Chelsea Westminster Hospital or Tommy’s maternity hospital

[Coomooo]

Hi all,

I am pregnant with my first baby (14 weeks) and I am not from the UK. I recently signed up to the NHS and chose my nearest hospital C&W, however having read recent threads about it, (Louise Thompson’ recent birth trauma there) I am having second thoughts. Has anyone recently given birth there and if so, what was your experience ? I have heard that Tommy’s maternity care is also excellent and wondered if I should switch, due to C&W staffing issues.

Finally, I wanted to ask if going private (for anyone who has done it) is worth it? I’m very nervous by midwife led care, which is very different to my home country where private maternity care is more affordable than the UK (€2-4k) and is all consultant led. I appreciate the price of private maternity care in the UK is very expensive and it’s not a decision I would make lightly.

Thank you so much in advance.

I can’t comment on these hospitals. I hope others do.

It’s true I’m afraid that maternity care in the UK is poor in comparison to nearly all other European countries and the recent UK Care Quality Commission report said that overall , 48% of maternity units were rated as inadequate or requiring improvement with around a quarter receiving a lower overall rating than when last inspected. On the single issue of safety, 65% were judged to be failing. It pays to do your research.

It’s always possible of course to supplement NHS care with additional private scans or maybe take advice in your own home country too if you don’t want to go the all private route. If London based and I had the money I’d be looking at the private options. If you search mumsnet you’ll see lots of previous posts on the London options, both NHS and private.

I’ve had 3 at tommies, and until last week was having antenatal care there (and then needed to have a tfmr). I would recommend.

I had both mine at C&W. First one on the labour ward because when I came in there were concerns about his heart rate so they wanted to keep an eye on it. Second was on the birth centre. Both were overwhelmingly positive experiences. I can't fault the care I received.
Postnatal ward was, well, a postnatal ward 🙄 BUT a friend of mine delivered there a couple weeks ago and it seemed like their staffing on the postnatal ward is much better now than it was when I was there 2 years ago, and better organised.

I would take Louise Thompson’s birth story with a pinch of salt - she is an influencer in the business of selling her life to make a living. And whatever did actually happen to her is now more than three years ago.

Fair enough re social media posters … but the Care quality commission’s findings are pretty damming, are they not? Quite incredible really.

St Thomas' is one of the best maternity units in the country. If it's a reasonable distance, I'd choose there, but not if it's going to take 45mins / 1hr to get there (speaking as someone who had a v quick labour!). I had my fertility treatment for DD1 at Guys and would have liked to stay at St Thomas for my antenatal care, but it was just too far and I'm glad I didn't in the end.

If you do go private, you must ensure that the private wing is on the same site as an NHS hospital with a level 3 NICU. Not all of them are and frankly, my eldest would not be here if we had not chosen a hospital with a very good NICU.

On CQC reports, yes you do need to consider them, but I have had two babies (2021, which also included NICU stay, and 2024) delivered at St George's, which is currently the very worst rating (inadequate?) and my care was completely different to what was reported by the inspectors. Its possible to have excellent care at an inadequate hospital and vice versa. But if a poorer report means you won't feel comfortable and will be feeling anxious, then that won't help you have a calm and stress free pregnancy and labour to get all the lovely oxytocin flowing, and will potentially lead to other issues / interventions, so maybe best to move now?

I had my son at St Mary's (which was great) and my SIL had two very good experiences in the last few years at Thomas's.

C&W was rated outstanding overall at its latest CQC in 2023, and their maternity unit was rated good. I'd hardly call it damning!
www.cqc.org.uk/location/RQM01

Where do you actually live?
I don't have recent experience (6+ years ago) but did not like the birthing and labour ward experience at C&W. The antenatal care was excellent. If you can afford it, I would do NHS maternity / antenatal care and then pay (assuming normal/ low-risk by term) for a private delivery. If anything goes wrong before that you'll want and need to be on the NHS anyway.
Basically the NHS is great when you are abruptly and seriously ill. It is not so good when you're basically healthy but your life is being affected by - or about to be affected by - an inconvenient but not life-limiting condition. It isn't very good for acne, eczema, postnatal incontinence, non life-threatening food allergies, etc. It tends to be good or great (very recent experience!) if you have a heart attack, meningitis, a placental abruption, etc.
I had good antenatal/ labour ward experiences at both St Mary's and UCL.

Ha, if you want birth trauma go with a consultant obstetrician.

Midwives are the experts in physiological birth.

Consultant obstetricians are the experts in surgery.

Thank you all so much for your helpful comments and feedback. I am based in Battersea so I can easily make it to Tommy’s if we decide to change. I don’t have any pregnant friends in the UK so I’ve been limited in who I can ask, but I really appreciate all of your responses.

My understanding is private care is great if you know you want a c section, but if you’re hoping to have a vaginal birth the NHS is the way to go. I will see how my next appointment goes with C&W and decide. I am a low risk pregnancy (so far and hopefully it remains that way), so perhaps supplementing NHS with private scans etc, is the way to go. I’m just nervous as it’s my first birth in a new country, but I will figure it out.

If you are on Facebook, have a look at the Battersea Mums group (maybe also Clapham Mums as well?) There'll probably be people who have experience of both. You could also try nappy valley net as well.

That’s a great idea, I will do that. Thank you.

I gave birth privately at the WMS. Consultant was brilliant but I did not have the best experience after birth. Day 1 was great but on day 2 they were understaffed and were therefore very slow to respond to the call button, husband constantly had to go out to try to find someone whenever we needed anything, it took 4 hours for them to sort out the paperwork to discharge us.... Staff were clearly stressed and it showed in their service and attitude. They also had issues with their new computer system at the time so they initially had no record of me, didn’t give me my pain relief meds on time, didn’t even know what meds to give because the info put into the system by the anaesthetist wasn’t feeding through. From other reviews I've read, it seems like this was a one-off but it was so stressful at the time so I'm thinking of going to the Kensington Wing at C&W next time.

