I will be too busy to fret about it. We will book packers and I will be unbearably bossy directing the unpacking from the sofa. It will be chaos, but when the right house comes up you have to go for it.

Look out for a frazzled very pregnant lady with 2 yr old in tow come late
June/early July - it will probably be me!

I've had 3 babies all SVD at wx, ds1 a long time ago all fine, ds2 5 yrs ago induction all good and normal delivery and ds3 4 yrs ago very good, spent some time in the water but couldn't have a water birth due to busy labour ward and another water birth taking place, but all went well. Happy with treatment and staff during and after labour.

I had a late mc and delivery last year, the staff who treated me were professional, kind and sympathetic, subsequent test results took ages but typical nhs speed.

24 weeks pregnant today and after last year have moved to high risk, I have seen my own consultant and one other who have sent me for specialist scans. I've also been told they won't let me go over 39 weeks and to consider if I want an elcs. Next appointment in a week. I'm also due in the Olympic zone so the where and when could really help.

All these extra appointments are a bit of a pain at times but reassuring all the same and as I only live a few miles away not too inconvenient.
Overall positive thumbs up from me.

I'm a doula and though I've had a couple of positive experience at Homerton the facilities and woman/baby focus are generally much better at Homerton.

That being said Whipps has a great new one-to-one home birth service with 2 dedicated MWs who'll give your antenatal care at home as well as attending your birth. A client had a baby with them just over a week ago and they were ace.

I know a few people who have had their babies at Whipps over the last few years and had mixed experiences. At least two of them made complaints afterwards (both of them had their babies over 18 months ago and you need to bear in mind that things do change) but others said they found it good.

I had ds at Homerton and found them excellent during the delivery although the post-natal ward was grim (I think that seems to be the case everywhere in London). I'm due again in 3 weeks and have recently switched from my local hospital (not Whipps) to have this baby at the Homerton too. Saying all that, I had a discussion with my doula about this and she felt that it was very much all about who you get on the day rather than the hospital itself.

I think the fact that you need to travel during the Olympic time could be a massive problem. We live in one of the major Olympic areas and everyone's dreading it. I know I'd be really anxious about getting to the hospital in time, so you will definitely need to weigh up the stress factor when making your decision. If you're really worried about your travel arrangements, you're not going to be able to relax towards the end of your pregnancy and, depending on the sort of person you are, this could have a knock on effect on your blood pressure etc. Can you get any information at this stage about routes that will be closed etc and see whether the journey is feasible or not?

Good luck!