London birth centres: St Mary's or Queen Charlottes?

[coveredinflour]

Morning, just figuring out where to book in to for DC2.
I had DC1 at UCLH which was good but due to a rather quick labour and birth I am considering a hospital which might have less traffic to get to hence Queen Charlottes or St Mary's (unless we go for home birth but at the moment that makes me nervous).

I would like a birth centre water birth which is what I had last time. I have heard that there are long waiting times for appointments at Queen Charlottes and it's tricky to get to from a public transport perspective but then St Mary's there is no parking at all...

Does anyone have anything else to say that would help me decide either way?

I can recommend the St Mary's home birth team .. had DS2 through them and aiming to have DC3 there as well. We're walking distance from there, but the few times we've had to drive, we've had no problem finding street parking. I believe there's quite a few underground carparks nearby too, but you might want to research where they are, as sometimes the entrances aren't that obvious.

Thank you very much!

Has anyone had any experiences of Queen Charlottes or giving birth in St Mary's? I am wondering if a home birth is the way to go but would still like to feel comfortable with the hospital.

Really can't decide!!

I had DC1 at Queen Charlotte's birth centre nearly two years ago. I would definitely recommend it and also think it is very highly rated. Nice enough room, partner can stay over, care was excellent for the birth (although hot water ran out/broke so that made the pool a little chilly - delivered outside for other reasons). The issue can be if the birth centre is full, which nearly happened to me - luckily I was sent home and then a few hours later when I returned it was free. Then you'd have to go to the delivery suite...but guess that's the same in other hospitals.

No issues with ante natal care - booking appointments was straightforward, all scans and check ups on schedule, test results back quickly, booking appointment sent very quickly (self referred). Waiting times can possibly be a bit long in the ante natal clinic particularly for booking (that took four hours for DC2 booking in which was a bit long with a toddler in tow!) and the early appointments - later appointments have less waiting it seems, but have no other hospital to compare to though! I was quite pleased with the whole experience - thought it was on the whole professional and efficient.

As for transport, if you drive there's a reasonably large car park round the back, £2.20 per hour, never had a problem parking there. When you give birth you can pay a flat £10 and get the day's parking from 8am I think it was. There's also a fair bit of on street parking on Du Cane Rd outside the hospital. Public transport isn't too bad - East Acton on the central line and then a ten min walk.

It's not my closest hospital but I'm booked in there again for DC2 if a homebirth doesn't work out. So I was obviously happy with it first time round!

If there is the tiniest, slightest chance you might have to come out of the birth centre and into the normal wards... DO NOT go to St Mary's. I had a terrible experience there, which I won't go into but it was truly awful and due to shockjng understaffing and unprofessional and incompetent agency staff. It wasn't just upsetting or traumatic, it was dangerous and negligent. To be balanced, the surgical team were great and the high dependency nurses kept me longer than they should have done as they knew how bad the rest was (I didn't though at that stage).

I found out after that other people knew it wasnt good other than the birth centre, and hadnt wanted to worry me. I try to be reasonable and measured when giving reviews, but I would tell anyone to avoid St Mary's at all costs. I know the birth centre is superb, but it's a risk to take when the rest is so so poor.

Thank you!!!

I am now leaning towards QC with a preference for a home birth (slightly terrifying but good in other ways) but might still go birth centre. It's a bit scary the thought of it being full though! I really, really want a water birth (I get that it might not be medically possible but I would be cheesed off if I didn't get one because the birth centre was closed). 4 hours to wait sounds bad too. At UCH I never had to wait more than half an hour or so for an appointment.

I have not heard great things about St Mary's now so I think it's between QC or possibly even going back to UCH but don't think I can have a home birth with their team as I am outside the catchment area.

Wow I am not even 5 weeks and already so worried about the birth! Lol! Ridiculous!!

Yes, 4 hours is long but bear in mind all the bits of the booking take almost 2, so it's not quite as bad as it sounds. And later appointments seem to get better (although uch sounds very efficient!).

I think there's one birth pool on the delivery suite at qcc so even if the birth centre is full you still might get a water birth all being well! Probably easy to check this if you want to by phoning their booking line. Bear in mind if you're outside qcc catchment area you need to refer quickly as I understand it fills up fast. But you're pretty early so should be fine.

Good luck!

Either Mary's or UCH.

I'd rather go to the local vet than QCH.

Thanks curly I am in catchment I think so should be ok.

Oh dear fox why is it so awful?

(Sorry it's me - OP - changed my username)

Will pm you

Thank you!!

I'm St marys birth centre right now. It's amazing.
I had my first in the labour ward horrid. But if you can stick it out in the birth centre it pays off. If you want a decent labour no matter what happens Chelsea and Westminster where I had my second is really good, clean attentive ect. I'm just thanking God I got the birthing centre today and had a straight forward labour.

I had my 3rd baby at queen charlottes 6 weeks ago and can't rate it highly enough. Fantastic, supportive midwives in triage and the birth centre and post natal ward experience was positive too.