Midwife services via GP or Hospital?

[PM985]

Having called our GP surgery to notify them of our pregnancy, we have been advised to self refer to a hospital directly. Is this normal practice now? We are not even sure which hospital to choose - it seems like a really big decision to make so early on. Please advise..

It depends on the area.

In my area you self refer via my local hospitals website but the midwives were based in a local medical centre.

I didn’t even think about what hospital, I just went to my local one.

Unfortunately yes, this is often the case. Did your GP give you a list of local hospitals? Mine was able to list the pros and cons of each one. Or maybe the lovely members of Mumsnet will be able to give some opinions if you provide a list?

Hi @SpringRainbow, that’s helpful to know the midwives are not completely tied to that one hospital then. Do all your scans and appointments take place at the hospital you self referred to? Do you still get to talk about birth plans in other hospitals? Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks @snowy0wl. We did ask for some recommendations/guidance from the GP surgery but they couldn’t give any, which was surprising!

They mentioned Hillingdon Hospital and Wexham Park (Greater London area) so if anyone has experiences of those, we would be grateful!

Umm my hospital trust has two hospitals and scans/ consultant appointments/ and the birth was all at my local hospital.

Midwife appointments were all in the medical centre.

To be honest it never occurred to me not go to my local hospital really.

I was born in Hillingdon Hospital many moons ago. :) It seems to have some very positive recent reviews for antenatal care.

www.nhs.uk/services/hospital/hillingdon-hospital/RAS01/ratings-and-reviews

We do direct referrals to the local hospital - you can transfer later if you choose, but generally, they expect you to use the closest one to you, I think. Our midwives are only for the local hospital but would transfer you to other midwives if you changed.

It may all be different in London! But it’s not your final decision, you can change down the line if you want to; so just pick one for now if that makes it easier

Thanks @SpringRainbow. Completely understand the rationale behind choosing the most local option. Both are local for us, hence the deliberation.

@snowy0wl, what a small world! Thanks for the link, we had seen the latest CQC report rated Hillingdon as Inadequate generally but it’s good to see some positive comments regarding their antenatal care.

@TakeYourFinalPosition, it is a relief to know that we can change later if needed, though we would ideally want to get it right first time for continuity.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! It’s pretty daunting being in this position for the first time!

@PM985 hi, I'm curious if you chose Hillingdon in the end? My GP told me to self-refer to Northwick Park but I definitely don't want to end up there, so I'm choosing between Watford and Hillingdon as they're the next two closest hospitals to us.

@makingabebe, yes we went with Hillingdon Hospital and whilst their maternity department seems very busy and usually does not run to time, we have received a good level of care so I would recommend. Hope that helps you!