1st pregnancy with twins - Chelsea&Westminster or Queen Charlottes?

[CharlieKat]

Found out last week I am expecting twins - which is shocking but wonderful after a long long time ttc and eventually IVF.

I have been to GP who offered to book me in at either Chelsea&Westminster or Queen Charlotte's (both in west london - so sorry this qn is specific to london ladies).

My worry (well my 1st worry - I have plenty more!!) is how to choose which hospital? Should I be considering private care rather than NHS due to twins (not that we can necessarily afford this)? Or is this silly?

If anyone has any twin (or other experience) at one of these hospitals I'd love to hear it thank you!

Hello.

I had my twins at Queen Charlotte's 18 months ago. They were also IVF magic babies!I chose QCC on the advice of my (female) GP even though C&W was my closest hospital (I live five minutes away from it). QCC was a 20 minute drive on a good day but my GP strongly advised me to go with them as she felt it would offer a better level of care.

The Good Points: -

• Relatively new hospital (purpose built in 2000 I think). It also has an excellent birth centre which is entirely irrelevant as twin pregnancies, deemed higher risk, are delivered on the labour ward.

• They specialise in twins births and so the consultants are excellent and very knowledgeable. It also has excellent NICU and SCBU facilities should your babies need it.

• Because it is purpose built there are quite a few single rooms on the postnatal ward so in all likelihood you'll get allocated one of those when you have your baibes, which is great (own bathroom, etc.). The wards are okay as they are only four beds in each, but it can still be quite noisy with squeaking newborns.

• If you did want to go privately then they do offer this. I started off as NHS as I didn't realise they offered a private service for twins, but then transferred over. There is a separate ward (Sir Stanley Clayton) which is fab - right next to the normal antenatal ward but with really nice single rooms with bathrooms, tvs, fridges, etc. There are also lots of midwives, etc. so the level of care is very good.

• I had a particularly difficult pregnancy as I had placenta praevia and recurrant bleeds so was in and out of hospital in early labour on several occasions. I got looked after amazingly well and they got me to 35 weeks and through some very hairy moments (went into labour at 23, 25, 28 and 31 weeks which they managed to block). I can't fault the level of care that I got.

• I had to have a caesarean section and although I had a difficult time due to epidural issues I have a tiny scar. It's not particularly relevant in the grand scheme of things but I do have friends who've had twins at other hospitals and have been butchered.

The Minuses
It's in the ase end of nowhere. There are no decent shops anywhere close (the nearest is HOlland Park Avenue which is a five minute drive away off the Shepherd's Bush Roundabout). As I spent a month in hospital beforehand I could have done with some handy shops nearby. The Fulham Road it is not!

*There are some delightful types in White City. Again, it's not really relevant but it can be quite depressing passing a bunch of heavily pregnant, tattooed women puffing furiously on fags in their dressing gowns. Hideous.

*They can be busy. It's a very popular hospital and the midwives can be very stretched. Staffing issues aren't exactly unusual in London hospitals so you'll find this wherever you go, but it's worth mentioning. They're also very hot on breastfeeding ('Breast is Best' posters everywhere') but I had to FIGHT to get the midwives to show me how to express milk for my babies (they were tube fed as they were premature). And this was on the well-staffed private ward.

All in all I'm really glad I chose QCCs as I was very well looked after and my babies did very well. My consultant (Mr. Kumar) was fantastic and my babies avoided special care thanks to him. Plus he gave me a fantastically small scar! However, the area is a dump and I found that quite depressing during a long hospital stay prior to giving birth. Had I had a normal twin pregnancy though I shouldn't think this would have mattered so much.

I know a few people who've had their twins at C&W and whilst all of them felt that they were well looked after during delivery they all had caesareans and they all felt the aftercare was pretty hit and miss. And they all had to spend four days post-caesarean on the busy postnatal ward as there are no private rooms (unless you pay £800 per night!).

HOpe this helps and feel free to ask me any other questions. Oh, and massive congratulations. My other tip is to join the South West London Twins club when you have your babies as they do a fantastic newsletter with details of meet ups with other local twin mums. Saved my sanity in the early days!!!

