I'm pregnant with our second child and torn about where to go for the birth. I had DD at Ealing, before they had the fancy new facilities, and can't say it's an experience I want to repeat! Whilst the birth was perfectly safe, the bedside manner was terrible, my midwife didn't work with me at all - she just wanted to get off shift, the room we were in was like a basement store, communication was poor and the aftercare was terrible. I had problems breast feeding and was forced straight onto formula, again, the bedside manner was terrible from everyone except one very nice Japanese MW who was on duty overnight.
But ealing is super convenient for me - Queen Charlottes isn't. 5 of my friends gave birth at QC and had mixed experiences. So much depends on luck of the draw, doesn't it? Who's on shift, whether you like them, how your labour is going - how do you figure out what are institutional failings and what was just bad luck on the night (it was very busy, in their defence). As this is my second time, I also feel a bit more able to fight my own corner to get the birth I want. If we have BF issues, I now know where to get help having been through the mill a bit with DD.
To add another spanner into the works, DP is not keen on ealing at all and is really quite traumatised by his experience of it - I think he was brilliant but this isn't reassuring him...
I intend to visit the new birth centre soon to have a look at it myself but if anyone has any personal experiences of the new facilities you could share, I'd be really grateful.