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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

can i go to a different hospital other than my local for giving birth?

22 replies

misdee · 17/09/2004 21:31

haveing just spent 4 days in my local hospital for the 1st time since i had dd1 i am being reminded of how much i hated the experience of giving birth there.

I really want to give birth to baby#3 at a local-ish hospital but its not my local hospital IYKWIM. Its only about 10miles away, and i loved the experience of giving birth to dd2 there as i felt the midwives and general staff were so much more friendlier and willing to listen to me. (plus i now know of 3 women, myself incldued, who had epiderals at the local hospital where they didnt work properly and could feel everything down one side).

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fuzzywuzzy · 17/09/2004 21:36

You can ask your GP to refer you to the other hospital.

mears · 17/09/2004 21:51

You can book at whatever hospital you like.

Original poster

misdee · 17/09/2004 21:55

thank you thank you.

can i just go to the other one when i'm in labour? i could say i'm at my sisters place when i go into labour.

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Hulababy · 17/09/2004 21:58

Yes you can.I did. My local hospital wasn't the one I wanted to go to for several reasons. I simply told the MW and she just booked me into my first choice hospital instead.

mears · 17/09/2004 22:22

The only problem with turning up at another hospital is that they will not have information about your pregnancy unless you have comprehensive hand held noted. We often have holiday makers landing in at our unit to have babies. The hospital would not turn you away.

Original poster

misdee · 17/09/2004 22:24

ok. what with the sickness and the fact i'm off to guys next month to scan this bubba, i think its best i ask to go to the one further away. but will my midwife care change areas?

OP posts:

mears · 18/09/2004 01:12

Don't know about that. Ask her and see. If she is attached to your GP practice then she will do antenatal and postnatal visits. That's what happens in my area.

qsack · 18/09/2004 02:32

Hi
I had my ds at a hospital not local to me for various reasons. my doc was fine i just said that was where i wanted to go and they referred me. my antenatal care was shared between my doctor and the hospital, most of it at my doctors though. i'd book in at the one you want to go to rather than go at the last minute as if they're full up then you might have less chance of getting in.

fisil · 18/09/2004 06:20

I also refuse to give birth at my local hospital (it's nasty and dirty and there's a good chance of being in a bed next to one of my students!). A lot of people feel the same so it's really popular so you have to book by about 7 weeks!

Flossam · 18/09/2004 11:09

When I visited my GP she gave me an option of 4 or 5 hospitals (I live in London BTW) where I could have my care. However, when she realised where I worked she suggested it would be better to see if they would accept me there! They did but only because I work there, they are having to tighten up as too many people are choosing to have their baby there. You mention you have to go to Guys, which hospital are you trying to aviod?

Snowbell · 18/09/2004 15:43

We moved house while I was pregnant and I wanted to give birth at the hospital where we used to live. No issue was made of it. I had midwife care at my new GPs and I remember going for checkups at the hospital in my old town at 28 and 34 weeks so they would know what to expect, and have some input in my antenatal care.

Original poster

misdee · 18/09/2004 20:03

how far did u have to go? the one i want to go to is about 20min drive away, as long as its not rush hour, cos it can take over an hour to get there then.

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prettycandles · 20/09/2004 15:11

I had both of mine at a non-local hospital. Your gp may be willing to book you into the hospital of your preference, especially as you have had a child there already - that was a good enough reason for my gp with my second child. Alternatively, you could just turn up there in full labour!

I had local midwives for pre- and post-natal care.

beansprout · 20/09/2004 15:55

I'm not at the local hospital any more. I booked in there but then transferred to a birth centre several miles away a few weeks later.

It's worth trying to book in to where you want to be asap as sometimes the "better" places get full up and won't take any more people.

Good luck!

sck · 30/09/2004 13:07

DOes anyone have any recommendation for hospitals in Kingston/Middlesex/London? I'm only about 6 weeks, but as I know I need to act fast I wondered if anyone had any experience/suggestions. I will most likely ask for an elective cesarean. I've already had one cesarean, and I'd really prefer to have an elective rather than an emergency. No idea where to go. I've heard that St Peters in Chetrsey has a pretty dodgy reputation... thinking about Kingston. But I don't really know???? UGh...

artyjoe · 30/09/2004 13:37

SCK I've just spent two days in St Peters, Chertsey, in the Maternity ward...and I'm now looking into other hospitals as I've no intention of going there again. The actual labour ward is fine, but understaffed, but the maternity and the people in it are absolutely dreadful, the facilities are awful and there was more than one midwife that should have been a prison warden rather than working with new lives.

Pagan · 30/09/2004 13:42

I'm having my second at the same hospital as DD1 even though it technically doesn't cover my catchment area. I asked my GP to refer me there when I firt found out I was pregnant and there was no problem.

Even after DD1, my aftercare notes were passed to the local hospital as it was their midwifes who came round for first couple of weeks.

Aside - today it has been announced that my maternity hospital of choice is to be saved and not closed so hooray hooray hooray. Long live the Queen Mums and all the wonderful people who work there.

cellulitequeen · 30/09/2004 13:45

I chose to have DS at hospital 30 miles away from home (the hospital closest to where my parents live). My GP wrote to the hospital and sorted it out for me. This meant that I had a hospital number and they had some notes when I turned up. It was as simple as that, even though I lived in England at the time and delivered in Wales.

sck · 01/10/2004 12:30

So, how did you go about getting the referral? Did anyone get any flack from their GP on the referral?

Is it written somewhere in some NHS charter that I actually have a right to choose my hospital?

Thanks everyone for your input... much appreciated.

Pagan · 01/10/2004 12:39

I just asked.

When I was pregnant the first time round I had only just moved to this area therefore hadn't had time to re-register doctors. I stuck with my old doctor throughout the pregnancy and for some time afterwards. He was within the catchment area for the QM Maternity hospital so just assumed I wanted to be referred there although he did ask if I had a preference.

When I became pregnant again I had changed doctors but on my first visit to confirm everything I asked if I could be referred again to the QM rather than the other hospital. It was no problem and the tone of the doctor suggested that it was a pretty standard request with no reason to ever refuse

sck · 01/10/2004 17:32

If anyone's interested I just started another thread saying that this notion that we have a right to choose is rubbish.

See "Choose your hospital... RUBBISH!" (or something like that. I forget exactly what I called it.

Original poster

misdee · 01/10/2004 18:08

i'm def gonna ask at next appt to change hospitals. the only way i'll go to my local is in a emergency or if dh isnt about to take me. we have handheld notes here anyway, which have most things written in so dont see why there should be a problem.

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