Antenatal care and birth at Whittington Hospital. Experiences please

[Clau93]

Hi everyone!

I am 13 weeks pregnant and registered with Whittington Hospital. Can anyone give me some experiences of their antenatal care and their birth experience?

I was between Whittington and UCLH and ended up choosing Whitt because of the continuity of Midwife (I was told you don't get it at UCLH). I am at the Hornsey Centre, which is 5 minutes from home so I thought it would be really convenient. If someone has been there any experiences would be really appreciated.

My dating scan was a bit dissapointing, we didn't get much explained and we saw the baby for like 2 minutes. Don't have anything to compare it to so not sure if this is the case in all hospitals?

Thanks.

Kindly - I think you need to lower your expectations. The dating scan is a medical appointment to measure the baby and estimate due date. Sonographers need to concentrate while they do this rather than make it an event for the parents and they won't have time to mill around and let you just look at the baby.

Similarly many midwives are short on time with many women to see back to back in a day. So don't be upset if your appointment feels rushed or not personal enough. They just don't have the resources. Care will also differ within the trust depending on what kind of midwife you get. Mine is amazing whereas friends of mine have had one who sounds borderline incompetent!

The best way to get the best experience for you is to educate yourself, read up about your choices and how to make informed decisions. This will make you feel in control rather than relying on a system. The Positive Birth Book by Milli Hill is an excellent start x

I saw a different midwife every time at uclh and aftercare was horrendous. I'd stick with whittington

Ungh, The Whittington was horribly understaffed when I gave birth there six years ago. That's quite a long time now, so take anything I say with a pinch of salt...

I saw a different midwife every time, always rushed, and when I came to give birth they were full so I was waiting in a corridor for four hours on my own (I wasn't in labour, I needed to be induced). Some of the midwives were really snippy, which I understand because it must have been a hellish working environment, but as a first time Mum it was upsetting. My discharge was rushed so I ended up back in hospital a few days later with a baby who was losing weight dramatically. I had chosen my hospital with a lot of thought and although we were fine a few months later, it was avoidably awful.

I'm sorry!

I have been with the Whittington and have found them really hard to deal with. I told my midwife at my booking scan that I'd previously had a pregnancy loss so might be more anxious than usual. She seemed very empathetic. However I've only had a couple of questions until now (13 weeks) and never been able to get a response from an actual midwife. There seems to be some sort of admin gatekeeper to my midwife team who responds with very brusque and unhelpful emails; I tried calling and got a man (!) who said no one was available and I had to email the group email address.

One example: they told me I had a UTI while I was away for work, so I got medication from a Turkish pharmacy. When I got back, there were still antibiotics waiting for me at the hospital, so I asked the midwife team if I should take them, too. They told me to drop off a urine sample, I did, never heard back. No idea if I still have a UTI over a month later.

I'm moving area next month so will switch hospitals, and honestly I can't wait. I don't feel supported at all.

We must live round the corner from each other. My daughter is 7 so this is a bit out of date but I had a great experience at the Whittington. Saw the same midwife every time at the health centre. Then when the time came had a room in the birth centre, a really nice midwife, water birth, discharged the next day.

Gave birth two years ago at the Whittington and was also looked after by the community midwife at Hornsey Central. Were I to have another baby, I’d definitely go to the Whittington again. The community-led care was fantastic and when I went to hospital for antenatal care (I had a consultant-led pregnancy) I couldn’t fault it. There were one or two hiccups when I went into labour which wasn’t ideal but I think it was where the NHS is desperately underfunded rather than the fault of the hospital (Night Triage was incredibly short-staffed). I had a difficult birth and both my community midwife and the midwife who had seen me in triage the day before came to my room to see me shortly afterwards once they were on shift. They really did care about my wellbeing.

The postnatal ward was busy and a bit bleak but I think they are in the process of renovating it.

On a side note, my baby had to stay in the NICU briefly and that was another fantastic team.