Whittington Hospital: Parking when in labour

[hes222]

Hello All

Can anyone shed any light on the parking situation at the Whittington, specifically when a mum-to-be is in labour?

I know that there is almost no parking at the hospital generally (ie limited meter parking, almost never any spaces etc, residents parking / CPZ on neighbouring roads).

All of this can be dealt with for ante-natal appointments. But surely there must be some provision for people to park when a woman is in labour?!

Otherwise, are women supposed to be dropped off at the main entrance and then go up to the ward by themselves, whilst their birth partner keeps frantically racing around trying to find a space / move the car / leave the labour to keep putting money into a meter etc? I hope not...!

We live about an hour away (but we are under a consultant at the Whitt so have to go there despite the distance) so a bus / taxi / walk etc is not an option.

If anyone has sussed out the siutation on parking when someone is already in labour, I'd be grateful for your thoughts.

Thanks!

hes222

There is very limited parking within the grounds but I can't quite remember how it works for during labour. I think if you're in to drop off and there's a space, there is a daily fee rather than metered - contact the hospital for ifo.

There are some pay and display places on Dartmouth Park Hill (nearest to labour ward) which only cover a limited period. The CPZ on the streets just off Dartmouth Park Hill cover 12-2pm IIRC, so if you're lucky with your timings you could be OK. I did have to do some running off to move the car though. It's a bit ludicrous, but labour can be a lengthy process so I didn't miss any real action .

There is a drop off point outside labour ward. There is also limited parking around labour ward. I went in at night time so there was plenty of space. The parking is if I remember rightly charged hourly. But if you are there for long time there is the option of the 'lost ticket' fee which worked out cheaper for us than paying the hourly fee as DH was around for 24 hours due to long labour!

Are you going to go on a tour of the labour ward? If so they explain it then. As Finland mentions, there is limited parking available, but you will need to get a ticket at some point.

I live literally next to the Whittington hospital. Parking is restricted within the Islington CPZs (Controlled Parking Zones), but if you cross the border into Camden on the other side of Dartmouth Park Hill (Chester Road/Raydon Street), there is unlimited parking any time apart from 10am to midday. All hours outside of that are free. Hope this may be of help.

Thanks for everyone's helpful comments.

We did go on a hospital tour, but the midwife didn't even know the names of the roads outside the hospital, let along where to park.

In case any other Whittington mums / dads to be are reading this (parking was one of the main - unanswered - questions on the hospital tour):
We have come to the conclusion that you can drop off outside the labour ward at any time for 20 minutes (you still need to pay). During the day, we think that we need to park in a road on the Camden side and run out to buy a ticket for the CPZ period 10am-12noon. In the evenings and weekends, you can park around the back of the labour ward (£1.50 per hour or pretend that you have lost your ticket if you are there for more than 8 hours).

No doubt someone who has been there will let me know if we've got any of this wrong!

Thanks again for the comments! Much appeciated.