How do I choose which hospital to have baby in - choices are Queen Charlotte or Chelsea and Westminster

[honeybee742]

Hello! How on earth do you choose which hospital to have your baby in? My doctor is in Fulham, where I used to live, so assumed I would go to Chelsea and Westminster, but I have temporarily moved to Acton, W3, so my closest hospital is now Queen Charlotte's. They don't allow tours of the birth centres, and I'm worried about how to choose the best for baby. I found a couple of old threads on here from a few years ago, but would love to hear people's recent experiences of either hospital, and what recommendations you have. I am 11w 4d, and I am going to be 44 when I have the baby in July, so that's also a factor to consider. Many thanks for your help!

And I'm a first time mum.

St Mary's in Paddington is also an option as it's the same trust, but I've not heard anything about it. Any advice gratefully received!

Qch has great medical care as has st Mary's. As they deal with more challenging pregnancies they at every busy. Postnatal care is not great at qch but not sure it is anywhere. Myself and both my children are alive and I am very grateful to them for that !

Qch has great medical care as has st Mary's. As they deal with more challenging pregnancies they at every busy. Postnatal care is not great at qch but not sure it is anywhere. Myself and both my children are alive and I am very grateful to them for that !

Personally I'd go to Mary's every single time. It's one of the few hospitals I've worked in that I would go back to as a patient.

As for QCH - I'd rather visit our local vet.

the birthing unit at C&W is state of the art. I saw it and it looked beautiful. I haven't seen the other two though. Qch I think is safer for the baby as it has intensive care facilities if something is wrong, whilst I'm not sure C&W has. C&W has better food options near by if that's important. I've heard postnatal care is terrible unless you are going private.

Had my DS1 at St Mary's and swore I would never go back. Had my miscarriage at 21 weeks with my DD at Queen Charlottes and their standard of care of me was faultless. Now 13 weeks pregnant again and have returned to queen Charlottes. So far so good, their EPU doctors are so lovely and caring. Not made it as far as labour yet, fingers crossed!

I used St Marys birth centre and cannot praise it enough. You need to ring them as they have a health check and birth "lesson"/tour first. It's near the ward too, if you do end up needing more medical help.

Had DS at QCH and am back there again for this pregnancy. I don't live in their catchment so was very pleased to be accepted after self-referring. Everyone has a different experience and I think it sometimes depends on your personality/expectations. I personally didn't get any champagne (?) but what I did get was very good antenatal care due to gestational diabetes and very good care during the delivery (not allowed in the birthing centre due to diabetes). I was on the ward for a week afterwards and got to see midwives and HCAs of different calibre/experience/kindness coming and going but the overall medical care was excellent for both me and DS. As mentioned already, it takes a lot of complex cases and is therefore busy. Whatever your decision, I think it needs to made promptly and relevant paperwork completed. Plus you'll need to have your 12 week scan soon.