May I ask what you decided to go for in the end and what your experience was like? I just found out I’m pregnant with my first child and like you, I’m not from the UK so finding it really tricky to navigate.

Hi, I am 39 weeks pregnant today so haven’t had my baby yet, but I decided to go private in the end. I switched to consultant led care in the Kensington Wing, Chelsea Westminster at 32 weeks pregnant - held out under NHS for a long time, but I was getting worried about preclampsia symptoms and decided to switch to private care due to these concerns. We booked a private 32 week scan with a consultant that came recommended to me and I was really happy with her care, felt instantly at ease so thankfully she was available and we made made the switch. We saved about £2,000k from switching so late in our pregnancy, but in hindsight I think it would’ve been best to have been private from the beginning under midwife led care (if low risk) - as cost is better. I will let you know how the birth goes and if I feel it was worth it in the end. I think if you stick with NHS and it is an option, supplement your care with private scans with a consultant as it gives you great peace of mind. Let me know if you have any questions and wishing you all the best with your pregnancy!

I should also add that I don’t have preclampsia (despite having had a few symptoms throughout my pregnancy) and I am opting for a vaginal birth. Most people who go private have c sections - so if you are low risk and are hoping to delivery vaginally opting for private midwife led care is probably the best option as you’ve dedicated / continuity of care and it’s much cheaper than consultant led care. Hope that is helpful! Plenty of my friends from NCT delivered in C&W under NHS and had really positive experiences so don’t stress, whatever you decide will be the right decision.

I had all my children in the Kensington wing, fantastic care under a female consultant. Have great memories of the place. Good luck!

Thanks very for getting back to me, really helpful to hear about your experience. It sounds like you made a great choice at the right time.

Do you mind sharing which consultant you saw? I’d love a recommendation as I’m still deciding between NHS and private.

Wishing you all the best for the delivery, not long now! And yes, please do keep me posted, I’d love to hear how it all goes.

No problem, I appreciate it’s a big decision. My consultant is Dr. Angela Yulia - she is wonderful and so calm / reassuring. I would highly recommend her. You can meet a few consultants free of charge and decide which one is best for you. The other recommendations I received were: Dr Charlotte Deans and Dr Matthew Cauldwell. Each consultant has a profile so you can match your medical needs with their expertise and their prices vary. You will need to reach out to their secretaries directly to discuss. One thing to bear in mind is you’ve two separate costs (1) the Kensington Wing hospital fees and (2) the consultant fees. The hospital fees are a little jarring as everything is an itemized cost (like the US healthcare system) - for e.g. if you need fetal monitoring for reduced movement (which I had a few times, it’s all extra, even bloods and urine tests). IMO it makes sense for you to register with NHS Chelsea Westminster first and start off with them, while you make your decision as it is easy to transfer across and you need to be under care of a hospital from the beginning. My experience of C&W so far has been really positive and the NHS C&W has an incredible birthing centre if you’re low risk and want to go down that route. I struggled with the lack of continuity of care, so if you could get the same midwife (if there is a way to see the same person regularly - I was a bit clueless on how to navigate this) you may find NHS meets your needs and you don’t need to go private / or at very least can supplement care with a few consultant appointments. Whatever your decision, don’t stress as C&W is an excellent hospital and there are many ways to supplement care and you can always change your mind / switch across to private care at a later stage like me. Best of luck!

I think all British hospitals will be a mixed bag and luck of the draw. My baby nearly died due to inadequate care at St Thomas'. This was 10+ years ago so probably not relevant now for you, but the point being they claimed that the sub standard care happened becasue it was between Christmas and NY and most of the staff were on leave and it was mainly agency staff. Also, the midwife was hung over. So the care can be variable depending on time of year and how busy they are.

It was a shocking experience, I can only hope they've tightened up there in the intervening years. The postnatal ward was hellish, hopefully it has had a refurb since.

i think post above summarises well - all hospitals have bad stories as I know quite a few at tommys too (some resulting in hospital doing investigation with children subsequently impacted long term). Just in case anyone wants for info I did NHS first birth and Kensington wing (consultant) second time after a bad first experience with NHS and it was worth every penny. Key differences I found were

1. being able to see the same person throughout as opposed to a different person every appointment. I was also obviously dealing with consultant and not midwife.
2. Potential issues spotted early, received advice straight away and always had direct line for questions outside appointments as well.
3. post natal care was excellent. Received visits from physios etc on what I could and could not do post c section etc whereas NHS I received nothing
4. staff attitude in post natal wing a hundred times better and avoided a ward (private room with acess to nursery if you want some sleep - we didn’t use it so cant comment on this). Midwives came a lot quicker to help etc as less people to look after.
5. my partner had a bed, meals and could stay with me whole time.
6. Direct line to midwives (and consultant) should I hve any worries once I was discharged - I had to come in for a wound replacement and was in and out in 15 mins.

I was with Roshni patel and she was amazing.- after a dreadful first experience my second was amazing and almost quite a therapeutic healing process post number one.

I gave birth at C&W in May last year. I can't recommend it enough. Antenatal care was excellent and positive throughout, and throughout my birth (on labour ward, epidural, straightforward but for tearing but that wasn't an issue really I just got stitches) the care I got from everyone was attentive, calm and encouraging. I know that it is always luck of the draw a bit in terms of what happens and who is on duty but they were fantastic.

@Coomooo curious to hear your final part of the story. Do you think private was worth it?

I think its good to pay more if you can afford it and you see that it works. I would if i had the money.