Best places to give birth near Sevenoaks

[bubbles2909]

Hi I'm moving to Ightham nr Sevenoaks 4 weeks before I'm due. I'm really worried about which is the best hospital as I'm not from the area. I believe the choices are Maidstone or Pembury but I've also heard Farnborough is very good. Any tips? Does anyone know if any of these hospitals do maternity ward tours? Help! I'm getting worried!

Had two babies in Pembury and they are fantastic. No complaints as I was born there, my husband and two daughters. Will have my next daughter in there too provided i can get there in time!
Not had good stories from Maidstone, don't know about Farnborough.
Pembury do let you tour the facilities as far as I know.

Had DS in Pembury. My induction experience on the antenatal ward was horrid due to one midwife but my care on delivery and post-natal was fantastic, the staff were wonderful after the birth, did so much to help. Was due to give birth at Crowborough Birthing Centre - it's lovely there and would be a wonderful place to recover but it has to be a straightforward birth but they are v close to Pembury incase of needing to transfer. And yes, Pembury and Crowborough both do tours.

www.birthchoiceuk.com/

this website gives you info about all maternity units in the country

Had dd at Pembury with no issues - this was in 2002 and although the staff were absolutely lovely the quality of the buildings/ward etc was pretty poor & run down. I think it has now had a facelift however. I was scheduled to have ds there in 2005 but ended up with an unplanned homebirth instead!

I had my DS at Farnborough in Feb this year. Its a lovely new building and was well looked after during the birth. The staff on the postnatal ward were really nice, but very busy and often short staffed. They do a maternity tour on a Sat am I think. Hope all goes well for you!

I had my first birth at Farnborough 5 years ago and it was a fantastic experience due to excellent midwife and doctors. This was the old Victorian hospital which has since been replaced by a high tech modern building.

My second birth was at Maidstone 3 years ago and was not a good experience due to one particular midwife and doctor who managed my second stage very badly.

I had my first c-section 2 weeks ago at Maidstone and it was a much better experience due to a fabulous surgical team. I didn't really enjoy the ward afterwards as it was so noisy and busy. Although the majority of the staff were very nice, I felt that the ward lacked overall management eg people turning on lights at full beam in the middle of the night and TVs on in the bed next to me all evening.

I considered going to Pembury for the last birth and turned up there unannounced one day. To my surprise, the staff very kindly gave me an informal tour of both the normal labour ward and the c-section ward. I don't think the building has been given a face lift as it seemed very old fashioned and Victorian to me. In the end I went for Maidstone because it was closer.

My friend is pregnant with number 4 and has had all her births at Farnborough. She moved to Sevenoaks a year ago but is transferring her care back to Farnborough as she found the Pembury building too old fashioned and she has had really good experiences at Farnborough.