Whittington Birth Centre

[Desperateforababa]

Hi all

I'm pregnant with my first baby and have registered with the Whittington. Hoping to have a natural birth if possible in their birth centres but also mulling over a home birth. Does anyone have any experience of the birth centre? Positive or negative. Just want to make sure they listen to you and treat you with respect and don't rush to intervene.

Thanks so much

Following

I had my daughter there 5 years ago now and it was a fantastic experience. If they are running the active birth day beforehand definitely worth doing - free and I found it really helpful. They also offered 3 acupuncture sessions coming up to the due date which I had and were good.

There’s a paid pregnancy reflexology practice too - I enjoyed it in the third trimester.

I had a water birth and felt very supported by the staff and had a really lovely midwife. I had my baby later in the day so stayed overnight - we ordered dominos as they said the meals weren’t great.

I did see different people at different appointments but they were all nice, and waits were never long. Much better than the hospital birth I had with my second as we were overseas.

Ah this is very helpful glitter! I would love a water birth. Anyone else with more recent experiences?

Not me, but a close friend had her first in their birth centre in May this year. She speaks very highly of it. She was close to needing an assisted delivery after a long pushing stage, but managed with an episiotomy only and was v happy with how the midwives handled it all

I had mine 5 years ago there, unfortunately was a prem baby so didn't get to do the birth centre as wanted but will say the care my baby got was amazing. Was in for over a week and wasn't unhappy with anything with regards to baby. Didn't treat me the best but baby care was spot on

Following up to see if you ended up choosing Whittington and if so, how was your experience ?

Hi Anna, haven’t had my baby yet (due next month) but so far, have been pleased with their antenatal care as have the other mums in my NCT group. Would recommend but can update when I actually have the baby.

Hi @Desperateforababa thanks for the post, I'm basically in the same position / with same concerns as you. Can I ask how it went for you if you're happy to share?

Or any other recent experiences would love to hear :)

Realised I never replied to this - my daughter was breech so I ended up with a planned c section anyway. I have friends who used the birth centre and loved it.