Hospital choice - advice please

[HelloRose]

Hi

What's more important when deciding what hospital to pick. The distance from home or the (potential) better quality of care?

I'm 8 weeks pregnant with my first baby and I need to confirm with my GP our hospital of choice by Friday. Our nearest hospital is 10 minutes away, whereas the private option is 30-40 mins of slow moving traffic across London.

The thought of being in labour and being stuck in traffic gives me anxiety. But the closest hospital has mixed reviews and a lot of horror stories about how bad some mum's found the care they received.

My gut tells me I should probably go for the one close to home. But any advice would be appreciated. It is difficult to call without having ever experienced labour to know what is best. Thanks x

I was sent home 3 times in one day as my labour hadn't progressed (first time pregnancy) so what would you do in that scenario? I also ended up with an emergency c section and needed extra clothes- the thought of DH having to make a 1.5 hr round trip would have been tough so I'd say take in a full bag if you choose the far away hospital. Also car contractions with little option to move through the pain were not fun!

Also - due to a house move I transferred hospitals at 20 weeks so that's an option either way. I also at some stages of the pregnancy needed multiple scans and allay the hospital so you'd need a full afternoon off work for the hospital 40 mins away?

Visit the closest hospital and see if a tour of the unit would help your anxiety of this hospital.

So the decision isn’t just about distance but is also about private versus NHS? If you’re in a position to afford private and want consultant lead care, 1:1 post natal care etc then a slightly shorter journey to hospital wouldn’t make me change my mind about that. Personally I’d book at the NHS hospital for now, then I’d investigate private options and research consultants. You can always swap to private later; you’d need to have an initial consultation with the consultant for instance and then they would write to your GP to let them know they’re taking over your care and that won’t be done by Friday.

Also, if it helps I went to a hospital 45 minutes away through London traffic because it was my closest private option. However, I wanted an ELCS so I knew that I wouldn’t be travelling in labour (except if I went into labour early but thankfully that didn’t happen).

When I lived in London, I chose the hospital that had the 'better reputation and ended up regretting it. I recieved terrible care. I've moved and this time am using a small town hospital and so far I've been really impressed. Hospitals can often surprise you.

I picked local. Went overdue and needed to be induced, asked to be induced in a different hospital (would be easier as sil Who was doing childcare lived nearer the 2nd hospital) and it was fine.

I would go for the better care all day long.
I would visit the nhs hospital, have a tour and ask loads of questions to see if this eases your anxiety, get yourself booked in there anyway for now. But ultimately I would want the best care for myself and my new born, so private for me if it's better care.

I opted for a big, new facilities hospital with DD1. We had to fight our way through London school traffic - 50 minutes and I arrived already pushing. And for all it's new equipment and good reviews it was awful there. We'd already spoken to PALS antenatally due to issues in an antenatal appointment. They failed to do/document things, mixed me up with another patient, discharged me inappropriately. It was horrendous.

DD2 (no longer in London) I had to change hospitals last minute as my chosen hospital no longer did ELCS and baby was breech. Care was much better despite being thought of locally as a bad hospital. Honestly your experience can be affected by so many different factors I'd opt for proximity.

Thank you all. You've given me lots to think about and a few things I hadn't even considered. Much appreciated x