Consultant at Portland Hospital or Lindo

[firstbabymom]

I'm considering both the Portland Hospital and the Lindo -- any recent recommendations about which one is better, and also which consultant to choose from between Ellis Downes, Tariq Miskry or Pat O'Brien? Hoping for a natural birth.

I would definitely opt for Portland over Lindo if your preference is for a natural birth. They are much more geared up to that there and will support you to do whatever you want within reason. They have a midwife-led option whereas all Lindo births are consultant-led.

Lindo tends to be more medicalised generally and will tell you that they have very few spontaneous labours - it’s mostly elective sections or inductions. They encourage ‘social inductions’ where you are induced a bit early so that you (and they) can more easily plan.

Lindo does not have a birthing pool if that interests you, nor is there even any option to bring your own. Portland in contrast has one in situ in one of the rooms plus another which can be moved.

If you don’t qualify for the midwife-led package at Portland (I didn’t), it’s worth shopping around to find a consultant who’s a good fit. Some are much more pro-natural birth than others. The only one you mention who I’ve had direct experience of is Pat O’Brien. He definitely falls into the former category and is excellent.

Thanks a lot, this is really useful. I've come up with that shortlist based on reviews etc, but if there's others you feel strongly about and would like to recommend, then it would be great to hear your thoughts?

When you say shop around, is there a specific way you'd recommend reaching out to various consultants to identify a good fit?

Pat O’Brien. Without a doubt. He is also happy to do a "trial interview" first as fit is very important to him, that you are happy if you see what I mean.

Portland has open evenings every month or so. Some consultants go along to do ‘Meet & Greet’ where you can have a 5-10 minute chat with them. For others you need to book an initial consultation, which does get pricey unfortunately if you’re considering several. It’s worth asking their secretaries whether they’d be prepared to do a brief ‘Meet & Greet’ for a lower price rather than a full appointment, although the busiest most popular ones generally don’t.

You can ask the midwives at the open evening to help you with a shortlist based on your preferences. I wanted female and for me they suggested Chrissie Yu, Claire Mellon and Penelope Law.

If you want a natural birth I’d opt for a good independent midwife. Both of those hospitals are massively interventionist. A lot cheaper too.

This really has not been my experience of Portland at all for the record. They will do their best to work towards what you want, whether that’s natural, planned C-section, epidural from the first contraction, etc. I’ve never felt any pressure or judgement at all there, even without being a straightforward, low risk case.

Again though it is worth choosing your consultant carefully if you’re going the consultant-led route as their outlooks do vary quite a lot.

Have you had a midwife-led delivery at Portland? I've heard some say that they are more likely to be interventionist there, but I don't know if that also tends to happen for those in the midwife led route who get redirected to consultants?

Yeah that's a good point. I've been considering a lot whether consultant-led or midwife is better, and not sure, but I'm interested to know if interventionist approaches happen when there's a need (which is more likely to those who chosen consultant-led anyways) or if it happens irrespective of that.

I have no doubt that the private sector can be unnecessarily interventionist and that there are obstetricians who push elective C-sections and unnecessary inductions for convenience. There was one in particular I met who I definitely wouldn’t recommend if your preference is natural birth (she’s retired now or I’d PM you her name).

IME though, it needn’t be that way and there are definitely people who will do their utmost to support you in going the natural route if you look for them.

Had 2 with Pat O'Brien (at the Portland)! Can't recommend him enough. Wonderful bedside manner. Great OB/GYN. It was some time ago though. My kids are 19 and 16.

Karen Joash is another one I was recommended as a good option for someone aiming for minimal intervention. I didn’t meet her in the end as she was on holiday for my due date but I’ve heard very positive things, including V2BACs and natural breech deliveries.

Holiday dates are worth checking with secretaries early on btw.