Where to enroll - Homerton Hospital or Guy's and St Thomas?

[DaringEagle]

Hi, this is my first time on this journey and fairly new to the city. My GP can refer me to Homerton but I have heard good reviews for St Thomas from my peers. Although I have seen good online reviews about the maternity care at Homerton, I am still skeptical. Please share your experiences.

Where do you live? Unless you have specific maternity needs that require a specialist hospital, I would focus on the nearest maternity units to you geographically. When you go onto labour you don't want to have to trek to the other side of London.

This^^

Also, dont just think about if you are in labour. In my first pregnancy, DD1 needed NICU and so I was glad to only have short journeys there and back every day. In my second, I had preeclampsia and had monitoring, bloods and urine every second day for 3.5weeks until DD2 was born. It would have been extremely exhausting to be doing a long journey in taxis / public transport when heavily pregnant.

I live very close to Greenwich O2. Homerton is a 20 min drive and the St Thomas is 35.
CQC rating for both are 'good'. I am very early in my pregnancy, so I have no specialist needs yet.

Don't bank on driving to St Thomas's from Greenwich in 35 mins! That might be the case with perfect traffic but it can be really sticky. And parking at the hospital is an expensive nightmare.

I was forwards and backwards to hospital daily with DD2 for almost 3 weeks. Go for the closer one!

You could also consider Lewisham Hospital. I know a few people who have had good experiences there. You can self refer, you don’t need to go via your GP. Also heard good things about St Thomas’, especially for more complex cases. I don’t know anything about Homerton.