St Mary’s Lindo Wing Beware

[AnEarthmom]

This message is for those who are considering to give birth at St Mary’s Lindo Wing I urge you to reconsider. Yes the institution has a reputation however because of its name reputation the basic care has been minimised to create maximum profit. I had my first child at the Lindo Wing and found the experience invasive and clinical. In addition there are not enough nurses per patient. Sadly the nurses are overworked and have become cynical in their approach. And doctors prefer patients to fit into their to schedule so c sections are highly recommended. They can get more patients done more quickly because it is not about the patients it is about numbers. When giving birth women need to have a caring support system not one that is stretched to its limit for profit. What is most scary is the head nurse is not a hospital nurse but a social services nurse who has not had field experience. She does not know in detail or how to give the medical care needed for post natal or after major surgery like a c section. My doctor Dr Teoh is considered the best. He is the great as a surgeon but not as a doctor. As many people warned me and I can confirm he has absolutely no bedside manner. You are treated more like a thing to be sorted out rather than a person giving birth. The doctor was very eager to cut the baby out and did a sweep of my vagia without telling me first. This technique causes the water to break and one to go into labour quicker but not necessarily safer. I felt I had no choice but to have a c section. It was only after the whole process and after speaking with midwives snd other doctors that I realised I could have given birth naturally if I had the right support and given adequate time. But time is something the Lindo Wing does not have. It is a revolving door of patients who spend an average of 17,000£. They do not mention this in the beginning. Their offices casually say the process is about 10-11000£ however after speaking with several mums the about turned out to be more likely around 17000£. I was prepared for this thinking ok I believe I will get the best care however it was not the experience that in any way reflected the Lindo Wing reputation. It was more a chop shop. And you are looking for a natural birth this is not the place.

@lunar1

I don't understand why they are employing nurses instead of midwives? And what is a social services nurse? I was a nurse for a very long time and have never heard of one.

Me neither.

Repeated use of "mom" may suggest the OP is perhaps from elsewhere. She sounds unfamiliar with UK staff hierarchies and medical practices in hospitals or in the community.

She perhaps doesn't realise that all doctors nurses and midwives who trained and qualified in the UK, do their training in NHS (state) hospitals and facilities.
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I will tell the midwife I know that works there, that her 30 years midwifery experience (most of it in the NHS) isn't enough as you consider her a social services nurse.

I am sorry you had a poor experience, but I'm not sure here is the place to be posting about it.

Op I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. I just wanted to say I don't think it's the best idea to name names, could get you or MN into trouble.

I bet Kate had a great nurse to patient ratio. I think your post proves that private does not necessarily mean better. It’s a long time since I had a baby but I know it’s in the media a lot about sub standard maternity care in many hospitals, with midwives who are careless and uncaring.
I’m sorry you’ve had a terrible time. You should definitely follow this up. Surely doing a sweep without your permission or telling you is a sexual assault.

I bet Kate had a great nurse to patient ratio

Kate had her own team.

I live the the Westminster borough that includes St Mary's Paddington. The hospital overall is generally regarded as being in a poor state of repair. I have seen a consultant at the Lindo wing - not for child birth though. I thought it seemed rather ''small'' and there was nothing remarkable about it.

I had my first two babies at the Lindo. A couple of things: it is well known for being very hot on the more medical side of things. Those who wanted a midwife led private birth tended to go either to John and Lizzies or the Portland. I was paying for top notch medical care, and that is what I had there.

The other thing is, very few first births go anywhere near to plan. Nothing, even 17 grand, will guarantee you have the birth you want. In my experience - - three babies, three NCT cohorts, three sets of baby groups, toddler groups, three school years - - nearly every first birth has an element of shock, fear at times, perhaps disappointment too, and some much more serious injury. You cannot throw money at it and guarantee a peaceful, easy birth. You can throw money at it and expect a midwife there when you need her and a consultant who knows the evidence base and the pros and cons of every intervention. And a private room and a clean loo.. If you have complaints, do bring them to the hospital as I am certain they would want to act on them.

I was very glad I had my first two privately as I was very nervous and absolutely needed the hand holding. It was a traumatic birth, 10 hours, ending in a section. Had no wider family support etc Stayed in five days and learned about baby care there. By dc3 we had moved away from London, to an area where there are no private hospitals, and I had dc3 on the NHS. The antenatal and postnatal care seemed bare bones in comparison but the birth experience was just as good. Mind you, the first was an EMCS and the others were elective sections.

A long way of saying that what you describe is quite well known about the Lindo approach. But it is not about squeezing in as many patients as possible, it is about the evidence base and what is safest in particular circumstances. And they are very conservative on that, and known to be so. Their rate of C sections is comparatively high, but their rate of birth injuries to mother or baby, is miniscule (or was when I was researching this.) For me those were the key elements I was paying for. If you were keen for something different, there are other choices and not sure why you would pick the Lindo which, as I said, is really well known for this approach.

