choosing hospital in London

[lewisham]

hi I am new to this site and pregnancy. Currently I think about 7 weeks and checking out hospitals etc, would love views on private versus nhs i live in London and thinking of Lindo wing or John and Elizabeths or poss queen Charlottes. Planning in a natrual delivery .All tips greatly received. Does morning sickness come and then disappear for a couple of days? I had waves 3 days ago and since then nothing??

no experience of private but if you go for that option you will need to budget for the Csection option in case you end up needing one

thank you. how was your exp on nhs?

If you do a search in childbirth and pregnancy for private you will find lots of info

There is an argument that you are better off being in a private ward within an NHS site eg at Thomas' or Mary's rather than at Lizzie's or the Portland as there will be a SCBU on site and emergency care if you need it

I had my first at St George's and my second at St Thomas'. NHS care is hit and miss. Postnatal in London is generally poor. There are simply not enough midwives and unless you have complications you are likely to be labouring without a MW for the most part

Am on my 1st too (congrats by the way!) and am booked into the Royal Free. My care has been great so far, now 30 wks, (same midwife throughout just round the corner from my house, 2 consultant appointments because of a previous minor complaint just to make sure everything is ok) but it sounds like for the labour it really is hit and miss as to how busy they are when you happen to go in.
I've heard good and bad from all London hospitals (private & NHS) but in general it sounds as though postnatal is not great anywhere on the NHS, likely to be better on private. I have hired myself a doula to make sure I'm not left alone at any stage in case they are overstretched and hopefully will be able to go home as soon as possible afterwards. I am one of those who would be concerned with a private hospital about emergency care and SCBU - really didn't like the idea that I might land up in one hospital and the baby in another if things went really wrong but obviously a private wing of an NHS hospital wouldn't have that problem. Clearly, its highly unlikely to happen anyway but the less for me to fret about the better!
Also remember that you normally hear the scare stories rather than the positive stories so try not to let someone's bad experience put you off a hospital if you feel that it would be fine for you.

Thank you Caramelchewchew, so nice to talk to someone who is on her first as well. 30 wks how exciting congrats to you as well.
I am rather worried as all ms and other symptons have seemed to disappear how did you feel in the early days i think i am about 6.5 weeks.

I never got any ms - some vague feelings of nausea but always disappeared when I ate something. Generally, I wouldn't worry - sounds like you're one of the lucky ones too! I just got ridiculously tired at around 6/7 weeks which lasted until 12/13 wks and has just come back in the last week or so with avengeance!
Speak with your doctor/ any local mums you know about hospitals. I just went with the one closest to me in the end - remember you will have to go there for scans etc and possibly for blood tests/midwife appointments (though mine are done locally) so you don't necessarily want to be chasing half way across London to do that each time, particularly towards the end! FWIW, a friend of mine is about to have her 2nd at Queen Charlottes and she was v happy with them for the 1st.

thank you for your reassurance have a scan tomorrow.

St John and Elizabeth great for holistic natural approach, but will only take completely uneventfull pblm free pregnacy (Most of them I reassure you).
Read Birth and Beyond by Dr Yehudi Gordon. He's the Stj & L guru. It's the best pregancy book on the market and really makes you want to deliver there!

Lindo wing, I had ace care and consultants have very good reputation. Very traditional matronly midwife care. I had a light mobile epidural but was very well controlled and they let it wear out so I could push naturally. Was never ever pushed towards any sort of medical intervention.
After birth care very sweet. And my main reason for going there is it's a full fledged hospital with emergency/neo natal etc...

Queen Charlotte only heard good things but don't have more info

PS: Congratulations!

Never had MS with DS1
This time started about 6 weeks untill 13 but not constant and no sickness per se, just queasy when tired and no apetite.
Don't worry about the saying MS=strong pregnancy. It's totally unverified!

