Kingston/Chelsea&W/Queen Charlotte

[Biene]

I just found out that I'm pregnant and now have to make a choice re hospital and maternity unit. I live in Richmond and there are three hospitals about the same distance from us.- Kingston, Queen Charlotte and Chelsea. Looking online reviews are mixed and friends have advised to mind Chelsea&W. I'm tempted to go for K or QC but cant decide.

Is there anyone who can give advice or who has experienced either/both? All comments I found on mumsnet are from a while back and there is not much from recent months.

Any help/comment is much appreciated!

Queen Charlotte's birth centre excellent,

aftercare and bf support great.

Can't comment on main labour ward but have had 2 lovely, calm births in the centre, including one high risk twin birth, and the midwives are world class imo.

Thank you KeithTalent for comment. I have so far heard very positive things about QC, so this only confirms. Shame that the new one is further away than old QC. But then I just have to make sure I'm prepared and take my time. I'm NHS, not private which makes the choice of hospital important- some post natal services are quite disappointing. Btw- congratulations on the twins!

i gave birth at kingston and thought it was great. only thing was the midwives were mad busy - really brilliant, supportive, caring - but very busy. perhaps thats the case everywhere on the nhs though...
after-care was great too - DS and i needed some looking after post-birth, and i had a very attentive midwife called lisa who was uber-sympathetic. breast-feeding help was great too (had no idea how hard it was!)
i live near sheen but never heard of queen charlottes, where is it?
my friend gave birth at chelsea and i don't think her aftercare was anywhere near as good as mine.

I had DS at Chelsea and Westminster and I had an awful experience.
The after care was horrible. I had ventouse and when we got to the post natal ward a midwife came over and stood at the end of the bed writing in my notes, didnt speak to us, DH asked if there was anything we should watch for WRT the lump on DSs head and she slammed her pen down, looked at DH and said 'I wasn't there was I? Ask the paediatrician.' and carried on writing then walked off.

I begged DH to get me home, felt so fed up.

I know four friends who had their babies at C&W and only one of them had a good experience.

High rate of medical interventions too from the 5 of us that I know about.

bratley - that sounds awful! what a bitch. i hope your dh was able to get you the hell out of there sharpish.

re medical interventions: i had planned to take advantage of the midwife led unit at kingston (water birth etc) but was induced in the end so couldn't - it was all far too medicalised for my liking. if you (OP) want a natural birth with minimal intervention and you have a low-risk pregnancy, i would go for the MLU (malden suite) at kingston as i hear great things about it.

can i jump in with my story - i was round a friends' house when i realised i was in labour. i was miles from home and ended up at kingston. i was only 30 weeks and it was my first baby. they could not have been more kind and reassuring to both my husband and i. labour care was fantastic too. And i know you do not need to know but neonatal was excellent; i credit them with the fact that i am at the moment i am bouncing a healthy baby boy on my lap.

I had DS at Kingston by induction. Midwives were great and really helpful with labour, aftercare (esp when I fainted!) and with breastfeeding. Even me buzzing in the middle of the night with a crying DS, they were fab! They were great to let me go home when I wanted, with stern words to DH about what to do if I fainted again!

A friend had he DD there 7 weeks early and she was in for a week post EMCS. Her DD was in for another 2 weeks after that and they gave amazing aftercare and help with how to feed her and also 1st aid classes for all in the neonatal ward.

Can't say enough good things about Kingston.

Dear Everyone- thanks so much for all your comments, they really are very helpful!

bratley, its interesting- I heard the same about Ch&W which made me change my mind and think of other options. Hope all was ok in the end for you.

alannabanana, Queen Charlotte is near White City, only about 20min drive from Richmond through Chiswick, Hammersmith way. It is solely a maternity hospital which means they are super specialised and have all facilities you can imagine. Let's hope October is a lesser busy time at Kingston!

mrspear, so glad all went well and they were of great help, especially in your situation. Praise to them!

Bumped into our neighbours (who were away) and they told me that their daughter had given birth at QC last year. They were v positive and especially the men in the family said that the hospital has a nice feel about it.

I think both of them, Kingston and QC, seem very comparable and both would offer good care. When I spoke with my GP today she recommended QC due to her contacts and tried to get me registered but they are full and wouldnt take me with 8 weeks into my pregnancy. The NHS part gets very, very busy and they sometimes stop accepting applications. Understandable. Will go to Kingston now with a very good feeling after reading your comments! Thanks again everyone.

