Whipps Cross or UCLH

[Selkis]

Dear mums
I just found out I am pregnant and would like to ask your opinion in regards to which Hospital to choose for anti natal and birth. I live in the Chingford area and my local would be Whipps Cross Hospital, however UCLH is near work and I know the Hospital well and usually provide good care. How was your experience with Whipps? My worry is that UCLH might be a little far from home, otherwise that would be my go to. Thankful for all opinions.

UCLH is an excellent hospital, but when you are in labour you do not want to be sitting in the car for ages if you can avoid it. I went to my nearest hospital and a 10-15 minute car ride, when you are in transition, is no fun at all. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be any longer. Unless you have concerns about Whipps Cross then I’d go there.

Whipps Cross has terrible ratings (check CQC reports) and I have friends who’ve had awful experiences there. I would highly recommend Homerton, it’s a dream compared to Whipps for maternity. And has a high level NICU should you need any support after the birth (hopefully not but you never know) good luck !

I gave birth at Whipps last year & had a really good experience there. I had an unexpectedly complicated pregnancy so lots of appointments with fetal medicine and a few ward admissions, I was treated v well throughout

I think whips has improved in recent years since their bad rating.

At homerton I had one really bad and one okay experience. Personally from Chingford I would go to Whipps. Distance and ease of the journey are very important imo.

Thank you so much, that is really reassuring to know. I don’t know the hospital very well and seems like they provided good care. Hope everything is ok now with you and your baby.

I live in Loughton and chose to have my two kids at homerton as I find Whipps awful (more so their A&E dept). That being said I’ve had friends go to Whipps and have good experiences.

Whipps maternity is actually rated good.

I had my DD at Whipps years ago and it was fine.

In regards to Whipps A&E I had an “ok” experience and also a bad experience. That’s what got me so unsure about their maternity. Thank you for your comment

There’s no denying Whipps has had huge maternity failings though, they were found to be putting patients in danger due to staffing and other issues on the mat wards only 3 years ago.

I live close to you OP and had both my DC at UCLH although when I was pregnant I actually lived in Hackney.

Whipps Cross wasn’t a consideration as I’d heard so many awful stories about it. This was over 10 years ago though so things may have changed.

With regards to Homerton, I’ve heard it is brilliant when it comes to the care of poorly babies (and obviously hoping that will not be something you have to worry about) but postnatal care can be variable. On a personal note I find the area around the hospital a bit depressing (I grew up in the area and appreciate it has improved over the years) and it’s not the easiest to get to on public transport so it was a no for me.

UCHL was fine but very, very busy and felt a bit chaotic at times.

I had my baby at Whipps nearly 2 years ago and I had a really good experience. The ante natal care was very thorough and during my birthing experience, I could not fault them at all. I was grateful I lived close to the hospital as when my waters broke and things started, I was there in 10 mins!
I just found out I am pregnant again this month also, and I will be defo going back to Whipps!