Lewisham vs St Thomas for maternity

[MK0411]

Sorry for creating another thread on this but I'm looking for more recent experiences so I can make a decision on where to deliver. I'm currently 7+3 weeks and it's my first pregnancy. Will most likely go for an epidural.
Lewisham is the closest to me (10min drive) vs St Thomas (30-40min drive), but I've seen mixed reviews on Lewisham so I'm unsure.

My friend who lives in Greenwich is currently 14weeks and has opted for St Thomas based on reviews online. I decided to do the same and filled out their self-referral form. However, now I'm beginning to doubt if going to St Thomas is the best decision given that it's much further away than Lewisham Hospital. I've also heard that if you're not dilated enough the hospital would send you back home - is this true? I can't imagine driving back and forth between the hospital and home amidst contractions!
Any advice would be great!

Hi, we live in Greenwich and whilst our closest hospital is QE (5 min drive) we went to Lewisham (15 min drive). I had my baby on the labour ward and had an epidural. It was a straightforward birth and I was home 12 hours after baby arrived. I couldn't fault the treatment from all staff both on labour and post natal ward, but everyone's labour is different. You're right that unless you're in established labour (4cm) you will usually be sent home. For a first baby it can feel like you're really in labour when in reality you might only be 1cm! Could you try Lewisham for your dating scan and see? If you need to pop into hospital further along in your pregnancy (eg for monitoring, tests, or further scans, none of which you can predict!) it would probably be easier to be nearer. Hope this helps and best of luck with your pregnancy ☺️

Hi emmalou19, that really helps, thanks.
You're right, each labour is different. If the delivery is not straightforward and requires a C-section I've heard the aftercare in Lewisham isn't the best.
As of now I've got my 13week nuchal scan booked in at St Thomas. I haven't applied at Lewisham yet. Is it easy enough to move hospitals after?

I went with st Thomas. I do feel it is much better even though it’s further away

Hello I’m 9 weeks and registered with Lewisham.
It’s my closest Trust but I did consider kings as it is a much larger trust and I wondered if that would be better.

So far I’m really happy I went with Lewisham, it is very convenient and my midwife was lovely (booking appt). This may be the case with other trusts but I was told at my booking appointment Lewisham offer a scan at 36 weeks.
I went with convenience as I have friends who have been back and forth to the hospital during early labour.

Is there an option to pay for a private room at St Thomas if you're not in established labour?

I'm in Greenwich too!! Hello!!

We've gone for King's College. We weren't keen on Lewisham at all, because the reviews weren't great and it's a very average hospital.

I was really keen on St Thomas', because it's a good hospital, but getting to and from there in a car can take a crazy amount of time, so don't rely on 30-40 min estimate. I had surgery at St Thomas' in late 2019, so spent a lot of time travelling to and from St Thomas' in car and taxi, and it would usually take an hour because of the traffic. Once, it took me an hour and a half and I missed my appointment. Parking is also terrible at St Thomas', so that's something else to think about.

We settled on King's as it's about a 25 to 30 min drive away. It's a leading hospital for fetal care and so far, they've been good. I have had to go in a couple of times at short notice to the MAU, and being able to jump in the car and get there in half an hour has been great.

It's one thing to be willing to sit in traffic for an hour when it's a routine appointment, but it may be too stressful when you need to go in for an emergency or you're in labour and it's rush hour!

Re a private room at King's, apparently they're really funny about it (from what I've seen online). I've been trying to get DH to agree to do the whole birth privately but he doesn't see the need, but a private room is something we are both happy with, but I think they're not easy to get at King's

I had my daughter at Lewisham in summer 2019. I'd hoped to give birth in the midwife-led Birth Centre but I ended up being induced and having an epidural upstairs. I can't fault the midwives and the doctors were fantastic. I had to stay in overnight and paid for a private room for a bit more comfort and privacy. The midwives were always on-hand to help and I felt really supported by everyone.

Lewisham was wonderful and the birth centre was so so good. Of all my friends and NCT, those at Lewisham had the best experience- kings was ok but aftercare poor and st Thomas was not good at all.

It really depends on your own labour but I just can’t praise Lewisham enough!

Thanks everybody for your feedback! It's just the reassurance I was looking for :) I've filled out the self referral form for Lewisham now. Let's hope I hear back soon!

Hi, just came across your thread and wondered how you found it at Lewisham now you’re a few months on? Having the same dilemma! I’m also very anxious about the whole thing.

Hi Justmeouthere, so far I've just been to Lewisham hospital for scans and it's all been fine. We had a bit of scare one night when I didn't feel the baby's movements much and ended up at the labour ward in Lewisham at midnight for a checkup. Midwives were cheery and quite lovely even at 3am! I'm 36+3 now and I've decided to deliver at the Lewisham birth Centre after seeing some ravings reviews. Hopefully it will all go okay!

I also opted for Lewisham hospital simply because it is only 10 min drive and being that close to the hospital gives me extra reassurance. I also found mixed reviews online but so far (21+4) I had nothing but positive experience. I will most likely have c-section due to my panic attacks and placenta positioning but being so close to home makes me feel better.

Hey there - I’m with Lewisham and have had a bit of a nightmare trying to get hold of anyone n my midwife team. Did any of you have issues with that? Also, does your midwife book your Down Syndrome blood test? The sonographer mentioned it to me but I have no idea how to book it!

