Which Hospital?

[PirateDad42]

Hi,
Are there any summaries or advice about what to check for/ look at when deciding which hospital to choose?
How did you decide?
We have looked at the rankings and the Royal Free, St Mary's and Queen Charlotte are the front runners (London), but a concern is that the closest one (RF) has the lowest score. Closer seems better for lots of reasons but we do not want to compromise on care!

Thanks
R

Go with the closest! My labour the first time round was only minutes long and I was pushing the baby out in the carpark. Second time round we planned a home birth...

Agree with picking the closest! We forgot my antenatal notes and DH nearly missed the birth going back to fetch them (25 mins away)!

What's the difference in terms of distance (factoring in London traffic). I was tempted by UCLH as it seems to have an excellent reputation but have ended up with St Mary's because of the distance. Zero complaints so far - I'm higher risk and having a c section but their birth centre looks good if you're lower risk (had a nose round during one of my appts!)

Thanks all,

@mynameiscalypso, StM is 20m but the potential for traffic around Paddington worries me. QC is a hair lower in ratings and 16m with less risk of being stuck in a jam.

RF is even closer (11m) but the ratings are lower and a friend who works in maternity statistics once made an off the cuff disparaging remark about it... The problem is that I can't grill him about it without suspicion!

PS. Is your name really Calypso? My wife loves that name but i'm dubious!

UCLH! ❤️

I have no advice but be happy that you have a choice! I’ve been told I don’t, I have to go to the only one within a reasonable distance and that’s still over an hour way!
Good luck with your choice! (FWIW I would prioritise care over distance)

I found this really useful:

www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Maternity-services/LocationSearch/1802

It ranks all the maternity locations in that vicinity on care during labour, pain relief, facilities, etc.

I disagree with choose the closest, our closest hospital didnt have a good reputation, I picked one thats 10 miles further away but I feel so much happier knowing I'm booked into a hospital I am confident and comfortable giving birth at.

Good luck with it all!

Which? (the comparison website) has a section on maternity centres: https://www.which.co.uk/birth-choice/units

We found it useful in guiding our decision

I personally did not have a positive experience at Royal Free so I wouldn't recommend it. Always had to wait over an hour for scheduled appointments and found the staff a bit hit and miss. Now at UCLH and having a far more positive experience.

Many hospitals offer viewings, so I'd do a couple of those and see where you feel most comfortable, rather than where's closest. You'll be spending a lot of time there!