Choosing a hospital in North/ West London to give birth Jan 2021 - St Mary's, QC, UCH or other?

[Mimiwish]

Hiya

I'm 25 wks pregnant and have been told it's really time to make the decision on where to give birth. I'm older - the pregnancy has been going well so far but I know that I need to consider 'if things go wrong' as well as the ideal birth plan.

What I'm struggling with is not just the best place to give birth, but the best place to give birth during the pandemic.

I was leaning towards UCH to start with because of their excellent facilities and world class care, but the thought of being on a busy ward during Covid brings me out into a cold sweat!

St Mary's seems like an okay option - - does anyone have experiences? I can't afford the Lindo wing ;)

My latest consideration has been Queen Charlotte and Chelsea, but I recently read a review that said they weren't observing enough Covid precautions (masks etc); but on the plus side, you can pay to upgrade to a private room, which I would like to.

Does anyone have any experiences of giving birth in these hospitals during Coronavirus? Or any London hospital for that matter? How did you find it? I'm finding it hard to find recent reviews.

Thanks anyone for any insights you may have

Hi @Mimiwish I switched from the Royal Free to St Mary’s and would very much recommend! I switched after my 20 week scan so can’t comment on the really early antenatal stuff but since I’ve been with St Mary’s the continuity has been amazing, I’ve had the same lovely midwife for all appointments, the birth centre facilities are fantastic. I haven’t been on the main labour ward but it’s in the same building (which I wanted) and I had monitoring and also a post-dates aromatherapy clinic on the same floor and the midwives there also seem very nice.
I think the hospital has received “outstanding” for their maternity facilities.
I’m 40+3 today so hopefully will be giving birth there very soon and will report back !

I don’t know anything about Queen Charlotte and Chelsea but I have a friend who gave birth at UCH in May. They didn’t like the staff and at that point it was all quite brutal with rules not allowing partners there during induction and on post natal ward (she ended up with a c section). However the actual birth did seem to go positively and she recovered pretty well from the op.

St. Mary's and QC are under the same healthcare provider - Imperial Healthcare. Had a great experience with the team at QC, like PP I had the same midwife from the start for my appointments. Friend had her DS at St. Mary's had a similar experience, very satisfied overall.

@NWNature - thank you so much for your insight here! That's amazing to hear that it's been positive with St Mary's for you so far - fantastic! Like you, I'd be switching after 20 wks scan. This has really made me feel more warmly to the idea of St Mary's. The Royal Free is the closest hospital to me but my doctor warned me away from it.

40+3!!! Ooh, you are so close! You must be so excited! Wishing you all the best for a great birth and yes, please do report back!

@Londoner99 ooh, great to hear you had a good experience at QC: it's nice to hear good experiences, as when I've been digging you tend to hear more about the bad ones in general! Very encouraging about Imperial in general - thanks for your response!

You're very welcome OP. Just a note about upgrading to a private room, you need to tell them as soon as you're admitted, as sometimes there's a flurry of people wanting to upgrade at the same time, and there are only 8 rooms available. They were full when I was admitted but luckily as I exited recovery, there was one available. The following day, four rooms became available. Anyway, good luck with it all

@Londoner99 - that's very useful information indeed! Do you know if you need to tell them in advance - i.e. months before - or is it when you rock up? I guess it's the latter because the due dates can be so inaccurate! The private room option may well swing it for me... x

I did tell them in advance and they took down my details after my appointment with the consultant, but I told them again when we went in for the delivery, I think that matters more than. St. Mary's also has private rooms, but I opted for QC has it was closer to me. It might be worth chatting to your widwife about this, mine had worked in both hospitals so it was easy to make a decision based on the information she gave me. Also happy for you to PM me if you have anymore questions .