Anyone given birth at homerton or Whittington recently?

[Crzy]

Moving trusts and need to decide which hospital to continue my antenatal care and birth with but I’m torn! Both exact same distance time wise away and already wrote off north Middlesex after hearing a lot of awful experiences there. Have awful memories with homerton not care related simply trauma related so I’m unsure it’s the best choice mentally but it’s got the highest level nicu which considering complications may be wise. Wondering if any of you can share your experiences of either as the only person I know who’s given birth in either is my MIL and that was over 25 years ago!

Not terribly recent but gave birth to both my dds at the Whittington - one in the birth centre and one on the labour ward following induction. Both positive experiences but no experience of NICU.

Do not give birth at the Whittington.

North Mid has improved hugely in the last 10 years and its maternity services are highly rated.

@ChillysWaterBottle having heard others experiences from younger mums of rude and dismissive staff in last 2 years at an antenatal class I’m highly put off as level of care combined with what will now be even worse understaffing is not the type of place I’d like a birth that is likely to already be stress inducing without feeling uncomfortable with the care especially being my first and it’s slightly further from us than the other two so not most practical anyway.

Any specific reason to avoid Whittington?

Had my little girl at homerton in Feb and found the staff and care to be incredible. We were out of the birth centre quickly even though my little one had to be checked by a doctor before we left. The midwifes were so so lovely to us and I couldn't imagine going anywhere else if we are lucky enough to have another. Could you do a walk around of both and see which you prefer? Not something I did but I know friends have done it at homerton so it is possible. Good luck with it!

@Crzy I used to live in North London and three of my friends still there have given birth at Whittington in the last two years. All had terrible experiences and one ended up with long-term PTSD from her treatment there. The care itself was mixed (some good, some dreadful) but the attitude and behaviour of the staff was the problem - it was appalling. They do not treat women well there. The last was nearly 8 months ago so maybe it has improved but if it was me I would not risk it.

The only reason I suggested North Mid was I've heard mostly good reviews from there, but from the reports from your class it seems like quality may be inconsistent, possibly down luck of the draw.

Sorry I'm not trying to be negative or scare you, but I just saw 'Whittington' and my blood boiled after how my friends were treated. In all honesty I think there will always be some luck in which staff member you get, how busy it is, how easy the birth is. At the end of the day all my friends have come home with happy healthy babies.

(Super congratulations by the way!)

@Crzy I gave birth at Homerton in April. I had an emergency section and honestly cannot fault the care I received during the birth.
Can't thank them enough for getting my boy safely here 🩵.
I also found the care during pregnancy was incredible. The midwives, drs, even receptionists were great!

@Newmumma23 a walk around is something I didn’t even consider asking about and defo will do

@ChillysWaterBottle Staff attitude and behaviour was my main worry, will definitely be avoiding Whittington after hearing this as I know I wouldn’t cope if I had to deal with that. So sorry to hear your friends have had such awful experiences and defo do think it’s down to luck with staffing a lot of the time tho you’ll always have atleast one amazing staff member it’s just not good enough when you’re at your most vulnerable so trying to give myself best chances of as positive a birth as possible. This was very helpful to hear as I was seriously considering Whittington as I hadn’t heard anything negative but equally nothing positive and it definitely sounds like one to avoid especially considering your anecdotes aren’t just a one off and that’s only just within your circle so I dread to think how many have shared that experience. Thanks a lot guys x

Haven't had any experience with any hospitals as I've only given birth in whipps cross and will.be having baby no 4 there next month too..
Homerton I've heard is a lovely hospital for many reasons.

Just go with your gut feeling. Congratulations on pregnancy 👏 🙌

13years ago now but I was left with ptsd after my horrific birth at the Whittington. Some staff were excellent but many awful and had to do formal complaints on some. Sad to hear it sounds like still hasn’t got much better.

I had really good ante natal care at Homerton. I had a complicated pregnancy and the staff were all really nice. Post natal ward was not great to say the least but they saved my baby's life. I was really happy with the NICU too.
I had one at UCLH and was less happy with the ante natal care, it all felt much more commercial with less caring but the post natal ward was much better with much nicer staff attitude.
On balance I would probably still go back to Homerton.

Iv not had baby yet (previous dcs wernt had in London) but I’m going to homerton. All my care has been there so far and found them to be really good. My friend had her baby there and said she had a positive experience:

my other choice was whipps cross but I had to be taken somewhere by ambulance recently (passenger to unwell person) and the paramedics said avoid whipps cross. They actually said they wouldn’t even trust them to put their dog to sleep which was worrying coming from a professional who has experience there!

Two brilliant experiences in Homerton here, the last one at the end of last year.

I was INCREDIBLY lucky that I had the twinkly light birthing pool situation both times. My husband said it was a bit like a spa. Friends who've had more difficult experiences have still been hugely complimentary of the staff and the environment though. The midwives were all fantastic.

Bad experience at Homerton. My friend had a nightmare at Whittington, especially with aftercare. I will be going to North Mid next time as the other 5 in my NCT had excellent births at the birthing centre at North Mid. 3 had water births, and 2 were c-sections and all had a fantastic experience both before, during and after. They also seemed to give lots of scans! I went there as an emergency due to reduced movement and they were excellent, made me feel like I was in good hands, and nothing was too much trouble.

I gave birth at Whipps cross in August and couldn't fault them. Had a good experience and I went through induction and c section! Will be choosing Whipps for my next also. No experience with Whittington but a lot of my friends went to Homerton. Some liked it and and some didn't l. My friend gave birth there in July and has filed a complaint but different people have different experiences and you really can't predict how it will go. Best of luck with your decision.

Hi there - I’m due in August and just wondered if you could give any feedback on your experience at North Mid (as that’s where I’m currently registered). Hope all went well!

Hi OP, I’m based in north London and would love to hear how your experience was (if you wouldn’t mind sharing). Facing a similar predicament now!

Didn't have a good experience at Homerton in 2018. I raised a formal complaint which was however helpful in helping me to understand what went wrong (so many systemic things). The icing on the cake was when they tried to give me someone else's baby back after coming around from post-birth surgery.