I've had two babies at Lewisham (wonderful experience both times and was lucky to get the same midwife)

On your notes it should have the number for the maternity team and you can ring them.

I think they booked all my tests but not sure how it's working at the moment.

I have the numbers for the midwife but they never return my calls. I think I’m going to ask to be moved to a different team.

Hi @Ofpalestsilver I had my baby boy at home last week with a Lewisham midwife team and have had all my care through Lewisham hospital. They have an acute shortage of midwives atm due to a mix of maternity leaves (!) Covid self isolation (although this may be better now rules are relaxed) and unfilled vacancies. I had similar issues getting hold of midwives for the last few weeks of my pregnancy and it's still going on now for the postnatal checks etc. If you follow Edie E-Midwife on Facebook you'll see updates from the midwifery team earlier in August explaining the issues.

Having said all that - my care has been excellent, a midwife arrived within 20 mins when I was in labour (a good job as baby arrived 10 minutes later!) and I haven't missed out on any appointments or tests. I appreciate it's frustrating having to chase them but given the issues are Lewisham wide I'm not sure moving midwifery teams would help.

Thanks for the update @Hep1211 That’s good to know. I assumed that it was a shortage of staff due to various things. Unfortunately that does lead to substandard care and I have missed out on tests, needed medication etc. I’m fortunate to look at getting a private midwife: hopefully I can find one.

Hi ladies, I’m in the same dilemma. I live in Hither green and booked for St.Thomas but the recent maternity reviews there are making me think to swap to Lewisham. I had a traumatic first birth, so this one is a planned c-section. Anyone who used Lewisham for C-section? How was the after care? TIA

@Neh86 just stumbled across this post, no sure if still relevant and hopefully I don’t add stress if you’ve already made a decision :/
I would avoid Lewisham at all cost. My 24hr labour ended in emcs and the aftercare could only be described as somewhere between non existent & negligent.

I'm afraid I had a terrible experience at Lewisham this year (spring 2021). Don't know where to begin but essentially they left a large part of my placenta in resulting in major blood loss. I get panic attacks whenever we drive past the hospital.

I had my baby in August at Lewisham Hospital. The experience was a bit mixed. Here is how it went down... I wanted to be at the Birth Centre but when I called the triage after my water broke they told me that the birth centre was closed due to shortage of staff. So I ended up in the triage/labour ward. A midwife checked me when I got in and I was 3cm dilated, so not the minimum 4cm required to be admitted and given my own room. And because my waters had broken they wouldn't check me for another 4 hrs. So I was left in the triage with no pain relief (only codeine) and asked to 'relax', which is the most stupid thing to tell someone experiencing contra ctions for the first time!! Anyway, I spent the time walking around the hospital lobby as the contractions hit me because sitting or laying down was too painful. Anyway, after 3hrs I begged them to check me again because the pain was unbareable. Very reluctantly the midwife checked me saying its unlikely I would have progressed far since its my first time.. And what do you know, I was 8cm dilated ! They then quickly gave me a room and finally I was able to get some gas and air and relax a bit. I did plan to give birth without epidural (and this was based on having no idea what contractions felt like! ), however once the pain came in my bravado went out the window and I was screaming for painkillers! Whilst the experience taught me what my mind and body was capable of enduring, in hindsight I wasn't given a choice but to endure it which can be traumatising.
Once I got the room though the care quality was top notch. The midwives who helped through the delivery were absolutely lovely! I lost a fair bit of blood which was classified as a haemorrhage, and on a push of a button the room was swamped with 8-10 staff including senior doctors, anesthetics etc all working like clockwork to stop my blood flow and patch me up! That was very impressive. It was like watching a medical swat team in action - quick and efficient.

The aftercare was a bit of mixed experience too. We chose to have a private room post delivery (pricey at £175/night, but still affordable compared to the £1k/night price tag at St Thomas). Every staff member was caring and helpful. The only downside was that each midwife had their own advice in terms of feeding or generally caring for a newborn, which was different from the next person. And as a new parent that was thoroughly confusing! We had a new set of staff seeing us each day and we felt the handover between staff shifts was quite poor. Our son's blood sugar dropped and we had a strict feeding plan, which we had to explain to each midwife who came to see us. Also, I felt the breastfeeding support could have been better. My son was born at 3.30pm, and nobody checked on us until after midnight to see if the baby had been fed. I was exhausted post delivery and struggling to get him to latch and the poor child had had no feed for over 8hours! We eventually had to give him formula but by the next day his weight and blood sugar dropped. That was quite a scary experience for us. As new parents a bit more guidance would have been good. At the very least they should have assisted with the latch and feeding right after birth.
My friend gave birth to her baby girl at St Thomas 5 days after me and her experience was about the same. She was in the shared ward after a C section. I reckon whichever hospital to end up going to the care and support will be the same. I think the NHS staff rotate between hospitals as part of their training so there's no reason why one hospital should be better than others. At least I didn't feel that way given that my experience wasnt so different to my friends who went to St Thomas.

I’m 7weeks and already had 3 early scans at st Thomas. I’m wondering if I will have to eventually pay for all scans and giving birth here ?