North/ North East London hospital recommendations

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Hi
We are nearest to North Mid Hospital- does anyone have experiences of giving birth and antenatal care at North Mid? Would you recommend if so?
Other mums at my son's nursery are choosing Homerton or The Whittington ..

Thank you!

Same as our NCT group a few years ago. I wish I had picked North Mid. They have a full birthing centre, it looked amazing when I visited them when they had the baby. I had a few visits there for reduced movements and they scanned me as well as hooking me up to a machine. I felt really cared for. 2/3rds of us picked the other two, nobody had a good word to say about either. Whittington had dreadful antenatal for me, and my friend was at Homerton and she went though a complaints procedure after as she suffered a lot of trauma from the birth and the staff were negligent.

Is University College Hospital (Euston Square) doable? Birth centre with birthing pools, plus regular labour ward with all support in one place.

Hi how good is the after birth care? Do they show you how to do things like breastfeed etc?

They do but with shift patterns and understaffing there were lots of different midwives attending with different advice. They are a Baby Friendly Hospital so should theoretically be better than most. Their antenatal classes were good but for consistent breastfeeding advice I would book a lactation consultant in advance of birth to come to your home when the baby arrives, and look up La Leche League near you. UCH care during birth was excellent, can’t fault them.

Honestly go for whichever is closest! There are so many appointments and traveling/waiting time is important - especially as it means you’re more likely to ‘pop’ in with questions/for movements etc. you can always start in one and transfer care to another? Generally aftercare in all London hospitals is understaffed (recruitment and retention crisis). I’ve had babies at Hommerton and Whipps. Wouldn’t wish the aftercare on my worst enemy, but they kept us alive. None of my NCT group/mum friends had better stories based on hospital alone. Birth trauma was spread across all of our experiences in multiple hospitals (including private). IF you can use birth suites both have fab set ups - but again, that’s unpredictable in early pregnancy. Great antenatal classes, Knowing where your community support is once home (eg local children’s centers, la lache league if bf, nct drop in mornings etc.) is invaluable too.

Thanks @Callmemummynotmaaa I had my first at homerton and it wasn't the most positive experience. But as you say -they kept us both alive! Maybe north mids it is

@CardamomBuns Thank you! I think it's a bit far... i'm not having a planned c-section either so I imagine it might be too far to travel. thank you though

I had my 3rd at north mid.
it was during covid so things might be a bit different now but I had a positive experience on the whole.
The postnatal ward was a bit hellish but I think that’s all hospitals tbh.
The breastfeeding support was good. The community midwives were completely fabulous in fact.
i was induced but the birth went well, all staff were supportive and kind.
i had my other children at whipps cross and I much preferred north mid. I would recommend.