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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Anyone care to share their experience of Whipps Cross Maternity Services?

13 replies

maria2bela1 · 06/08/2021 10:33

Hi, I am looking for feedback about Whipps Cross maternity department in East London. Would anyone care to share? I am looking for feedback on in the following areas;

Antenatal appointments
Birth
Postnatal Care

OP posts:
shas19 · 06/08/2021 23:34

Ive had both of my children there and currently on no.3. Appointments and that kind of stuff all fine. My sons birth 2014 was very traumatic and the care up until i had him was good. I had an emc and after they put me in the delivery suite and put me in the smallest space known to man, i couldnt even get out of bed properly to get to him, nobody answering the buzzer etc. Then i used the bathroom around the corner and could hear him screaming for 5mins and a midwife walked past and joked that somebody's baby didnt sound happy. Nobody batted an eyelid. My daughters birth 2018 also ended in an emc. They left me on labour ward for 6 days with constant back to back contractions but as I wasnt dialating they wasnt concerned. I begged for an induction as i was so tired and her movements had reduced, i was also 36 weeks. I was given a sweep without consent, told i had never given birth before so i wouldnt know what labour was like... i laboured with my son for 38hrs funnily enough.

WhatsTheTimeMrCat · 07/08/2021 07:24

I had my first there in 2015, as did several of my friends (so this may be dated). I’ve since had a second baby at a different hospital. I had an induction which failed followed by an EMCS.

It’s a very busy London hospital. Much of it is quite old but the facilities were adequate - although the birth centre was closed that summer but I ended up on the delivery unit anyway. Most of the staff were very pleasant with the odd notable exception. They gave you a booklet which started off by telling you not to bother asking for a planned section because they wouldn’t give you one without a medical reason, which had me a bit Hmm.

Antenatal care was adequate. Fine once you actually got there - I got the right appointments at the right times - but if you had concerns you could never, ever speak to anyone - the triage number would just ring and ring.

The induction was handled really badly. Clinically, the care was safe, but it was not good. It’s not the kind of hospital where people sit down with you and discuss pros and cons - it’s all so busy and automatic you just get told what they’re going to do to you. So be prepared to ask awkward questions and advocate for yourself. The EMCS happened at the right point, which was the main thing but again, it was not patient-focused (they took the baby out of theatre while I was being stitched and the medics just talked over my head as if I wasn’t there).

Postnatal ward was very busy and not particularly pleasant but imagine typical of other NHS hospitals.

My friends who had babies there were broadly happy. It was stereotypical NHS - great in an emergency but a distinct lack of the fluffy stuff.

We moved so our second was born outside London and that was a much better experience!

I think your other options there may include Homerton but I also know people who used the Barkantine birth centre and UCLH and they were both really happy.

AngeloMysterioso · 10/08/2021 20:19

Put it this way… my DH and I travelled for over an hour in the middle of the night to get to the hospital I gave birth in… Whipps was 10 minutes away. That’s how much I didn’t want to give birth there.

I had to go there to have my stitches checked 1 week PP and that experience alone told me I’d made the right decision.

wannabeamummysobad · 25/08/2021 19:42

@AngeloMysterioso , which hospital did you pick in the end?

I'm 5 weeks and was considering whipps cross (proximity) or homerton ( where I was born and semi local). It's an absolute minefield selecting for your first pregnancy.

Thanks

Ava50x · 25/08/2021 19:47

Can't help you with Whipps but seeing you're considering the Homerton, i've had 3 there and been really happy each time. Antenatal care has been brilliant, midwives are lovely and very caring, and all seems very professional and modern. I gave birth in the birth centre all 3 times so can't comment on labour ward but been really happy. Postnatal again i'm sure typical of NHS hospitals but I've been treated very well the one night I did spend there.

Nojobforoldmums · 25/08/2021 19:59

Homerton has a great reputation. Whipps does not.

If I were to write down my experience at whipps it sounds horrendous, and probably overly negative. There are good staff there but stretched very thin.

sadsack987 · 25/08/2021 20:01

I am 11 years out of date here but this came up in active threads and took me back.....

I had a choice of Whipps or north mid. I had 2 ectopic pregnancies which required surgery and had one in each. Whipps experience much better - more sympathetic care, better follow ups etc.

I then had a multiple pregnancy at Whipps and therefore consultant care. Appointments all fine, consultant was a bit brusque but thorough and competent and I felt well looked after.

I had a lovely section experience (planned due to positioning) - I had a bunch of students observing as was a full term problem free multiple birth section so useful to observe. They all came to see me after, bought me tea etc.

Post natal was a bit tougher - we had a room due to multiples but they were rushed off their feet, didn't answer buzzer etc. Still kind, let dh stay a bit later and they took Dd1 from me when Dd2 was asleep so I could get some test. On the other hand I couldnt establish bf (I had no milk at all) and I was promised someone would come and see me to try and help but they didn't because they were manic.

This is hugely out of date, sorry. But it was quite run down then so I imagine worse now. However in my day definitely the better option of the ones I had and I did feel medically cared for.

Flamingo49 · 25/08/2021 20:03

I had my first at Whipps and my second at North Middlesex, which should tell you everything you need to know! The two experiences were like night and day. I specifically chose North Middlesex as they have private rooms you can request on the day, for about £35. This means partners can stay in the room with you (in non covid times I guess)

wannabeamummysobad · 25/08/2021 20:28

Thank you all for engaging/responding so quickly.

Based on what you've all said and what I've read I am 99% certain I'll self refer to Homerton Hospital and take a look around.

Thanks again

AngeloMysterioso · 26/08/2021 17:53

@wannabeamummysobad we actually went to Tunbridge Wells- I’d had all my antenatal care there as we were supposed to be moving there a few months before I was due - in the end the house purchase fell through so we were still living in NE London when DS arrived but we decided to schlep down anyway and I’m so glad we did! Luckily we ended up setting off at about midnight on a Saturday night so the roads were nice and quiet, if it had been a weekday rush hour I might have had to reconsider.

Alyosha · 03/09/2021 13:17

I would actually go with North Mid over Homerton - you can have a bad experience anywhere but notably fewer people seem to have them at North Middlesex Thanks elsewhere. I had my first at Homerton and it was pretty terrible. Got my name, address, date of birth wrong, didn't do any obs on me or the baby after transfer to postnatal ward, discharged to wrong address too. Terrible rude anaesthetist and unpleasant staff in the postnatal ward too.

wannabeamummysobad · 03/09/2021 17:56

@Alyosha how long ago was this? I'm so sorry for what you went through.

Definitely pause for thought. I'll look into west mids. Thank you

Alyosha · 03/09/2021 19:50

It was in 2018. I've had friends who've had great experiences, but there seems to be some kind of issue with their anaesthetists as another friend had an incredibly rude one. In fact, 2/3 friends have had bad experiences there...their postnatal ward is awful. Postnatal wards are always a bit dire but I will say I felt North Mid's was a lot nicer than Homerton's & I felt much better cared for there.

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