St Georges vs Kingston

[MindfulBear]

HI ladies,

Our new home is situated almost equidistant from both Kingston & St Georges Hospital; we have just moved from overseas, I am 18 weeks pregnant and I need to decide which hospital to choose for ante natal care and the birth

I'm trying to decide and wondered if anyone on here had any experience of either which they'd like to share...

My preference would be a MW unit with pool - but given that my last labour was induction after diagnosis of PE (at full term) and DS was back to back (at Tommies) so I ended up with an epidural - I'm aware this may not be possible...!

I would also consider a homebirth as my post natal experience last time was terrible and I would do anything to avoid having to go on a post natal ward!!

If i end up in hospital I want a hospital which is not keen on interventions, and hopefully will not whisk me off for a C-section at the least excuse!

I also need good consultant care as I have an auto immune condition which needs to be monitored, but so long as it is kept in check it should not cause problems.

DS had a TT which was not diagnosed by the NHS for weeks and they never supported me in getting it corrected which caused no end of problems, which we fortunately overcame with help we paid for ourselves. This is also a factor in my decision!

your thoughts would be appreciated

Well first of all you may be too late to book with Kingston as they cover a huge area and have limits to,bookings.
Secondly your postnatal care at home will be carried out by the hospital that covers where you lives...if Wandsworth borough it's georges.

Georges has a big maternal medicine team and would see you regarding your medical problem. They also have a home birth case loading team who would see you through your pregnancy, birth and do postnatal care st home if you went down that road.

They have an excellent high dependency area and team on their delivery suite if you required it (considering previous PET).

They have a very low Caesarian section rate, one of the lowest in London in view of their fetal monitoring training (one of the consultants teaches all over the country).

They have a lovely midwifery led unit which is well used.

Postnatal ward is a mixed bag. Very very busy.

Kingston is a newer hospital and also very busy. Not as high risk, a level two unit where as georges is a level 3. They have a lovely midwifery unit also.

If you want a home birth you need to live in the borough of the hospital. So if you live in Wandsworth borough you need to go to georges for a home birth

Hope this is some help

Also Kingston have a high Caesarean section rate

I used St. George's and was incredibly impressed with the midwife led unit and the delivery suite (used both as we were an emergency by the end). The coordination of everything was flawless and I really couldn't fault our care. The hospital is busy and a bit shabby in places but I don't think you'll find better staff or care, which is what really matters. I'd 100% want to give birth there again if we have another.

I had an awful first birth at Kingston. This was 8 years ago though so it may have changed. It was very understaffed, I felt. Which led to me not receiving the care I needed. Two relatives gave birth there and had equally terrible treatment. I chose to go to a different hospital for my second, St Helier, which I received excellent care in.

Never given birth in St George's but have experienced both inpatients and outpatients there and it has always been exemplary. My mum had all of her children there (albeit 12 years ago for the most recent!) and always recommends it.

Thanks ladies. Really helpful info. I live in merton now so not sure which MW team would cover me in the community. The GP surgery was quite useless.
Last time was so much easier when the GP told me Tommies was the usual place and very good but of course I could choose elsewhere if I wanted. Of course I just chose tommies on his recommendation and due to proximity!

I agree with everything mummy has said about St George's. The delivery suite and high dependency unit are really excellent and I managed to avoid a c section, whereas I'm pretty sure elsewhere I'd have had one. I didn't like the postnatal ward at all though and would consider a private room. We've moved out of the area now, so can't use George's for baby no 2 :(

We lived in Merton and as we were classed as out of area, antenatal care was split between the gp and the George's hospital midwives, with loooong waits at any MW appointment. Postnatal care was done by St Hellier, who were in theory our local hospital. Breastfeeding advice was crap, but I was able to attend the nearby Lambeth milk spots, which were fantastic.

Hope that helps!