Muswell Hill / crouch end - Whittington vs royal free

[Rags12]

Hi everyone,I’m in week 7 and experiencing all the highs / lows so far and trying to smile

I’ve just joined MN and exploring the wealth of information here. I’m looking for specific advice / feedback on hospitals (apologies if this has been covered elsewhere) - but I’d really appreciate some help in choosing between Whittington and royal free.

Any recent experiences / tips would be warmly received. Keep well

Not recent, but I had DS 3 years ago at the Whittington and they were fab. I saw the same midwife each time, did free antenatal classes, had free acupuncture and had a water birth in the birth centre. DP stayed overnight as we had a double bed and they brought me breakfast and lunch the next day. Mac n cheese, which was probably vile, but after a day of labour it felt amazing! The labour ward at the time wasn't great and I didn't like the look of it at all but I gather that it's been refurbished since.

I have a friend who gave birth at the Royal Free (twice) and was very happy with them. The midwives who visited me were from there (we lived in Camden, but the Whittington in Islington was easier to get to) and were good.

I had my baby at the Whittington in March. I have to say that the midwives on the labour ward were fantastic, cannot fault one bit. My aftercare (in hospital for a week with a prem baby) was pretty shocking - everyone giving a different opinion on my health, the healthcare assistants were terrible, but the care the baby received was amazing.
During pregnancy the care was ok, no massive complaints except I suffered with terrible heartburn, was constantly asked if had tried gaviscon (wanted to get violent!) and wasn’t until I kicked up a bit of a fuss (by crying at many people) I got some proper drugs for it. Maybe I’m too polite!! Sorry all in the wrong order!

Thanks so much for your input . Have filled in a self referral form for Royal Free but still waiting for them to get in touch . After your positive experiences at Whittington wondering whether I made the right decision or not - it’s all so confusing

You can always send the form off to the Whittington as well and tell the RF you've changed your mind. But if the RF is closer and easier for you to get to then I'd go with tray.

I had my DD at the free almost 2 years ago. I'm now ttc and would book at the Whittington next time. The antenatal care was fine at the free, but when I was in labour the triage room was too full so I couldn't be examined. I had spent most of my time labouring at home, so when they finally found a space in a room on the labour ward to examine me I was 10cm.
There weren't enough midwives, so I had about 6 midwives with me in an hour and a half (unfortunately this isn't an exaggeration). It seemed that the poor midwives had to tend to me rather than get a break.
I know it isn't the royal free's fault that it was so busy, but I would prefer to try the midwife unit at the Whittington the next time.
Oh and my husband was able to stay the night with me at the free, but was on the chair (so none of us got any sleep)

I had my DD at the Whittington and had a very positive experience.

Hi Rags 12. Can I ask which one you went with in the end? I've just found out I'm 5 weeks and am so confused. Have signed up at Whittington for the moment as it's nearer home but not sure. Soon much to think about.

Hi , apologise for the delay in getting back . We decided to go ahead with Royal Free as it was more accessible for us . I’ve however heard good things about the Whittington birth unit so you should be fine there .