Queen Charlotte's or St Mary's?

[jelbuckley]

First time poster - apologies if this is the wrong thread to ask for advice!

I live near Westbourne Grove in London and have narrowed down my choices to Queen Charlotte or St Mary's. If anyone has experience of either of these two hospitals then I would be grateful for your insights.

Thank you!

I had DS at Queen Charlotte's in 2011 and am due to have DC2 there too in next few weeks (please let it be soon! 38 weeks and fed up with the heat!).

I think it's a great hospital. Something nice about it being maternity only, though its next to Hammersmith hospital. They are real experts in their field and deal with a lot of very complex cases, which skews the figures a bit on things like interventions.

The antenatal clinic is a bit hectic but I think that's true of most places. Great birth centre and labour ward, really excellent care during delivery. I ended up with an EMCS and found everyone really calm and kind.

Postnatal wasn't as good... Very stretched midwives and was put under a lot of pressure to give DS a bottle when I was struggling to breastfeed in the night. I was in for a week as had an infection, eventually transferred to private ward (Stanley Clayton) which cost a fortune but was worth every penny for the peace and quiet of my own room.

Just to warn you, QCH gets very booked up and they seem to prioritise those west of the hospital so do opt for it soon if you're going to... I live just off Ladbroke Grove and was warned I may not get a slot even though I requested one at under six weeks.

Best wishes for the rest of your pregnancy!

If you're low risk and can go to the birth centre at St Mary's, they're excellent. I had DS there and the midwives were lovely. I think the main labour ward is less good and postnatal ward is meant to be pretty grim.

I'm at QCH. They are good, and I've had great care - many many scans at the prematurity clinic and I'm now under the care of Prof Bennetts team for the rest of my pregnancy.

Only thing I would say is that the phone booking is TERRIBLE. So remember to do it when you are there. Although I think they are trying to improve it. Plus their timekeeping is not very good.

I'm having a c-section there when the time comes, so can't tell you much about that yet. But I'd say it was quite good, and easy to get to using public transport, which is helpful.

Thank you all very much, I really value your input.