Addenbrookes / Kings Lynn / West Suffolk

[mum2be2018]

I have my midwife appointment next week where I will need to choose the hospital I want to give birth in.

My preferred choice is Addenbrookes as I work 10 minutes from there but my GP said something the other day about not being allowed to go there as it's not within my catchment area and I would have to go to West Suffolk or Kings Lynn, but my sister in law who is a trainee Nurse said that it's my right to go to whichever hospital I want.

Can anyone give me reviews on either 3 hospitals so I can make my mind up? I 100% want Addenbrooke's but if I have to choose one or the other 2 I want to know what their like etc

I live in Cambridgeshire about 30 mins away from both West Suffolk and Addenbrookes and I made the choice which hospital I went to. I had my dd at WSH 10 years ago. When I had ds 5 years ago I booked into West Suffolk again but as I'm ancient they wanted to induce on my due date and wouldn't let me use the midwife unit if I went naturally. At about 34 weeks I swapped to the Rosie at Addenbrookes as they let me use the midwife unit. My choice both times.

Why do you want to give birth near work? Are you taking maternity leave?
I went into labour during the night and gave birth 20 minutes after arriving at hospital. I'd pick somewhere close to home personally.

Addenbrooke's is my preferred choice as it's closer to work for appointments etc and if god forbid something was to happen at least i'm already in the best hospital as more than likely i'd be transferred there etc.

Addenbrooke's is 55 mins from my house and kings lynn / west suffolk is 45 mins away so its only another 10 mins journey time.

I had ds1 at QEH in King's Lynn, but that was 12 years ago so i imagine it has changed a lot! There seem to be mostly very positive reviews on their nhs page: www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Services/Service/DefaultView.aspx?id=208781

I'd think about things like travelling to hospital during labour as much as anything else.

I live in Central Beds but am going to Addenbrookes (initially because of some genetics stuff we needed to deal with but we're carrying on there anyway). It's about 10 minutes further than our nearest hospitals but under 45 minutes as long as something terrible doesn't happen traffic wise.

I can't comment on the care past 27 weeks as I am now, but so far so good with Addenbrookes! 55 minutes does sound like a long distance but if the others are 45 minutes then I guess not so much!

Your SIL is right, you have the right to choose but you might have to fight for it a bit. I had both of mine at The Rosie and wouldn’t have any others anywhere else. The care was second to none

I wouldnt recommend the rosie purely because of my experience there 10 years ago ( wouldn't give pain relief, only gave me an epidural after giving birth to get the placenta out of me. This is after giving me drugs to put me back into labourafter giving birth to get the placenta out and not telling me. I couldn't understand why my contractions had started again!) I went there 7 years ago to have my second only after seeing the head midwife and agreeing on an epidural as soon as I wanted it. I wanted a section but the bitch consultant said i had to just deal with the pain of labour. Hopefully they've improved since then. Sorry for the essay but it was horrendous.

I had both DC at the Rosie, for DC2 I was out of area. So I went back out of choice (and would do the same if I had another DC). Very happy with the experiences though I know my attitude to hospitals and childbirth is not at all typical! I like the fact you have everything on one site at the Rosie - MLU, delivery unit, top level NICU and top class consultants if needed. Given all your journey times are long I don't think that makes too much difference for you.

I have no direct experience of midwifery care at any of the hospitals, but I do have experience of general medical care at all three. I'd go for Addenbrookes every time.

i was under addenbrookes when i miscarried and cannot fault the service i received, which is partly why i want to go back to their care for this baby