St John and St Elizabeth

[spottedandstriped]

Thinking of St John and St Elizabeth for my maternity care - any views of which consultant I should choose. Also, does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) of John and Lizzies?

Many thanks

Any comments on your experiences would be gratefully appreciated......

(Assuming this is the one in St. John's Wood)

I don't know at all about the maternity care, but my father was in there for part of a long term illness and the sisters were wonderful - many became good friends outside of the hospital and we stayed in touch with them for a good few years after.

There's also a very peaceful and calm atmosphere throughout, which can only help.

Mind you this was a good few years ago, but I can't imagine it would have changed that much.

Mumsnet Discussions: Childbirth : Portland Hospital views please?! thread has some discussion on J&L as well - you may want to get in touch with some of the mothers thers (opinion is divided though - but no more than on other hospitals)

I found the midwives there amazing. My consultant was Ed Dorman who i would highly recommend... not smoothie smooth but v. nice. The consultant who stitched me up was horrid, patronising git and he did a crap job, I am still smarting 6 months later.

Your choice of hospital has to be dictated by what sort of birth you want. If you want natural, non-interventionist delivery WITH the option of immediate drugs (ha, ha!) then it's perfect. I had a beautiful birth.

The ante-natal care is what you'd expect from a private hospital, but the emphasis is on a holistic approach to pregnancy: they'll take care of your emotional, phsyical and psychological well-being.

Both main delivery rooms have a large birth pool so you are pretty much guaranteed access. That was an important aspect in me achieving a drug-free birth.

Ed Dorman is lovely. Very calm. I also had Yinka Akinfenwa who was great and can whip out his mobile scan gismo at your consultations. Obviously for super-star appeal, you could go for Yehudi Gordon if he's still practising there

Not a good experience I am afraid. Had DS1 there 2 years ago. Ante Natal apptmts and course all good. Went overdue and was booked in to be induced. Then got called the night before induction to be bumped off to the day after as a celebrity had gone into labour early and they were busy with her ! I went into natural labour that night anyway though which stressed them out ! Ended up with a midwife who I had never met who was a brand new midwife ( just trained). I was put into their worst room ( tiny and boling hot - hotest night of the year and no fan, must of been about 28 celsius in there). I was given empty bottles of gas and air which was horrendous. Watched the anaestatist berate the midwife for letting me get into so much pain when I was finally allowed an epidural and then the consultant and midwife discuss loudly how badly my sons heartrate was dropping after each contraction and that they needed to 'get him out quick'. I might as well not have been there.
Ended up with a emergency c section. Post natal care was appalling - had no sleep for 3 nights as son had bad reflux and they refused to take him away as said I needed to get 'to know my baby'. Hence left hospital on the verge of a physical and mental breakdown !
Just had DS2 at a NHS hospital with private ob/gyn and was wonderful experience. Even managed a VBAC which I was thrilled about.
My experience at HSJE was truly horrific, and all for £10,000 !!

mousemole - I'm sorry to read of your bad experience. Can I ask which NHS hospital you used with a private consultant? I wasn't aware that this was an option.

My experience of John & Lizzys was really good. I had Ed Dorman as well (gosh, isn't he hard working??), and would recommend him. Can't remember the name of the guy who did my stitches but he was lovely too - big Scottish guy, looked he played rugby... And Yehudi Gordon is still practising, one of my antenatal class had him as consultant. I had drug-free water birth, using homeopathy & the odd drop of rescue remedy. If you want this kind of thing, and if it ends up working out that way for you (because the best laid plans aft gan aglay in the birthing pool... Luckily for me my annoyingly wide hips finally proved their usefulness), then J&Ls is a great place. I didn't want gas&air or epidural as have various (completely illogical) phobias. I also liked the antenatal yoga classes and the link with alternative practitioners. And their post natal physiotherapist worked wonders for me - got my pelvic floor back, helped my stitches to heal properly and got my tummy flat again (although I did have to do 1 hr of exercises every night for 6 months for these results!)

MammyT - quite a few NHS hospitals in the London area operate private patient schemes. So you have the benefit of full NHS facilities with the additional support of 121 consultant/ midwife care.
I know chelsea and westminster operate a scheme as my boss's wife is booked in there. I am at Queen charlottes under private patient care. I cannot rave enough about the care I am receiving!

When are you due Spotted? You do have to book V early to get into the private care in most NHS hospitals. I booked in at 12 weeks and got the last spot at C&W. The private mat unit there seems lovely though - will have a more thorough review in a month or so!

MammyT, I was at Kingston Hospital. Saw the same private ob/gyn who was amazing and he delivered DS2.I had his mobile number from day 1 which was useful as I needed to call him a couple of times with concerns. I also had to call him at 4am when I went into labour ! I did book in quite early and know that my ob/gyn only does 4 private patients a month.
HSJE was great for my sister and her 3 children ( although Yehoudi didn't deliver her third as arranged as he had to do a radio interview or something !). Clearly Ed Dorman is great too. My conclusion is they are great if you have a very straight forward labour and delivery, but if comlications set in it is not a great place to be.

two friends have had 7 babies between them at J&L's, all straightforward deliveries though some conceived by IVF.

mousemole - so sorry for your experience. I had an elective section (medically necessary though) at J&L 3 yeras ago and had a wonderful experience, post op pain relief was plentiful, and midwives insisted on taking ds (who wouldn't settle the first night unless held upright as he was very muccuosy) for 2 hours so I could sleep. I didn't do any of the ante-natal care there as I was too high risk, so was under the care of the same consultant (J. Aquilina) at Royal London NHS until 36 weeks, then delivered a weeklater. Even though my birth was medicalised, I still had the wonderful holistic experince afterwards - baths with baby in the birthing pool, HSA teaching me baby massage, hotel level food and drink and big double beds so ds could sleep alongside me (particularly important post c-section as I could just roll over to feed him instead of struggling to sit up and lift him)

Thanks everyone. SD I am only 7 weeks so hopefully will still be able to get in somewhere.

Does anyone else have any experiences or views on which consultant?

Many thanks