Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

[MERMAIDKB]

I am due to give birth next May weeks at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and would like to have an active birth. I am very interested to hear from anyone who has given birth there and their personal experiences of care pre and post natal

ds1 born there 7 years ago. wasn't good - lack of midwives, filthy wards & bathrooms, so i guess much the same as the every other maternity ward in london i suspect... but hey maybe its improved since then!

did have a very good consultant though, zoe penn, highly rec'd

Hi, I gave birth there 2 years ago and had a positive experience. Wards & bathrooms - nothing to shout about but not even disgusting. M/wives were great (even though I ended up with an EMCS), ward staff very touch & go: nobody was actually rude, but some were def more caring than others. Will go there for my second baby - fingers xssed things haven't got worse!

I had similar experience to LadySanders

Zoe Penn is great I agree
And Prof Steer

I just gave birth there on Thursday. I had a complicated pregnancy and the level of antenatal care was absolutely amazing. You do see a range of midwives, but that didn't particularly bother me- in fact i thought it was quite good as you got a different range of approaches and weren't locked in to one particular mindset regarding your pregnancy. I also saw two different obstetricians who were both technically very knowledgeable and also personable which counts for a lot when you are both hormonal and anxious. Labour-wise I was midwife led and ended up being induced on the drip, which was my absolute nightmare labour as i am needle phobic, but the two midwives who saw me through were just so fantastic- the first one i had met a couple of times as part of my antenatal care and i had liked her then so when she was advising me during labour i felt really confident in trusting her opinion, which counts for a lot in terms of keeping you calm. The midwife who came in for the second part of my labour met me as i was literally screaming my head off because the epidural had worn off in one spot- she comforted me and made me feel like it would be ok, and the aneasthetist came immediately and fixed the problem- they did not leave me in agony for a second longer than possible. When it came to the delivery this midwife then helped me manage the epidural down so that i could feel to push, she got a colleague and together they helped me manage to deliver without any intervention or even tearing. Not to mention someone had a good set of hands as they had to catch my daughter when she shot out at some speed! I did have to spend 2 days on the post natal ward (waters broke and no contractions so being watched for infection, plus had some blood loss after delivery), and although in some ways it was seven shades of hell this was mostly down to being in a ward full of Other People- there is no quiet and very little privacy; the people i had on either side of me were quite inconsiderate (eg talking loudly on mobile phones late at night, taking flash photographs etc). And yes there are some midwives who may not be your 'style' or seem rude or offhand- and yes they are all overstretched- but i found the majority to be amazingly considerate and patient and again knowledgeable- unphased by jobs that would make me want to hurl, unphased by questions, unphased by persistent (but polite) nagging (i came in looking like a vacuum cleaner i had so many lines in me- IV drip, epidural, cathether, and for a while a blood pressure bag permanently on my arm- and all i wanted was for them to be taken out)kind and generally with good humour. I was also followed up by the anaesthetist and the first midwife who had been on my labour but not seen the delivery; I really did get a sense of being personally cared for. I have read a lot of horror stories about C&W but my experience suggests that the people who have had good experiences such as mine perhaps take them for granted and so are less inclined to write about them. I know mistakes can happen and some/ many people have authentically bad experiences i hope you find my very recent experience reassuring!

I had both my DDs there

First experience (3.5 yrs ago) was absolutely terrible (please note though my 2nd story below - I think they have now got much better!). I was in labour for about 30 hours. They left me alone in the delivery suite for hours on end (they had sent my DH home saying I would sleep as I'd been given pethadine). I didn't sleep and pethadine wore off, I was scared, alone and in pain (obviously). I eventually left the delivery room to go and try and find a midwife and ended collapsing by the nurses station - at least that made them notice me. They then realised, when they tried to break my waters, that they had already gone, although no idea when, DD was in distress, passed merconium, her heart beat stopping etc etc and I was rushed off for an emergency section. Recovery wards pretty filthy and ghastly, and unhelpful nurses were rude and unpleasant e.g. the lady in bed next to me who had had a section a couple of hours earlier) rang the bell for a nurse to help her pick up her baby which was crying for a feed and was told off for bothering the nurse and that she had to do it herself (which she couldn't!).

Second time (18 months ago) MUCH better. Elective section - fantastic. Most importantly though the after care in the wards was 100 times better - i think they had really improved since my first time - all the staff were lovely, friendly helpful. Wards were clean (ish!). I think they must have had a complete shake up since my first nightmare time there - I REALLY thought they were great second time.

However - to be safe..... do NOT under any circumstances allow them to leave you and if they do then make sure your DH stays with you. Midwives are coming and going on shifts all the time and I swear what happened to me was they forgot about me and no one came to check on me and I was so spaced out with contractions every 1.5 to 2 mins that hours passed before I went to try and get help (don't ask why I didn't just ring the bell - somehow in my strange state it never occured to me!). If you need help afterwards - ask for it, be strong and you'll get what you want.

