Kensington Wing @ Kensington & Chelsea, The Portland or Coombe Wing @ Kingston?

[Valbonne09]

Hi there

Just found out I have polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid) again with my second pregnancy. Baby looks healthy which is great so associated risks seem to just be with me at the moment. Had polyhydramnios with my DS and he was diagnosed with a TOF but was born healthy. Was very fortunate to have my consultant care and delivery paid for via my american company insurance at The Portland with Maggie Blott (who sadly now lives in Abu Dhabi). I cannot fault the staff, the care and the hospital for our experience last time. We were in for 9 days in total due to a few minor unavoidable complications and even then my husband and I were sad to leave!

This time around I have been told I will not be allowed to go in to labour again. Rather sad as I was hoping for a VBAC and had even considered a home birth. Anyway, we kept up our cover with BUPA International just in case anything happened this time around and thank goodness we did! My local hospital cannot cope with the delivery and potential issues so we are looking to have a private c-section at either Coombe Wing Kingston Hospital, Kensington Wing at Kensington and Chelsea Hospital or back to the Portland. They vary in price from Kingston up to The Portland (obviously the most expensive!). Does anyone have experience of having a private c-section with any of the above hospitals and if so what were the pluses and minuses and do you have any consultant recommendations?

Any help would be much appreciated as I am 32+ weeks already and live down in the west country so want to get this and any pre-delivery consultations sorted before Christmas. Thx!

its not what you are asking, and given you can choose any of those places i can see why you would, but you do realise you have the right to choose the birth you want and choose a home birth if you want it

Thanks nannyl. I had to be fairly pushy until now to put in place plans for a vbac using the one pool available locally etc due to being high risk last time as well as a previous c-section patient. In the end I sought out an independant midwife who specialises in hbacs and hospital vbacs to help me achieve the birth I wanted but since the complications seem to be rearing their head again this time even she has said elective c-section is the way to go now. I am happy to follow everyones advice now and have got my head around any disappointment I felt with myself for not being able to vbac. At the end of the day a healthy mother and baby is all I'm worried about, particularly given that I have my two year old son at home to think about this time. Thx for your post.

I dont really get all the entitlement about "rights" regarding childbirth, to be honest nannyl. Does the comparative comfort and control of giving birth at home really supercede baby's rights to be born safely? Or medical opinion?

I had a private c-section @ the Kensington Ward with Mr Roger Marsden, and they were all lovely. Surgery was faultless (and left almost no scar), and the nurses/midwives were lovely - so kind and patient. Food was good (by hospital standards) with a wide choice. I would definitely go there again if we have any more children.

I have had 2 babies delivered by c section at the Portland by Maggie Blott and I couldn't have had a better experience for each. I would recommend Katrina Erskine as a consultant as I also saw her from time to time as she worked with Maggie and she was lovely too x