Where to give birth in Essex?

[FirstTimeMummy2024]

Hi all,

I had my BFP 10 days ago and have called my local hospital to book my first midwife appointment, which is 11 Sept.

However I am so unsure about which trust / hospital I want to be registered under. I am based in Romford and Queens is a quick 5 minute drive away, so really convenient. This is where I have my appointments currently scheduled.

However I have 3 family and friends who have given birth at Queens in the last 12 months who said they would not go back due to the care they received. All have different stories to tell but none happy with their experiences.

I have also been digging into the CQC reports for local hospitals and they are all saying “requires improvement” except for Whipps Cross, for which the maternity services are rated “Good”.

Whipps Cross is about 30 minutes from our house, so not terrible - but obviously a lot further than Queens.

I am wondering if anyone has any recent experience at either of these hospitals and if they would be able to share? I appreciate that every woman’s birth is different and that can impact their experience but I’m just totally stuck with where to register.

Basildon is around the same distance as Whipps Cross, but again, not heard great things.

Thank you x

My sister gave birth at Basildon in 2021 and it was a bloody awful experience. Staff were awful! I had a friend give birth twice at queen's, think they're about 2 & 4 now. She's high risk and all seemed to go ok! No experience with whipps cross.

I'm currently having the same issue with hospitals in Newham, the ratings are bloody awful

Thank you for your reply. Sorry to hear your sister didn’t have a good time at Basildon - I haven’t really considered Basildon properly, as Whipps Cross is the same difference but has better CQC report. I also have a friend due to give birth at WC in Sept so I am hoping to hear her experience is positive!!

I know every NHS hospital is under pressure so I know I have to consider that when weighing up CQC reports - but so hard to make a decision! Love the idea of a 5 minute car journey vs half an hour, but equally it’s my first baby, so probably be a long and slow labour so the car journey less relevant... ahhhh I can’t choose!

Have you had any appointments yet or are you at a similar stage to me?

Similar stage to you, I'm 5+4 at the moment. I'm currently booked into Newham general as I need a few extra appointments after my last MMC at 14 weeks and it's super close to home and work so convenient however I gave birth to my 5 year old there and said I'd never go back 🤦🏼‍♀️ if I didn't advocate for myself multiple times I don't know what would have happened! They never listened and dismissed me so much but I had to keep pushing and follow my instincts.

I'm contemplating changing to Homerton later in pregnancy but giving Newham general a chance with my early appointments for now... They weren't that good with my MMC in january either, most staff lacked empathy completely and just told me 'atleast you know you are fertile enough to get pregnant' it is hard as they're all strained but surely some have to be better than others. I've been told royal London is pretty good but no parking so will be a good 30+ min train journey for me.

Most people I know that have had great labours went to hospitals in central London, one went Westminster and Chelsea I think it's called and another is currently going into st Thomas. Amazing experiences for them but don't know how they manage the travel etc

Clacton beach (with reference to another thread).

I gave birth at Queens to my youngest although that was 13 years ago so not really relevant but the staff were fantastic. My SIL gave birth there at the beginning of this year and also had a very positive experience.

Before I moved to this area I was a 5 min drive to Whipps Cross, just be mindful in traffic/rush hour it will take a lot longer than 30 mins. My mum still lives there and the traffic is grim it often takes me a good hour.

@Ttcmumma Oh I’m so sorry to hear about your MMC and terrible to hear how they treated you too.

Good to hear you’re getting extra appointments though - did they offer those or did you have to push for them? Can I ask why you said never again after your 5-year-old?

Homerton was another hospital I looked at but I think it is just too far and there is not a lot of parking which is another factor that stresses me out 😅

I wish I could go to Kings College or St Thomas’ but they’re just too far so got to forget about those 😆I am still so on the fence between Queens and Whipps Cross!

@Rivermedway sorry are you able to elaborate, I’m not sure what you mean? I searched Clacton Beach but couldn’t see anything?

@UncomfortableSilence Thanks for your reply - really useful to know your SIL had a recent positive experience. It’s so appealing that it’s just 5 minutes away. I haven’t yet done the drive to Whipps Cross but I have been checking at different times throughout the day from my home on Waze satnav and it’s never been more than 35 mins (usually 25-30) but rush hour traffic is what panics me. It’s also not helping that I have only lived in Romford for about a year so I have no experience of the hospitals whatsoever - purely going off reviews and other people’s own experiences.

