UCH, whittington, royal free

[ksksnod]

hi, wonder if there are any more recent experiences at either of these hospitals? whittington is very close to me but my husband previously had a bad experience at their A&E and almost got killed due to goss negligence caused by an incorrect injection by a nurse rushing to get off duty (not sure of their maternity reputation). Royal free is second close, i read it has consistently horrible reputation, although reviews are mostly dated dating back to 2009 and 2010 and they seem to have some major redevelopment to the birth center?

i am terrified of any form of pain so already decided to go for epidural. can i choose to have it in these hospitals and at any time of the day? i am less keen to go for birth center (i.e. water bath, ribon hanging from ceilling and yoga balls) and prefer to go straight to clinical setting in labour ward run by consultants. not sure which hospital would be better in my case.... is uch better than for my case?

i heard most nhs hospitals discharge you very shortly after giving birth, and heard that i could go 'half-private' at st marys meaning pay for additional nights at lido wing but have the baby under nhs. has anyone tried this or know abt this?

any feedback would be so gratefully received. first baby and not familiar with nhs.

No idea about your specific questions but I can heartily recommend uch - the staff are lovely, the hospital is very efficient, couldn't be more helpful, everyone has listened and responded to all my concerns and the hospital is just a few years old so they seem to have everything on tap. Have only heard good things about uch from other people too!

No where will guarantee pain relief. Unless perhaps if you go private. It depends on availability of an anaesthetist. But you don't have to go to the birth centre if you don't want to.

I've had 2 at the Whittington. I was very happy with the antenatal care, slightly less so with the delivery and post natal care first time. 2nd time (baby born last December) I had great care during and after. First time was a failed induction ending in EMCS. 2nd was a semi- elective CS followed by baby in NiCU.

I've heard rotten things about the royal free, and mixed about UCH.

Royal Free is great for lots of things but I wouldn't recommend them for maternity.

I'm currently under UCH and have been really impressed by the scans and midwives there so far. Have heard good things about Whittington too

I had a complex pregnancy so nearly lived in UCH. I moved and transferred to Kings and was quite relieved. Given the choice again I'd go with the Whittington