3rd baby due to be born there in April......

Meant to add - they have quite a few alternative delivery suites there and if you want an active birth I'd definitely ask to use one of those (they can fill the birth pool for you - a great idea as then they DEFINITELY can't leave you on your own!) and birthing balls etc - ask to look around when you go on your hospital visit.

Ante-natal care was great, care during labour from the midwives was great (one midwife went well beyond the call of duty, skipping her lunch break and staying for 2 hours after her shift ended to see me back to the recovery ward). I have since concluded the doctors were a bit overzealous with their interventions (induction, syntocinon, epidural) when a more hands-off approach would have resulted in a far less problematic birth. Post natal care (though "care" isn't really the word) was hellish - filthy noisy wards, very little actual care or support. But my friends who were lucky enough to be in and out quickly i.e. no overnight stay were quite happy.

Had DD there in July 07. Ante natal care-great, Labour- great, Post natal care- fine. Was there for 6 nights. Lots of nice midwives and a couple of iffy ones.
Didn't have an active birth as had to be monitored as DD 4 weeks early but just had gas and air and no pressure for anything else. Labour midwife was great. She stayed on at the end of her shift and came back to see us the next day on the ward.
Food rubbish but Carluccios etc nearby for nice takeways. Loos and showers weren't spotless but were fine. Was reasonably quiet when I was there so wards weren't too noisy. My DD cried a lot at night, esp the first one, and the MW took her away for a couple of hours to let me and (the others rest).
Going back there in Feb for No 2. My GP reckons it's got quieter there since the congestion zone extension.

Not sure what the prospects for an 'active birth' are there. I wanted one of those but was strapped to a bed for continuous monitoring. I think they are quite keen on interventions - I had ARM during labour (i.e they break your waters) with no explanation of why, a ventouse delivery when I was 10cm dilated -again no explanation of why offered before or after and a 'managed' rather than natural delivery of the placenta against my wishes which went wrong. Umbillical cord snapped when they were tugging on it and they took the placenta out by fishing into my womb by hand in the labour room without the benefit of painkillers (i.e. no epidural). Overall it seemed a bit barbaric and 'third world' at the time!

They do have some nice birthing rooms for active births but I got the impression the hospital is more geared up to a more medical birth so not sure how many people they allow to actually use the rooms. If you are put in a traditional labour room e.g. because they want to monitor you or because you ask for an epidural then there isn't much space for an active birth even if they let you get off the bed - since the bed tends to dominate the room. However, this may apply in most hospitals.

The aftercare is OK - I think the midwives and other staff are well-meaning but very overstretched. In my case if I buzzed them to ask them for help (e.g. to remove a drip they inserted) they would say they'd be back in a minute but I'd never see them again! Had to keep asking and it took hours to get help. I hadn't had a C-section but those who had must have found this really difficult if they couldn't get any help when they needed it.
Food was fine I thought - they actually had a menu to choose from for some meals and it was much better than I'd expected.

I had DS1 at the C&W in October and had a great experience - sure they are not perfect as you can tell they are stretched, but they went out of their way to make sure that the birth was managed how I wanted it and I was never left alone.

I had an active birth room - had been told there would be no problem getting this as the hospital has a high rate of cases that are special cases who can't have such a delivery - and indeed I requested a water birth and within half an hour of arriving the second time (was sent home the first time as I was only 1 1/2 cm dilated and live close by) was in the water pool which made it all bearable. Only annoying thing was that the bathroom was shared with another room and in mid labour when I needed the look we had to make sure the coast was clear to hop out of the pool into the bathroom!

I only had gas and air which was what I wanted and was never pushed to have anything else. In the end I had an assisted birth with a ventouse with just some local anaesthetic as I pushed for 2 hours but baby had a cord round his neck and that was managed all within my wishes and nothing forced on me.

The midwives were great, and I would recommend letting the student (if there is one) stay in - the one with us turned out to be a 4th year doctor student who really helped out and looked after me and enabled my husband to have a break and go and get a coffee.

Food is awful,(though dry toast has never tasted so good after having a baby!) and pillows are hopeless so take your own for staying on the ward. But as everyone says, Carluccios over the road is great and there is a starbucks next door.

I am having my second baby there in March and had no doubts at all in my mind about going back there.

Hi. I had a water birth there two years ago. Amazing. Lovely staff who pulled out all stops to give me the best birth experience possible. One midwife actually hung around to make sure I was ok- i later learnt 2 hours passed her shift!

Antenatal care was not good so switched hospitals.