Birmingham Hospitals Antenatal Care - Any Experiences?

[BrummieMumToBe]

Birmingham resident expecting first child, need to make a decision about which hospital to be referred to soon.

Birmingham Women's is my closest but I've been pretty horrified by some of the reviews I've seen (all units have bad reviews to be fair but BWH seems to have more than most).

Is City Hospital any better? Or any of the other Brum/West Mids hospitals? They would be much less convenient to travel to but good care is my main priority.

Any experiences?

I've actually heard good things about the Women's, based on friends and colleagues who had babies there. I was considering it as I live on the edge of three different health trusts, but opted for Worcs in the end as it's a lot nearer.

The problem with reviews is that people are far more likely to post about a shockingly horrific experience than a straightforward or enjoyable one.

Worcs has crap reviews as well, so I ended up posting on the town facebook page asking for feedback from local mums on where they'd had their babies. Much more balanced. Is that something you could do?

I also considered the Women’s but have booked in at Warwick after considering the travel time to each hospital.

To add to Siol’s point it it also worth remembering that as a centre of research BWH takes some of the most complex and high-risk cases, which is likely to skew any data.

I went to heartlands and was excellently looked after.

I gave birth twice at City - good experiences both times. I have heard good things about the women’s but it is very very busy (as is City, to be fair).

@SiolGhoraidh I’m worcester too! When are you due?

In terms of Birmingham women’s, my niece was born there around Christmas time and my sister in law had great care all the way through (consultant lead) she can’t recommend the place highly enough. To the point she was trying to tell me I had to change to the women’s 🙄 I quite like my consultant at Worcester though and it’s closer to home 😊

@mischiefmanaged01 I'm due mid September. You?

I'll only be at Worcester for delivery - they closed our local maternity unit last year, but they still offer antenatal care there, and it's within walking distance

Worcester Royal itself is nearly an hour away

@SiolGhoraidh ahh Redditch. That’s where we would’ve chosen to have baby too ☹️ We’ve been there for a few appointments though and all has been great- the sonographers are so much nicer at Redditch than Worcester in our experience!! Due late June 😊

I’ll also be going to Worcester, i live in a town just on the outskirts, hoping to get in the Midwife Led Unit all being well. I’m due 4th Sept!

Thanks for the responses! I'm going to keep looking for opinions. It's so hard to know which is best!