Birth experiences at UCLH (birth centre)

[Sandrine1982]

Hi. Could you please share your experience if you had your first birth at the UCLH Birth Centre in Warren Street? How was it for you? Were the midwives kind to you? Were they coming in often enough for you to be reassured? Were they rushing you? How was the care overall? How long did you stay in hospital afterwards? Thanks in advance. xx

Anyone? :-)

I gave birth at UCLH, though in the labour ward (was induced for reduced fetal movement) rather than in the birth centre. I am now with UCLH for DC2. I found all of the staff really good - they did check on me frequently and I felt that I was well cared-for. However, there is a large team so up until I was actually in the late stages of active labour I saw a wide variety of different midwives. I ended up having an EMCS (fetal distress) but still only stayed overnight afterwards - DC1 was born on Tuesday morning and we were home by Wednesday afternoon. I think that with a less complicated birth they try to send you home the same day (but you don't feel rushed out).

Overall, it is a very busy hospital, so if you are looking for a lot of hand-holding one-to-one care then it might not be right. But I was reassured by the fact that the overall standard of care is so good - it is the hospital that you would get transferred to if anything went wrong somewhere else - and having had a very low risk pregnancy I was definitely not expecting to need all of the extra intervention at the end, so I was really pleased that I was already in a place where they could help.

That sounds great, thanks @MrsD28. I'm usually very independent and don't need a lot of hand-holding, but I'm told (by my sister haha) that the amount of pain might make me panic, so it would be good to have someone nearby when I need them, and to feel looked after (although not necessarily by the same person - I really don't mind ..). Thanks

Has anyone else experienced the UCLH - labour ward or birth centre?

I had my DS there in July 2016. It was supposed to be birth centre but I turned up 5 mins after midnight making me over 2 weeks late so was moved to higher risk and in labour ward. The pre-care appointments scans etc at UCLH are so so organised and reassuring. Labour itself - mine was quick so always someone around. I had a 3rd degree tear and the after care for that was fantastic. They did however miss my son's tongue tie which caused feeding issues. They didn't rush me out, I stayed one overnight and was ready to go home. I no longer live in London and the level of care for antenatal is a lot poorer than UCLH. It's a v good hospital.

Thanks @Newbie21 that's very good to hear. I'm actually really looking forward to giving birth there :)