C&W Hospital vs Kensington Wing

[EleMar]

Afternoon Mumsnetters,

I'm 8weeks pregnant, and considering options for childbirth. I've registered with C&W hospital, which I understand has an overall outstanding grade and an outstanding grade also specifically for maternity.

However, there was a thread yesterday about the NHS awful maternity care, which was prompted by the birth trauma report (and a quick search shows multiple articles showing a terrible situation, for example - the Times "NHS must end medieval maternity practices", Sky News "Health secretary unable to guarantee no further maternity care scandals following birth trauma report", the Telegraph "an avoidable maternity care crisis" etc. - the list is endless!).

So I started considering giving birth privately at the Kensington Wing. I would be grateful to hear about any recent experiences of giving birth either at Chelsea and Westminster (NHS) or at the Kensington Wing.

Thank you!

I would love to hear from you if you managed to find the answers

I had a miscarriage back in May, but I'm now pregnant again (13 weeks) and currently considering whether to switch to private. Message me if you'd like to compare notes!

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that.
But congratulations on the new pregnancy!

I will contact you

Personally, I wouldn't go private. if anything goes wrong - being in a big NHS trust with lots of surgeons & doctors can be the difference between life & death.
Completely personal choice - but for the sake of a nice room, I'd pick C+W every time

Most of private hospitals are just a separate wing of the larger NHS hospital. I have never understood the “if something goes wrong”.
Something can go wrong regardless where You give birth. Higher chance on the NHS looking at the recent events.
Where do You think private doctors work when they not taking private patients?
I would rather take my chances in the private wing knowing doctor is at all times by my side than take my chance on the NHS and worry if anybody will bother with me and believe me and listen to me when I say something isn’t right.

Have you considered a private midwife rather than a private hospital? Continuity of midwifery care is the number one thing that improves outcomes and satisfaction.

The Kensington Wing is on the same floor as the NHS bit.

I gave birth at C&W and received excellent care. I would use the money for private birth to get myself two Cartier bracelets and a ring.

2 births at C&W

With my first the aftercare care was horrific and the second was it was incredible.

2nd time was a csection. The surgeon did one in the Kensington wing and then mine in C&W hospital

Thank you all for your feedback, much appreciated.

@Planits no haven't considered a private midwife, but will give it some thought / research.

@mellowfell @spottydinosaur when did you give birth at C&W?

@EleMar I gave birth 6 years ago with my first and back in March with my second x

I gave birth on the Kensington Wing in July and highly recommend it. I expect that actual labor is very similar on the NHS but if you need to be induced (as I did) being on a private room instead of a shared ward means you’ll be more relaxed and better rested for birth. Post natal care in particular was outstanding and totally worth it. Midwives are a button away and will be in your room within a few minutes at the most and always happy to pop in, which means that if you plan on breastfeeding, you can call them for help for every single feed to make sure your baby is latching correctly. If you have the financial means to do it, I would- it’s the best environment to recover from birth.

Feel free to message me, I had my son privately at another London hospital but happy to help!

Hello! I wondered if you would mind sharing a bit more info on your experience at KW? Did you do midwife led or consultant led? And, if you wouldn’t mind sharing, what was the total bill roughly at the end? (happy if you want to message me privately to share more details on this) It would be so helpful to know as I am considering it for my first and have read that the price list doesn’t reflect the actual total after you give birth! Thank you!

Hello! Also joining I hope this is ok. Currently 20w and switching to KW after my 20w scan this week. Any further details would be super helpful including rough total bill at the end, and also if for example I were to give birth at 10pm, does that mean I need to leave the next day as that would count as one night's stay? Thanks so much.