Childcare when giving birth

[SpicyTomatos]

Does anyone have any suggestions for childcare of a toddler when giving birth in central London?

It seems most people use friends, neighbours or relatives, but we don't have any of those let alone ones that can be on standby 24 hours a day over a 4 week period.

The hospital has a strict no children policy.

There seem to be some emergency childcare options online, but most of them appear to be the sort that provide regular backup for when nursery children are sick as opposed to a one off middle of the night thing.

Any help would be appreciated.

Would home birth be an option for you? That’s what I’m planning for various reasons, one of them being childcare.

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think a home birth is an option although it seems like a good idea for some people in a similar situation.

Does toddler attend nursery or childcare of any sort as some nursery staff do this sort of emergency cover as long as they already know the child and family.

If you are in SW London I can recommend “Super Sitters” who were previously known as Surbiton Sitters. They deal with this type of thing all the time and are used to parents in your predicament,

Reaa - yes, he does part time, so that is a good idea. I will ask them. That also has the added advantage that he will know the carers.

PaulHollywoodsSexGut - thanks, I suspect it will be too far (UCLH), but I will contact them just in case.

I tried North London Nannies. It seems that they could probably help provided it is not at night.