I hope you are on the way to recovery and enjoying your baby💐

I am thankful to hear of your positive experience. The midwife I had did not help with breastfeeding. She came in with a bottle of aptmil in her hand and said: “Well you can’t feed your baby what are you gonna do about it? With out asking she gave my baby aptmil. This was 3 am when I was trying and trying to feed my baby and I was asking for support. The midwife did not support she did what was easiest for her. When I spoke to the head of the Midwife’s about this she brushed it off. I don’t think anyone else should have this experience.

My very good frind had both her babies there, she wanted a section and that is what she had. Cost £20k each time. She was very happy with her experience there.

The term is health care professional. They are not qualified midwives.

I couldn’t agree more if you are looking for a natural birth the Lindo wing is not the place. I did not have a set plan but I did feel the Lindo Wing favours a c section. I too believed medically this was safe in case something happened. But I did not feel I was given a chance or all the facts objectively. If the hospital team already have it in mind to perform surgery there is no room for being in the moment of birth. I did not want a scheduled c section. Oddly enough all the women in my anti natal course ended up having to have a c section too at the Lindo Wing.

I have seen on mumsnet posts about hospitals and women’s experience in them and I wanted to share mine. I am thankful I can do so as I know in the past women didn’t have a choice or voice in how they gave birth. My story is here. I hope it does not become someone else’s story and I am thankful to hear positive birth experiences.

Reported
This is libellous

@Waytoomuch82 You are so rude. I can't believe you said this is libellous. You are libellous yourself, someone should report you.

Why don’t you make a formal complaint to the hospital rather than naming specific names on Mumsnet?

There are a lot of reasons why in many circumstances a Csection is safer for baby and mother. They are very conservative with risk at the Lindo wing. If you are happier to have a more natural experience of birth there are other places to go. At the Portman you can have a midwife lead birth. At the Lindo, at least when I was there, you could not. You are paying for a consultant lead birth and with a small bit of research it would be clear that this means more medical intervention, and very low risk of damage to mother and baby.

In addition, many Lindo mums have night nannies etc waiting and are not averse to mix feeding. I wasn't. Post c section milk can take longer to come in. My first had one formula top up, my other two none.

I think there are elements of choice in giving birth. The Lindo are well known for being quick to go to C section and pain relief. You are paying for a consultant lead birth so I'm not sure why you would think it would be otherwise. The upside is that the threshold of risk of damage to mum or baby is very low, but equally it is not going to be a birthing ball, birthing pool, natural birth experience. But it is not about profit. My consultant delivered comparatively few babies. It is about a risk averse, medically driven model of childbirth, which you either want or not!

And again, many of my contemporaries who planned a natural birth experience ended up with interventions or sections. I was very grateful for the care, no birth injury to me, and three fab healthy babies.

I mean Portland... the Portman is something else entirely!

@AnEarthmom

The term is health care professional. They are not qualified midwives.

They bloody well are. I know one, fully qualified midwife for 30 odd years.

A midwife is a healthcare professional, I have no idea what the OP means

I went there for something else, it really wasn't very good compared to other private hospitals

No, it isn't an all bells and whistles experience like many private hospitals. It is small and was very tired looking when I was there. You are paying for a particular consultant and their expertise in obstetrics. Plus on site NICU with quick transfer if needed. For me, the private room was a godsend as I stayed in 5 days with my first and 3 with my second. But that was an added extra.

I am booked for an ELCS there at the end of this month. Had first DD on the NHS and an awful experience with my week on the postnatal ward, as well as what turns out to be a bit of a shambles of an EMCS. I am still traumatised by the experience. I've been an NHS nurse for 15 years, and am not averse to a busy, acute ward, but it was actually dehumanising.

That, combined with covid tipped us into making this decision. My consultant is wonderful, so supportive, knowledgeable and available.

The unit itself isn't that fancy, but all I really want is a good consultant, easy links to a decent NICU, private room and a shower that isn't covered in someone else's blood.

Come the revolution, places like this should be closed down. Paying £10,000+ to give birth when there are people on the breadline. Fucking disgusting. And even worse that the treatment there is so bad.

@GoshHashana people spend a million pound on a diamond ring, should that be banned??? It's up to people how they want to spend their money. There are always people on the breadline and people who spend their spare money on a yacht.

I can't for the life of me understand why someone would pay thousands of pounds to give birth.

A hospital is a hospital. NHS care is incredible and bad experiences can happen privately or under NHS. It's nothing to do with how much you pay.

The obvious differences will be the level of luxury/comfort and how much time staff can spent 1-1 with a patient, but absolutely not worth that amount of money for what could be a matter of hours/a day