Where to give birth ? Queen E, Lewisham vs St Thoms ??

[BobbiF]

Could anyone please offer any advice on the quality of the antenatal, delivery and post-natal care offered by the three ? We are Australians and have no experience with the NHS or even if the promise of choosing where I deliver is really true or if it will be harder to make a specific request.We live in SE7.
Thanks

Hi there,

I'm in SE4 and have opted for Lewisham (if I don't manage a homebirth). The MLU there has a good reputation. The CLU didn't but I'm told it has improved recently. When I booked in I was told I had the option between that or Tommies (so much for NHS choice...). King's would usually take people from my area but it was full for my dates. I don't know much about Queen E. I probably could have pushed for other options but as the hospital is only a back up if my homebirth plan doesn't work out, I was happy enough to go for the nearest to home.

Tommies was out for me because of the difficulty of driving and parking there. The traffic in the morning or evening rush would be an absolute nightmare.

One tip - if you are still in early pregnancy and have any worries, the EPU at Tommies takes self-referrals (no need to wait to see a GP if you are bleeding or whatever) and the staff were lovely with me.

Hi,

I have recently moved into the SE13 area (almost 4 weeks) and am due on Friday! I opted to transfer my care from St George's Tooting to Lewisham - and have found the process, despite being so late in my pregnancy quite easy. The midwives at Lewisham have been great and the Birth Centre (MLU) seems lovely, although very popular - they will only accept you if you are having a low risk pregnancy. I do know one lady who has used the delivery ward at Lewisham (a year or so ago) and had a great experience.

From discussing the hospital with my NCT Group, you get out what you put in with the midwives - go armed with the questions you have - as the information may not be volunteered. The reputation of post-natal care is not as good as pre-natal and delivery care (although from what I can tell, this situation is common in a lot of London hospitals).

Check that your local GP surgery has a community midwife as well - they are great. Very supportive and will save you the trips to the busy antenatal clinic at the hospital.