help needed on deciding on which hospital to give birth at

[sab001]

Hi,

well i'm 6 weeks pregenant! very excited, but now i have to choose which of the two hospitals i have a choice of i should go to. I am cautious, and want to choose the one that has the best performance. Does anyone know how / where i can get performance information of maternity care on specific hospitals? I can't ask my friends yet - i don't want to tell anyone until after the 12 week scan. Have searched the web and keep finding lots of other interesting things, but now what i am looking for. I asked the midwife at my surgery and she didn't have any information.
Thanks for your help ladies.
s

www.nhs.uk/Planners/pregnancycareplanner/Pages/during.aspx
On the right hand side there is a drop down 'services near you' to choose maternity units and type post code. It will bring up relevant options and you can bring up more detail about each unit.
Hope this helps

Very helpful, thank you ksaunders. Seems my instincts are correct for my area.

ksaunders thank you so much - just what i was looking for :)

Your still early days why do you have to decide now? I've got a choice of 2 places and the midwife said I can change my mind as many times as a like so long as a couple of weeks before they know where I want to go

that's really interesting to know. My midwife gave me the impression that once i decide that's it. I will ask her when i go back. I've not even got used to the idea of being pregnant yet!

Glad I could help! :o
I had to make a decision straight away. This is probably because my two options are in two different London Boroughs which means different primary care trusts and probably affects their funding.

Where I am they like you to make a decision straight away - you then get sent to "your" hospital for scans or any specialised care that becomes necessary during your pregnancy. Our CMW also said we'd only be eligible for NHS ante-natal classes if we booked into one of the 3 hospitals we had a choice of.

However, even if you pick a hospital now you can change your mind at any point.

Might be worth talking to your MW re. whether your choice impacts on other aspects of your care during pregnancy - and then deciding where you want to give birth once you've calmed down about it all a bit.

and congratulations :)

Congratulations :) Just wanted to point out that you are entitled to change your mind as often as you want, if you so wish. So if you choose one hosp then go and have a tour of mat unit/labour ward and dont feel happy about your decision then go for the other one. Or see if you can have a tour of both hospitals before you make your mind up.

I changed hospitals at around 26 weeks (I think) last time, the hospitals were in different PCTs. It was no problem, though the mw was a bit mystified about it being a hospital they don't usually use. It was just a matter of one or two phone calls in the end. I was really happy with my final choice, and think it is more important to take your time and be sure, than to be rushed into choosing, or pushed into the one or two hospitals your GP surgery usually use.

Congratulations and good luck!