Advice on hospitals and giving birth- help!

[Csang]

Hey, I'm pregnant with my first child and in a predicament. I'm currently receiving antenatal care at homerton hospital in london and it's rated outstanding. I've just moved house though now it's about an hours drive from me (on a good day with no traffic) which is fine to carry on for appointments but I'm needing to think about going into labour and giving birth.

My local hospital is the Princess Alexandra in Harlow and is rated as requires improvement. Both have birthing centre's which I would like to use if everything goes smoothly.

Is an hour + drive too far if I go into labour? (Plus my partners work is far so it'll take time for him to get back to me) Is a longer drive but potentially better care worth it? Am I'm better going to my local hospital which is 20 mins away? What else do i need to think about/ consider? If I'm going to change, I'd rather do it now at 21 weeks so I can be familiar with it. There's really mixed reviews online about it.

Have you been at either of these hospitals? Can you recommend any advice? Ahhhh help!

Thank you :)

I cant advise on either of those hospitals specifically as im in south london but i recently had a similar dilemma (one hospital - outstanding but 45mins drive away vs the other - inadequate but 15mins away).

One thing to think about is how happy you would be doing the 1hr+ drive if you have multiple appointments (not just for labour). I was having a perfectly standard low risk pregnancy for DD2 but then at 36w, my BP suddenly went crazy. I had to go up for BP profiles and monitoring every 2-3 days until i delivered at 39+3. I had opted for my closer hospital and i was pleased i did do in the end, but it was a bit different for me as it was my second baby and I'd had my first there during covid, so i was familiar with some of the midwives, the buildings, knew more what to expect etc.

It will be really uncomfortable doing a 1hr+ drive in labour but lots of women do it. Equally, you might never need to if you end up having a c section or an induction for example.

Hopefully someone will be along with info on your specific hospitals to help as well.

You need to consider the return journey too. You may have had a c section or sitches and new borns ideally shouldn’t be in a car seat for more than 30 mins at a time.

You Londoners don’t know how good you have it 😂 my hospital is 45 mins away. That’s it, that’s the local hospital. Depending on traffic it can take more or less time. Personally I wouldn’t change from the hospital you’ve been at but then I’m used to not having a hospital right on my doorstep.

🤣🤣 i know. We get spoilt - see also never waiting more than 7mins for a bus or 3mins for a tube.

A one hour drive in labour will not be pleasant but many people further up north that are more rural only have this choice but like I said it will not be a pleasant experience op 🙈

Haha, it's true! Now I've moved outside of london I'm learning to slow down again! Slowly!

In our area you can arrange a tour of the maternity units. I didn’t have a great experience of first birth. I arranged a tour of both and decided to stick with the orginal hospital.

I’m not familiar with either of these hospitals, however with DC2, my waters broke and when I arrived at the hospital 20 minutes later I was fully dilated and almost ready to push. 20 minutes felt like the longest car journey when I was having strong contractions 3 minutes apart and knowing that baby was footling breach and supposed to be delivered via c-section. I don’t know what would have happened had it taken any longer!

Tricky one. I switched from UCLH to Homerton at 35 weeks because I felt UCLH was going to be too far - I live literally 5 mins from Homerton and UCLH would have been a 45-60 min drive at worst. Personally felt in the end that not worrying about traffic/when to leave was preferable, especially as first-timer not knowing what to expect. An hour in the car in London traffic would be grim and remember you might get sent home again if you go too early... I did have to do quite a bit of ringing around to get myself into the Homerton system and then to get scanned because baby was breach, and everyone was a bit confused for a while because my notes didn't transfer over. Then a while after baby was born I got a call from UCLH wondering what had happened to me!

Had my DD in Princess Alexandra in 2021, wasn't terrible, midwife said I couldn't push as I would damage my cervix which scared me so sat with my legs clamped together while my body was pushing 🫠 then another doctor checked and I was 10cm but facilities and care wise was all ok, kept my in overnight to "help with breastfeeding" .. no one came to me all night so asked to go home in the morning 😂

Pregnant with number 2 and will be returning in March x