Recent experiences of UCH or Queen Charlotte's hospital?

[happygonicky]

Hi all,

Am trying to decide between these two. Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences of either?

Thanks,

my experience of UCLH is very good so far, 30 weeks already and I have been pleased by the care given so far, the equipment is/looks state of the art, appointments have been made on time even if on the day of the appointment, the wait can be long but that is the same with all hospitals

That's reassuring. Thank you.

Not sure if it is recent enough to help you make a judgement, but had DS2 at Queen Charlottes in March 2011 and was very, very impressed from start to finish.

Ante natal appointments/scans etc ran to good time and the care I received during and after the birth was excellent. My midwife was so supportive, encouraging and despite the fact that it was a very busy night, I did not feel abandoned at any point. The wards were spotlessly clean.

Hope that helps and good luck!

I has DS at UCLH last September and the care both before and after the birth was excellent. The pregnancy and birth were not straightforward so I got to know the facilities and staff pretty well and they were great. The stay after the birth was nothing like the horror stories I have read on here. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. Good luck!

My close friend had her baby at queen charlotte...i have to say i had heard amazinly great things bout it...but its also luck on the day ...
my friend had an awful time
was induced...but they over induced her by drip so she was constantly contracting without any breaks...midwives put her ona drip and disappeared for ages...husband ran around in the hosp to find someone ...30 mins later he found a midwife as they were stretched that day
she didnt believe my friend and said ...that is impossible...darlin its all normal ...just deal with it ...and when its time we can offer you an epidural and went off again...my friend fainted as the pain of the constant contractions was too much to bear....again hubby couldnt find anyone he thought she was dead...20 mins later someone turned up....this midwife promised to find an anesathist and left for another 20 mins...friend had woken while the midwife was in the room ...and fainted again...finally she recieved an epidural ...but the put the needle too far in to the spine so she was told to expect a stiff neck and no movement in the neck and bad headaches for 24 hours...the anesathist laughingly said...this seems to happen to me a lot...sorry bout that ...then she received another epidural ...
baby was born few hours after with 3rd degree tears....when she came to stay with her mother inlaw in hounslow the west midx midwives took over...she checked her stiches and shockingly said...oh my lord...you havent been stiched up right and now have a severe infection...they will have to take them out and redo the stiches...
she went back to the hospital and despite a local injection could feel everythin and said...just dont touch me anymore and came home with anti biotics and same old sore stiches...

Like i said the staff was really really stretched that day ..and i suppose anywhere with a shortage of staff on the day ....if you need special monitorin it could go wrong...this was about 5 or 6 weeks ago

3 other friends had their babies there...fab experiences but they had no complications thouh