UCH, Royal Free or Whittington?

[ksa1stlady]

Which is the best hospital for pregnant women to use for midwifery services and ultimately labour?

Any advice would be grand. )

I went to the Whittington, mainly because they let you do a tour there whereas they don't at UCH and I wanted to at least know what I'd be getting! Also figured that more people would go to UCH since it's central so might be more likely to be crowded, and also we'd have more traffic getting there than to the Whittington. Never considered Royal Free due to location.

My experience at the Whittington wasn't too bad. As with anywhere I suppose, some of the people working there were great and some not so great. Was in the birth centre for some of the labour, which was lovely. I had an emergency c-section so had to stay in hospital for a few days afterwards and to be honest probably could have carried on if I'd wanted to whereas I've heard UCH is a bit of a production-line and they try to get you out as soon as possible.

Have since been to UCH for other reasons and the bits of the hospital that I've seen seem a lot newer than the Whittington. I also know people who went to UCH for their labour and they seemed pretty happy with it.

I was at UCH -before it moved over to the new building. The doctors were marvellous - had a scary birth, the aftercare service was pretty useless.

Only thing I can say is that the woman who I shared a room with said that she'd asked her mother (a midwife at Whittington) where to go and as she was expected to have a complicated delivery, the mum said UCH. That was a while ago, mind.

I recently opted for the whittington. Unfortunately I had a MMC, but I have virtually nothing but praise and gratitude for the sympathy, speed and professionalism with which that, and recent ERPC, was handled by the staff I saw. So although its a bit of a schlep for me (until recent trips back and forth to the whit I hadn't really appreciated how much nearer UCH is!) on the back of this experience I'll be opting for the whittington again next time round, fingers crossed.

Jewelsandbinoculars - that's a good point about all the antenatal appointments. I was working in town and it was so much easier to pop out for an hour or two to UCH then go up to Whittington when I'd have needed an afternoon off.

Oh, I had one at the Whittington and two at the Royal Free. Not much in it but I prefer the Royal Free.

The after care services were really great both times. Small wards of 4 beds so after you have baby (if you have to stay overnight) you can get a little sleep.

I have two friends who had babies at UCH. Whilst the birth was great, they found the after care quite gruff. Both had problems establishing breast feeding and found midwifes attitude ranged from neglectful to domineering.

Royal Free is good for relatives visiting as you can park in Hampstead Heath.

ive had 2 at uch and this one will be at whittington. was v happy with the births at uch but so far with antenatal care im happier with whittington, seems like a friendlier place eg seeing the same midwives and they remember you whereas uch is sooo busy so you get much longer waiting times and seems more of a impersonal service. the reason i moved to whittington was just due to distance though as its nearer so more convenient otherwise i was happy enough with uch that i would have used it again if it was nearest.

I recently gave birth at the whittington and would choose uch if I ever chose to do it again! The actual labour ward is good if you go when it is quiet but it was full when I arrived so ended up in labour for several days on a ward while they waited for a bed in the labour ward so they could speed things up! The post natal ward awful too! Cramped and noisy so impossible to sleep! The staff are great but they were completely over stretched when I was there.