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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

East/Central London - Hospital options... anyone given birth at the Royal London/ Homerton/ UCH looking for good London options

67 replies

cityangel · 03/12/2007 19:47

I live in East London and am in early first pg. I'd like to find out more about good London birth options/ experiences as we have a meeting with the local midwife next week to discuss our options. I also don't know how far outside your catchment area you can opt to give birth if at all? Is it an option to go Private in NHS hospitals if they're not in your catchment area? Do they let you give birth in a birthing centre if its your first?

Any advice for a complete newbie would be welcome. Many thanks

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Original poster

cityangel · 04/12/2007 23:28

Many thanks all... so many decisions the mind boggles

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jennifersofia · 04/12/2007 23:29

I don't know, cityangel, if you are at all open to the idea of homebirth, I would consider it. We have very thin walls (mid-terrace where we can hear neighbour brushing his teeth) and it has not been a problem birth wise. I have had 2 at home (planning 3rd) and they have been great! Superb 1:1 care, my own dirt, as it were, and sleep in own bed with babe and dh. I could go on. For my 1st, neighbour was astonished that I had given birth night before! (Which is odd, as I did make some noise.) I thought I would be conscious of it, but in the event it was the last thing on my mind.

Bessie123 · 05/12/2007 10:34

Prufrock - I was really unhappy with Mr Aquilina; I found him verging on the negligent. It would be interesting to hear whether you got good care from him.

prufrock · 05/12/2007 20:13

Really bessie - I hero worship him. I had Mrs Sangay first time who I hated, but Joe listened to me, wasn't patronising, came down to MFAU to see me once a week and did scans there and then a couple of times when there were concerns. That was all NHS at RLH. He then did my private c-section at J&L's and was brilliant again - even corrected the puckering in the scar from first time round. And Margaret in MFAU really rated him, (and I credit her with saving my sanity) What did he do so badly with you?

Original poster

cityangel · 05/12/2007 23:46

I like the idea of giving birth at home, just not for the first one. Definitely a consideration if we are lucky enough to make it with this one and have a second...

OP posts:

Bessie123 · 06/12/2007 10:09

Prufrock - that's interesting; I heard he had a good reputation, so it may be that I was just unlucky.

I found that Joe didn't listen to me and I felt that he had the attitude that I didn't know anything and should just shut up and let him get on with it. It ended up with him prescribing me some medication that my GP told me not to take because it was dangerous for someone with my condition. When I phoned Joe to ask him about it, he admitted that he hadn't listened to me properly, but said that he didn't think the risk was that big so I should just take the medication anyway. I was disappointed he didn't listen in the first place and then that he dismissed the potential risks of taking the medication without involving me at all in assessment of the risk. I mean, it's easy to worry less about a risk to someone else's health rather than your own, isn't it? And based on the fact that he clearly hadn't found what I had to say about my condition or my medical health important enough to listen to the first time, I didn't have much confidence in him the second time round. I guess it was unfortunate, but I wouldn't see him again.

prufrock · 06/12/2007 12:58

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience Bessie - I had a very similar one with my first and know how awful it is to feel that you are not being listened to.
But I found Mr. A exactly the opposite - I had Ob.Cholestasis, which many hospitals still manage badly, and he was prepared to discuss latest research with me, and let me monitor my own condition at home with regular visits for blood tests, rather than admit me, whoch wasnormal hospital policy but not an ption I was prepared to accept. And when it came to the time to decide when to deliver and we had to weigh up risks of early section v. risks of rising bile acids, he spent over an hour going over the choices. Of course, by then my insurance was paying him - which may have had something to do with the time he had available for me.

krabbiepatty · 07/12/2007 17:23

I had a frighteningly bad experience in the Homerton this summer (not in the labour wards) having had a mediocre birth experience there in 2006. The level of disorganisation and chaos I experienced was such that I would never go there again nor recommend it to anyone else for any purpose.

BraveNewWorld · 07/12/2007 22:13

Hi all,

I'm also grappling with choosing between the Whittington and UCL (those were the only two my GP offered) but have also heard great things about the homerton... so all your comments v helpful, thanks!

If anyone has tips on how to convince GPs to let you choose a non-local hospital or goes on a visit in the next week or two, would love to hear about it. (Am 5.5 weeks and still deciding where to register for antenatal care)

MarsyChristmas · 09/12/2007 02:02

Have decided I'm not keen on the Royal London despite some lovely mws and 1 gorgeous male consultant.

Definitely not in my top 5, 10 or 20.

e14mum · 09/12/2007 18:18

Any tips for those of us who may go there Marsy?
Good to hear mws are nice!

MarsyChristmas · 09/12/2007 20:15

Book a doula! (not saying that for own benefit) find a doula here

Remember these words "You do not have my permission".

If there is a midwifery led unit USE IT! Otherwise use a doula.

Be sure that you know what you want and you are fully informed www.aims.org.uk

NotQuiteCockney · 09/12/2007 20:20

Oh, god, I think women (everyone?) going into hospital should have a little 'you do not have my permission' sign to wave around as needed. I had such a bad time with my first section, partly down to a registrar putting in a new line because the old one was hurting me (but still working). I am needlephobic, so didn't want a new line, but didn't know how to make that clear, and then my blood pressure spiked and I had a big bleed, so they wouldn't take out the line that was hurting, because they were worried about my veins collapsing, due to the unexplained bleed. It was so so horrible.

Next time I went in, I wrote 'needlephobic' on every bit of paper they had, very big. (I'm not that phobic, but they do stress me out a lot.)

MarsyChristmas · 09/12/2007 20:24

NCQ

Found the salsa bar though! Sadly no salsa whilst I was in the area.

margoandjerry · 09/12/2007 20:30

Ante-natal care at UCH was so bad that I refused to give birth there and went to St Thomas's instead which was lovely. Never, ever saw the same person twice (despite high risk pg). Horrible place. Victorian building, dirty, no soap in the toilets yada yada yada.

I hear better things from those who actually got to the point of labour there but I completely lost all faith in them through the ante natal period and would not recommend.

NotQuiteCockney · 09/12/2007 20:36

Oh, I so have to work through all of that sometime. I still can't listen to the music that was playing when DS1 was born. (And neither of us has any permanent negative effects from the experience!)

I'm getting better about needles, though ... must go give blood as part of my desensitisation.

MarsyChristmas · 09/12/2007 22:58

I don't know many hospitals where you get the same person twice for your antenatals to be honest. However, it is a good place (mostly) to give birth!

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