@FirstTimeMummy2024 the doctor that saw me during my MMC advised me to call epu as soon as I fell pregnant again... I still had to push for the appointments once the time came but got there with help from my GP.

So with my son, my waters had broke but it wasn't your typical continue to trickle break. They broke in my sister's car then completely stopped. For 24 hours they told me over and over again that I peed myself and to go home (I was only 37+5) but I knew this could risk infection so ended up refusing to leave until they scanned me, low and behold 85% of his waters were gone! And suddenly they changed their mind and I needed inducing immediately. So imagine I didn't fight for the scan and went home? Then during antenatal care they wanted me there alone, my partner of course refused to leave (2018 so before COVID) but it was a fight! He lived 30+ mins away and didn't drive, I could have given birth any time and he wouldn't have made it back if he left, they were very rude about it.

I got left a lot, even if I rang my bell for assistance e.g. I started to bleed, my partner ended up having to go and find them because noone would come, when I asked for pain relief they would only give me paracetamol and that was once I threatened to jump out the window 😅 i sound insane but I'd been in active labour for 2 days at this point and gas and air makes me vomit so I had no pain relief prior, I'd had enough. They also gave me the wrong type of induction which really hurt, only to come back 5 mins later and tell me 'sorry that was for the lady next door, you need a different type as your waters broke already' and took it out!!

Then onto time to push, they had checked me about 5 hours prior and I was only 10cm but I suddenly needed to poop, tell tale sign I needed to push. Instead of checking me they insisted I just needed to poo and there's no way I'd suddenly progressed. Bare in mind this is now day 3 of labour! I went to the toilet and nothing but blood came out, I began to just kick up a fuss until a doctor came past and insisted I'm moved up to actual labour ward. My partner had popped out to see his dad who didn't leave the hospital the entire time. The nurse gave me all my bags to carry and made me walk up to labour ward, thankfully my partner came running back and grabbed them all off me. These whole 3 days my son's heartbeat was out of control, up and down. It wasn't until he was halfway out and they lost his heartbeat that they noticed his cord was round his neck twice! Thank god he was fine in the long run but who knows what could of happened.

There was one midwife on shift during this all that was absolutely lovely and helpful and amazing, unfortunately being there so long I spent most of my time with very rude, careless midwives.

Sorry i was only 3cm dilated when they'd checked 5 hours prior*

@FirstTimeMummy2024

There was a story in the press a few days ago, and a couple of threads running about a woman who flew thousands of miles specifically to give birth on a beach, but the baby came early, and now they are stranded.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1801318/mother-to-be-flew-4000-miles-give-birth-now-stranded

@Ttcmumma oh my goodness that sounds so scary, we put all our trust in medical professionals but sometimes you just know in yourself when something is happening!! Well I can understand your reservations. If I lived really near Homerton I would go there!

@Rivermedway OMG! That’s ridiculous. I can confirm I WILL NOT be flying anywhere to give birth on a beach 😂I just need to decide between Queens and WC!

I live in Walthamstow and Whipps is about 5 mins drive from us, we did until 20 week scan with them and then transferred to North Middlesex as Whipps (for us atleast) was SO chaotic and understaffed.

Only 1 couple in our NCT group are using Whipps (out of 8), everyone else using North Mids or Homerton, so I wouldn't rush in to going with Whipps!

Everyone I know who had a birth at queens ended up with a traumatic birth, a horrible experience of the post partum ward and in some cases ptsd. Personally there was one evil midwife who I will never forget for the rest of my life. Avoid it and go anywhere else.

I had DS at Queens in June 2022.

Overall my birth went smoothly, I got to use the pool & have a water birth, & I was happy with the care from the midwives & the student midwife (I was able to decline this but I was happy to have a student in the room).

There was a bit of a wait before checked for dilation (I was sent home the first time as was only 2cm, went back that night & admitted as I'd got to 5cm) but they were seeing people in order of priority (triage on arrival).

They were short-staffed so the birth centre was closed that night (as they needed to prioritise the labour ward) but I still got to use the pool.

I didn't go on the ward afterwards - I wanted to go home ASAP so after my tears were stitched up I went back to the room I'd laboured in and was discharged from there (DS born at 8.20am & I was home by 3pm).

I had good follow up care & BF support from the St Kildas community midwives (although I wish they'd do home visits as car rides are ouchy when you have quite a few stitches!).