I had a friend who had an NHS birth at QC then opted to pay for a private room afterwards - she'd had a rough ride with the birth (induction, ventouse etc) and wanted her own room afterwards. So that's an option to keep open if you can afford it.

She also had her second there, water birth in the birth centre (so had her own ensuite room anyway)and said it was fantastic.

Sorry, X-posts! Kingston sounds lovely, good luck with the rest of your pregnancy (and congratulations on it too!).

Sorry, going banans there, got the OP wrong . Good luck and congratulations to all pregnant ladies and I'll just back out here.

I've only just read this and seen you've made a decision but just thought I'd let you know that I had dd at Kingston and they were great - really professional and friendly midwives and 2 parts to the unit - one which is midwife led and one where they put you if you need intervention / drugs! Really good experience and it's CLEAN . Good luck!

Oh reading this really makes me wish I'd given more thought to where I gave birth
DS is completely not affected by his entrance to the world but I, 2 and a half years on, still haven't gotten over the horrible experience, I'm actually going to see my GP tomorrow about it, we're thinking about trying for another baby but I can't bear the idea of going through that again, really need to talk it through.

Without sounding patronising cos I really don't mean it but, good for you OP on discussing your options, I wish I had. I really hope you have a fab pregnancy and a lovely as it can be delivery!

And yes, DH is a squaddie and quite intimidating, he made his point and we were home by tea time!
When I said 'I just want to get out of here' to the midwife who came to check if I could be discharged, she looked me in the eyes, sighed and said 'so do I sweetheart, don't worry, we'll get you off home.'
Doesn't instill confidence does it!?

i wouldn't hang about if i were you. i live close to you and wanted kingston. at 5 weeks pg i went to GP. couldn't get into kingston, full. tried QC - full. in the end had DD2 at west mid. had to have scan at Kings - west mid only scan at 16 weeks and i was not prepared to wait.

anyway, it is all very well doing your research but if i were you i would decide PRONTO! good luck and congrats on your pg. i was very happy with kingston. west mid, midwife was great but facitilies not great.

sorry just read the whole thread and see QC is full already. get onto your GP fast about kingston and make sure the letter arrives (can they fax it?) and you are booked in. your 12 week nuchal scan will be due around easter, peak period and they lose 2 days due to the 2 bank hols. don't mean to worry you but get onto it first thing in the morning.

Had ds at Chelsea and Westminster and while the birth itself was good the aftercare was rubbish! Especially the night shifts. I don't know at the bottom of which barrel do they scrape to get the night shift midwives! One even mentioned that condoms were not good enough method of contraception, as the sperm just gets through the pores! (What?!) No real help with breast feeding either.
Saying that a friend had ds1 in Queen Charlotte and ds2 at chelsea and westminster and preferred the latter.
Both of us were on labour wards though, as both ended with c-sestions for all children, so don't know what the birthing centres are like.

Funny you mention breastfeeding msupa, I found that both the midwives in Ch&W and my community midwives were no help at all.

One community midwife told me 'some babies take to it, some don't, don't worry about it' when I asked her for advice when DS was 2 days old

Can I ask a bit of a divvy Q? I assume I'm booked in at Kingston cos I live 5 mins from it, all my scans have been there and nobody has told me any different. I certainly wasn't aware that they could ever be 'full'

I'm now 24 weeks- - can I assume I would have already been told if Kingston couldn't accommodate me? I haven't yet spoken to the MW about birth plans etc - assuming we are doing that at 28 weeks...

Charlotte's is fantastic, in my experience and from what I've heard. But you might struggle to get in from Richmond - I had to wangle my way in from Kensington.

Kingston I hear reasonably good reports about.

Chelsea & Westminster has very good labour care - you'll certainly be safe there - but diabolical postnatal care. Nearly everyone in my NCT group went there and they all hated it without exception. It's a shame because it is a very good hospital, but its maternity care really lets it down.

So for me, it would be:

1. Charlotte's (if you can get in)
2. Kingston
3. C&W

You'd think that if so many people have such bad experiences of the post natal care they would do something about it?
Or am I just being naive...?

CU I just assumed I was booked in with Ch&W as my booking in appointment was with a midwife team for Ch&W, didn't even realise you had a choice TBH!

Is there anything in your notes that might give you a clue?
Or just ask your MW.