Help! Choosing Birthing Centre/Hospital?

[Meowstro]

Newbie here and a little lost in headlights at the mo!

I visited my doctors today and saw a GP to let them know I'm pregnant, thankfully she was a GP I knew well and is also a gynaecologist. Due to my weight she prescribed me a higher dose of folic acid and was really good at explaining about healthy eating, etc, but asked what hospital I'd like to go to (as a snap decision, because it's my closest and I can work around work for appointments, I said Newham General in East London) then she said I'd need to make a self-referral. Now I've got home I'm starting to panic as I know it hasn't got a good rep and personally know people who've had terrible experiences there where they could have potentially lost their babies.

Can anyone tell me how it works with choosing a birthing centre or hospital? Can I use any? Also can anyone recommend any nearby from experience? I'm due in August so I'm still early into my first trimester and at the moment I'm leaning towards a birthing centre if possible but I'm concerned about which hospital I'd be transferred to if complications arose.

from the Barking Birth Centre, it's Newham, and from the Barkentine it's the Royal London. Depending on what side you're on you can also go to Whipp's Cross or the Homerton.

You can go to any of the above if you are low risk. If you have risk factors, you need to book in a hospital, and for some risk factors you can only book at specific hospitals (usually the Royal London out of the above).

Which? Online has a thing to help you choose the best option for you. You can put in your age etc and it recommends what's nearby.

Thank you so much to the both of you! Can I ask if I'm right in thinking then that I can self refer to a Birth Centre or Alongside Midwifery Unit now for all of my antenatal care (testing, scans, etc) and labour as well? Or does the initial stuff need to go through their connected hospital and just labour will go through Birth Centre/Alongside Midwifery Unit?

It seems like a big decision to make at 5 weeks! I'm not sure if I'm low risk or not at the mo.

I don't know, but in my part of London you have a midwife team who work across the ward and the AMU, I think.

You can self-refer to any hospital in London. If you are out of area and they already have a lot of patients, they may not take you, but if you want to go somewhere totally different you can. We have done.

In terms of the care, I think it varies, depending on what the hospital/area offers. We are at St Thomas's, and we are seen by midwives in the hospital - the alongside bit is just for labour I think. I've been seen in a totally separate area from where people are giving birth though. Some areas have midwive teams or see you at your GP.

you can self refer in this context to the hospital and they will do your risk assessment and explain. At the Royal London the first appointments are all in the hospital; I think for Newham some are at Barking. So if you want to go to the Barkentine or the Alongside Unit at the Royal London, you self-refer to the London;.

bartshealth.nhs.uk/our-services/services-a-z/m/maternity/for-patients/your-pregnancy/your-appointments/

You can move during your pregnancy if you wish, provided the receiving unit has capacity.

Thank you so much, took a while but I get it now! I'll give the local hospital a ring tomorrow, I think their alongside unit is based there as well. Knowing I can change if there is capacity puts my mind at ease as well.