Help! Kingston or St George's?! Feeling overwhelmed.

[Katie397]

hi - first post and feeling a bit overwhelmed at choosing between Kingston or St George's. St George's is closer (15 mins) and has better neo-natal but Kingston (30 mins) has better reviews/testimonials from Mumsnet and nicer feel to it online.

I think Kingston also allows visitors 24/7 compared to St George's which limits visiting hours but don't know if covid has changed that.

Feeling really torn and not sure how to make a decision. Too early to ask family or friends which isn't helping!

Would anyone have any testimonials at all? Either their own experience or friends'?

I’ve had 2 babies in Kingston, one last year and my husband was allowed to stay all the time with me on the postnatal ward whereas I have friends at other hospitals who were not allowed. I had fantastic care, particularly with my first birth which was traumatic the staff were amazing.

I have experience of both and if everything is well with baby would choose Kingston every time.

thank you so much @Roseandrose20and @Lou573 - I think I am swaying more over to Kingston, especially if my partner can stay.

Can I ask: am I mad to choose a hospital that's further away for appointments etc? I don't know the importance of this (or even if it is important!) or whether I should choose one based on proximity?

St George's only limits visitors on the antenatal ward between 10pm and 8am. Once you are in labour, birth partners can stay 24/7 and on the postnatal ward.

I had DD at St George's last summer and the care i had was amazing. I saw the two same midwives for all my antenatal appointments. The weekend i delivered the maternity unit was full but I didn't feel abandoned or left at any point. DD developed GBS sepsis (i went into labour early, hadn't done a GBS test, nothing the midwives could have changed) and she spent two weeks in NICU / SCBU and we were very pleased with the care she had.

If you needed a higher level NICU, you would be transferred. I was transferred from Kingston to St George’s when my baby was looking to need to go straight into NICU at birth so delivered at St George’s. The NICU had transfers from local hospitals further afield such as St Heliers, and other hospitals further afield because they are a Level 3 unit. Level 2 units such as Kingston can take care of all but the sickest/most premature babies. And is far more ‘caring’ and homely than St George’s which is very medicalised and clinical, from my experience of both settings. So I wouldn’t choose a maternity hospital based on NICU facilities.

Personally I would go for the closest as it’s handy for appointments and extra monitoring but I had a high risk pregnancy so that might skew my view.

Thank you so much @Blueroses99 and @GuidingSpirit - it's great to hear from mums going through the same decisions, it's making me feel not so lost.

@Katie397 No problem! We are between St Helier and St George's so had a similar decision to make. The things i took into consideration were CQC ratings, ease of getting to appointments (public transport to SH is awkward from us but SG was a 40mins walk), length of taxi journey if I went into labour at rush hour!! Also, as @Blueroses99 said, my pregnancy became high risk in the third trimester as DD's growth dropped down the curve to 9th centile, so i was having multiple appointments per week to monitor her. Being nearer was very handy.

I had my first at Kingston and I think I’ve been spoiled with how amazing my care was. I went into labour but had meconium in the waters so had to go in and be put on a drip. Labour was long, over 24 hours from waters going to baby arriving, but the aftercare was just fantastic. I had a private room and stayed in hospital for 4 days. Initially I imagine as baby had to be monitored due to increase risk of infection, and then I had lots of trouble establishing breastfeeding and baby wouldn’t wee. The midwives their are nothing short of amazing.

I now understand being given a private room is very unusual! I don’t really understand why I was and not just stuck on a ward with other people, but the privacy was just amazing.

I am now nervous as have moved across the country and am 24 weeks with my second baby. The idea of being stuck on a ward with several other women and their partners after childbirth, when you can barely walk, struggling to breastfeed, sharing a bathroom when you’re bleeding profusely and in agony sounds absolutely horrible. Just the vulnerability of it terrifies me. I’m really dreading it.

Hi OP, I'm also pregnant and recently had to decide between Kingston and St George's. I've plucked for Kingston and had a few appointments there already. Obviously not given birth yet so can't comment on that. The care so far has been fantastic. Midwives are kind and welcoming and you can actually get through to them on the phone! Never had this with the NHS before so that pretty much settled it for me.

We are also closer to St George's but decided the extra travel to Kingston was worth it and realistically most of the country don't live right next to hospitals so it's normal to have a half hour drive to get there in labour.

I based my decision on a few things:

1. My and DH's experiences of St George's as outpatients/A&E
2. The conversation I had when calling St George's and asking questions (very poor)
3. The most recent CQC report which put Kingston much higher for maternity care
4. Kingston has private rooms
5. Friends rate Kingston highly for giving birth

Hope that helps, maybe see you there

I had my third baby at Kingston just two days ago! I had an elcs and like with the other two, I had a private en-suite room where my husband stayed the whole time. I was consultant led and she personally came to see us to say hi during her lunch hour once baby was born. The community midwives have already been for their first postnatal visit and are amazing.

Thank you so much all you wonderful mums, you have no idea how much all your thoughts and ideas have reassured me at a bit of an odd time