Which hospital?

[IWillOnlyEatBeans]

I am due to give birth to my second child in Dec.

We have recently moved to Durham and I am trying to decide which hospital to go for (had my first DC in London).

I have only met one local mum so far who said to steer clear or the University Hospital, which I live really close to (Framwellgate Moor).

Any advice/recommendations much appreciated...

DS was born in University Hospital of North Durham, and they were great when he was born. The midwives I met were all lovely, and the consultant I had was very good too.
DS was 6 weeks early, so he had to spend time in SCBU, and the neo-natal staff at UHND were all fantastic.

I would happily go back to UHND if I was having another baby.

They don't have birthing pools though, if that was something you wanted.

Bishop Auckland hospital has a midwifery led unit, with a birthing pool, but this wasn't an option for me as I was under consultant care, and there aren't any obstetric consultants at Bishop Auckland.

RVI in Newcastle has a shiny new maternity unit, but the distance to Newcastle from Durham may be a concern if you go into labour during rush hour.

I've given birth at UHND and had a homebirth. If I was going to have a hospital birth, I think I would choose either the RVI or Bishop Auckland.

I would recommend UHND. I had an emergency c-section (after a 37 hour labour) and a planned c-section there and they were fantastic.

Another reason is that the Durham hospital does a test on all babies straight after they are born to measure the amount of oxygen in their blood. This is how they found that my best friend's baby had heart problems, he was whisked away to the Freeman hospital shortly after this test. He's now 5 years old and has had 4 major surgeries on his heart. They would not have known if not for this test.

Not all hospitals do this test (which is simply a small monitor on their thumb). No idea why as it's simple, quick, effective and saves lives.

And I've only just noticed you were due in December!

Congratulations and hope whichever hospital you chose was good for you.