Twins at St Thomas' London - NHS?

[restingkitty]

I'm 18 weeks pg with twins and I'm booked in at St Thomas' London (NHS). It's my first pg. STL is by far my closest hospital (I can walk there!) so I didn't question whether it was the right/best hospital when the GP booked me in.

I've had 3 appts there so far, and I'm getting a bit concerned about capacity/busy-ness. I know all central London hospitals are busy (and, presumably, those further afield too!) but the maternity areas seem to be hectic and stretched. As I'm expecting twins, it's possible that there will be complications with the birth and I suppose I have a specific concern that I/we might not get the attention needed due to capacity issues.

Has anyone any recent experiences of giving birth at St Thomas' (especially multiples)? Was it crazy busy?!

I'm afraid I don't have experience of giving birth at St Thomas' (yet) but am booked in there (37 weeks today!) so thought I'd respond on a couple of points. Hopefully someone with experience of St T's and multiples can also help you out.

I've generally been impressed with my experiences of St Thomas' to date and when I was contacting possible doulas, lots of them had positive experiences there. Also in my yoga class some of the other mothers to be had had previous good experiences there.

Book to go on the Wednesday night birth centre tour - I found that really helpful - and also consider attending the NHS antenatal classes there once you're past the 20 week scan stage. I was really impressed with the NHS preparing for childbirth one - and it's another chance to meet the midwives and ask questions and find out St Thomas specific hospital policy.

From my conversations with midwives / NHS class / tour etc. I didn't get the impression that busyness was a particular issue there, and there are two operating theatres available should you need them, so I think they are okay for contingency planning. I was very sceptical about a hospital birth in the beginning but now feeling much more reassured - in fact apparently St thomas' midwives regularly opt for St Thomas' when they have their own babies.

But that said, do raise your concerns at your next midwife appointment and hopefully you will get the answers you are looking for. Good luck and here's hoping that both our births go smoothly!

Piranha - thanks so much for the advice. I will definitely book the tour. I don't have many friends with babies (let alone twins...)so I'm feeling a bit clueless about the whole thing!

Good luck with the birth and the new arrival. Very exciting!

Hi Come join us on the twins thread..... I am not sure how to bump stuf...but if you do an advanced search and put in twins club you should find us....

You will get lots of advice and tips from there.

great, thanks Hippy! See you there

hi restingkitty,

I had my daughter in st Thomas's hospital in feb 2005 and i couldn't of asked for a better place. My daughter had to be delivered by emergency c-sec and as she'd stopped breathing went into scbu i also had problems and ended up in intensive care and didn't get to meet my daughter till the next day but they came down with photos, were there with any questions and were generally brilliant in the special care departments. The post labour wards on the other hand are a little busy and i waited about 9 hours before anyone came after i pressed the buzzer for help to get to my baby. To be honest every hospital has it's good and bad stories and i really appreciate the fact they were so good when i was in labour with Rosie. i would definately use that hospital again. If you want to ask any questions feel free to message me, I know it was quite a few years back and things will have changed but i'd definately recommend them...

good luck with your labour xx