Best Nhs hospitals for maternity

[Rj1988]

Hi Ladies,

Just found out that I'm pregnant! (Conceived via IVF)
Still early days for me and this is my first time.

I have been researching online about the best maternity hospitals in London and now I am confused between

UCLH
St Mary's ( nhs only not private lindo wing)
Chelsea & Westminster
Queen Charlotte & Chelsea hospital

In terms of commute they are all within 20-40 mins drive for me

Need your suggestions in deciding which one I should go ahead with 🙏🙏

Not personally used any of these but heard great things about Queen Charlotte's and UCLH.

Hopefully you will get responses from people who have delivered in any of these hospitals.

Best of luck with the pregnancy!

Thanks @Ava50x - heard mixed reviews about UCLH but it's still rated high

Look up their maternity care on the CQC. That'll reflect a more thorough check than individual recommendations here. But my impression is they're all excellent so no need to over-think this.

Actually, there may be a community centre very close to you where you can have some of your midwife appointments and some follow-up eg breastfeeding help. But these things may only be scheduled there if you're booked into the right NHS trust. So I would just go with your official local. (St Marys and QCC are the same trust so you can swap between those.)

Had mine at ChelWest (also a 30/40 min drive away). It was okay. Nothing to write home about but the consultants were brilliant. The rest of the staff wasn't as bad as some of the other hospitals I've been in/heard about.

So I had my first baby in UCLH six years ago and it was brilliant.
Had my second baby at the Whittington in 2017 (only because I had moved closer) and had an awful experience so for my third child I went back to the UCLH. I had my baby there four weeks ago.
Cannot recommend UCLH enough, the midwives are all so lovely and supportive. Very easy to contact via the phone and never make you feel like your asking too many questions or bothering them.

Thank you ladies @MessyMummy15 @dottypencilcase @Soverymuchfruit

I would definitely like to consider UCLH

I did the gov website and imperial health trust which has some 11 hospitals including st Mary's & chlesea ones have the highest rating but I just feel UCLH is more popular with the mums

Where do you actually live OP?

St Mary's has terrible old buildings. UCLH had lovely new shiny ones. I think this influences how a lot of people think about them. But it's the staff inside that counts.

Anyway, I'm with St Mary's because it's my local - and that means that I've been given a lot of reasons to love it over the years. I haven't been through the labour ward yet but the early pregnancy unit is superb.

Many family members and friends have had their babies at UCLH. Unfortunately, all bar one out of dozens of them have had positive experiences. Common issues were lack of care by midwives during birth and birth, feeling rushed to clear the bed, staff unfriendliness and even serious neglect. I've heard of positive experiences in Whittington and Homerton.

I had a hideous time at the Whittington, I’d avoid them.

I've had wonderful experiences at the Homerton, would definitely recommend. Not sure where in London you are though!

I had my care (high risk in early stage) and babies at the Whittington and would wholeheartedly recommend them. Would definitely go back despite having the Homerton on my doorstep. Lots of friends and family had babies at UCLH and have had mixed experiences.

Thank you ladies for providing your reviews and suggestions..
I am based in NW11 so homerton is going to be very far for me

I am now thinking of deciding between UCLH & St Mary's as they are closest to me and both of them have decent reviews

Queen Charlotte definitely. The CEO of our hospital Trust used to work at QC and said its hands down the best maternity services unit provider.

@Taybz - feeling rushed and neglected during child birth just doesn't sound nice. And this is the last thing any women would want to experience when she is going through that painful journey of giving birth

I am also getting a lot of mixed reviews about UCLH from few friends

@Soverymuchfruit - it makes sense what you are saying bec UCLH is a much newer building a lot of people automatically rate is much higher than St Mary's but what really matters is the service

I had my two at uclh, first one was great experience and great care. Second one not so great and one midwife in particular was really horrible to me, not believing me that my baby’s head was out in the waiting room and telling me to “stop screaming, you’re not in labour yet” even though I was.

Now 37 weeks with third baby and I’m not going to uclh this time, not only because I live further away but also because of the second experience.

I had a high risk pregnancy under consultant at Queen Charlottes and could not fault it.

Dc born prem and in NICU, he received AMAZING care.

@Mamabearwhere - omg! I can't believe she told you off in that situation!

@OnlyFlans - thank you for sharing your review