Thank you. When are you due and are you back to the lindo? Am off to check out the lindo wing on Sat any recommendaTIONS FOR CONSULTANTS? I am quite trad/shy not too keen on the over familiar approach.

hiya lewisham. i am nhs at st thomas and their home-from-home centre seems to have many of the things you'd expect from a private unit - single en suite rooms etc, access to that garden thing etc. plus its on 7th floor - so the same lovely views across thamas as from lindo on the 6th! they do tours, may be worth taking a look around that as well as Lindo

congrats and goodluck

I had dd nhs at st marys and ds private at the lindo.... could never go back to nhs now, although they were good in my dd's labour, after care horrid and no continuity of care for ante natal. Had fab consultant and lovely experience at the lindo, wouldn't go to other private hosps other than lindo or st thomas's for reasons that others outlined above. Would happily recommend my lindo consultant, he was lovely, not patrician, not bossy or patronising, not pushing a cs on me (as many do so that they can organise their lives). No birthing pools at the lindo, but after dd labour experience, knew i was going to want a epidural, am a total wimp re: pain!

have friends who did the st thomas's thing that tyaca talks about, and thought it was wonderful.

I gave birth to first at John & Lizzies and had a good experience but as I had to be induced I couldn't use the water pool, etc. I've just had my second at the Chelsea and Westminster as I became too high risk to deliver at John & Lizzies and the midwives were brilliant there - as good or better than my first birth. I did transfer to a private room after birth but they don't always have them available. I would say visit each place you are considering as with my first I visited the Lindo Wing but didn't like to the feel at all (though I know people who love it there) so I think it's important to see each place. Good luck with your choice and the rest of the pregnancy!

Hi orangina who was your consultant at the Lindo?

If you can get into Queen Charlottes I would highly recommend the birthing centre there. I had DS in the pool there in 2005 and it was great, probably like going private, but free. Lovely big room, ensuite bathroom, DH stayed the night with me on a pull out bed they have there and midwives were lovely. It is also perfectly located at the end of the maternity ward corridor so if there are any medical emergencies or if you change your mind about the natural route (always a possibility ) they can just wheel you down or get doctors to you. Have to just say that my ante-natal care wasnt very good however (this is possibly because I did not live locally but not sure), but I didnt mind so much about that and my experience of the birthing centre made up for it.

I am pregnant again now and gutted that I was turned down for QC, am booked in for UCH. The ante natal care from midwives and testing on offer here is amazing but the birthing centre there is nowhere near as nice as QC (although I have heard good reports about it). Think I am going to go for a home birth instead.

Hello again. I'm due in May but live in Asia now!

My consultant was Karl Murphy. I remeber another lady at my antenatal class who was with john Smith. Lesley Regan has an amazing reputation but I think she specialises in in/subfertility.
There are some new faces too.
There was a thread on london private hospitals with names of lindo consultants a couple of months ago. Do a search with keywords and you'll have all the info.

My consultant was Tariq Miskry. Was brilliant, couldn't fault the care I got. Karl Murphy one of the big hitters, slightly more old school. Lesley Regan specialises in recurrant miscarriages I think.

(Sorry slim22, slightly passed judgement on your consultant, was my comment fair?!)

Smith has now retired btw. Had always heard good things about him.

If you're in West London, Kingston is excellent (and free, hoorah!). I had my daughter there and it was really a good experience all round. If you go for the midwife-led bit, all the rooms have birthing pools and you will only have to share with a max of one other person post-birth.

I have been given a list of 3 docs by the lindo wing: Mr Mason, Mr Teoh and Thorpe Beeston any thoughts ar experiences good and bad please as must make decision asap.
thnak you

Don't know anything about Mr Mason, Mr Teoh supposed to be excellent, one friend swears by him (and she has had v difficult pregnancies), another felt she was on a bit of a factory line (he is popular and has to be booked well in advance). Thorpe Beeston is known as Mr Caesarian. There is also a Mr Rai who is supposed to be good. Can only personally recommend the consultant I used (I can give you his secretary's phone number if you want), but whoever you go and see, find out about their holiday plans (one consultant delivers almost no babies himself during shooting season for example!!!), and how many women he takes on per month. Also, if they are not available, who is their stand in, and do you ever get the chance to meet the said stand in? GO and meet one or two of them and trust your instinct. You are going to spend enough money, you might as well feel good about the person!

how does one go about meeting them before you commit to anyone in particular? Have def decided on Lindo Wing.
thank you for your advice. L

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