St. Marys or Queen Charlottes?

[sleepyted]

Can anyone in West London advise me please?

I know St Marys is good "if something goes wrong" but I've also heard that the post natal care is pretty crap.
A lot of people seem to want to go to QC.

Any views please?

QC is good if something goes wrong too. It has a decent NICU and is specialist so you won't need to wait for the anaesthetist to finish up elsewhere in the hospital if you want an epidural. Post natal is not great at QC either, though.
If you have a straghtforward pregnancy you can go to the midwife led birth centre at QC. No epidurals in there, but they are good at births with less interventions and you can stay in the room you give birth in and go home the next day. If you were out that quickly it wouldn't matter what the post-natal was like!

I had DD at QC and I really rated it. I get pre-eclampsia and had to be in for a couple of weeks before the birth and they were very nice and the medical care was second to none. During my terrible labour the midwives and doctors were amazing. Post natally I paid for a private room as i was sick of being on a ward. The care was not great until I had a medical problem and then they were great again. The NICU is very good too.

I liked the fact it was a maternity only hospital so there was much less chance of other bugs and infections being passed on.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I didn't realise it was maternity only. No wonder it's so popular!

Does anyone else have a view on this?

i had ds at st mary's. excellent care, crap post-natally. but this was 5 years ago.

Agree with plibble. I had a c-section at QC for breech baby, and thought the aftercare was appalling. I was discharged after 2 nights, could hardly walk. While I was in the midwives didn't seem to care, no-one checked feeding was going ok. DS1 lost so much weight in the first week that we were nearly re-admitted, and it was only down to the perseverence of one local midwife who came to see us every day until things were better that we managed to avoid having to go back in. Sorry.

I had an emergency c-section at QC and agree that the after care was appalling. I was trying to change my dd's nappy after the c-section (H had gone home). I couldn't reach the nappy bag cos of being unable to move and meconium was going everywhere and I was obviously distressed and the nurses in the high dependency unit where I was at the time just walked on by laughing. I was in labour for 24 hours before the c-section (which took place at 1am) and when I asked if I could have a cup of tea or a piece of toast as I was starving by then I was told I would have to wait for breakfast and make do with a cup of water.

Breastfeeding support was pitiful and I ended up getting an independent breastfeeding counsellor when I got home.

Oh and the waits for the antenatal appointments were horrendous - up to 2 1/2 hours wait and a long trek to the car to keep topping up the parking.

Having said all this...It is new, clean, well equipped and specialst and for these reasons I have booked in there for my current pregnancy. This time however I will be having a private midwife accompany me as I want to try for a VBAC and so I get the care I need.

Kits