Kx

Kitstwins - I had my DD at QC's in August 2006 and from your story below I am really starting to think you were the lady in the bed next to me as my labour was induced. Was it you? It was August 14/15/16 and you were still only 20 something weeks but were in the antenatal ward and getting really bored. I then ran into you 6 weeks later outside the cafe near the entrance when I was coming for my post natal check - you were still pregnant, still an inpatient and still bored. Was it you?

Hello I have had twins and also given birth at C&W. However it was my DS1 who was born there (twins born in Winchester). Just wanted to say I have no complaints at all about C&W and would have gone back there to have the twins if we had not moved out of London.

Sorry forgot to say congrats on your twin pregnancy! Twins are fab . Mine are only 12 weeks old though...have been told this is the easy stage .

Hello Kitstwins and thank you so much for your really helpful message!

I have been feeling slightly overwhelmed by the whole twins news (although I am delighted) and although I've become an expert on all things IVF I hadn't really thought what happens next - so even choosing which hospital to go to has seemed so difficult!

It's so helpful to read about your experience at QCC - thanks so much for going into so much detail. My GP (female and pregnant) also recommended it and it's about as close to home for me as the C&W is - so I think I will go for it.

Your comments on white city made me giggle - I actually work very close to there (BBC) so I know exactly what you mean about the locals!

Do you mind me asking how much approx it cost to have private care there? I was concerned that if i did opt for private care that having a complicated pregnancy (and i know there's a much higher risk of this with twins) would mean I could be faced with an enormous bill if things start to go wrong. At what point did you switch to private and do they charge higher fees for twins?

Thanks again for all your help! xxx

And thanks very much to you too Egg - congratulations on your 12 week old babies!!

Hi,

First of all congratulations!

I had twins in July at QCH, in the birth centre , and I couldn't have asked for better treatment.

I had a one to one midwife who came out to me to do antenatal visits, and a fabulous team of midwives (Jess, Debbie) during my labour. I think I hold the honour of being the first twin waterbirth to happen on the birth centre.

I should point out that the midwife I had there (Mia) had to advocate on my behalf as the consultant wasn't too happy with my wish to have a water birth. This was because twin 2 was breech. However we compromised with me getting out of the water to birth her!

So my experience has been of the birth centre, not the labour ward, but a thoroughly positive one!

(just trying to remember consultants name and can't- Phil Bennett possibly).

MSG FOR ARTICHOKES

Hello! I remember you!! How nice to cross paths with you again. I remember you very well as you were the only normal person I came across during the course of my lengthy stay! I remember your seemingly endless induction too as you had a shocker time if I recall?

I had two little girls in the end, which slightly blew my prediction of boys out of the water, but it was a huge relief. I managed to get to 35 weeks but spent the last five weeks of my pregnancy in hospital so I was pretty barking mad by the end. I think I bumped into you by the coffee shop when I was coming back from my thrilling morning 'walk' around the grounds and probably babbled at you at length. I'm not sure I was making much sense by that stage.

Hope all is going well with you & A n n a. How are things?

Hi Charliekat,

I'm glad my post was helpful.

I swapped to private care when I had to stay permanently in hospital, so from 30 weeks onwards. My private healthcare covered the stuff up to the birth as I had placenta praevia, but (bizarrely) wouldn't cover the actual caesarean or the post-natal care on Sir Stanley Clayton. So the total bill came in at around £5k. I think had I paid the full whack it would have been around double. I know twins at The Portland are around £20k (gulp) and they don't have NICU or SCBU facilities. However, a girlfriend had her twins at the Lindo Wing at St Mary's and I think hers came in at around £10k and that included a week or so in hospital beforehand.

It's not cheap but by the end I just couldn't bear it any more and so it seemed like money well spent. Although they had given me a private room on the normal antenatal ward it was pretty basic and the food was sh*t so I just paid the money for my sanity. As it turns out, it was money well spent as it made a big difference to my recovery I think as I was pretty ill by the end and being in decent surroundings with lots of midwives and care helped a lot.

Good luck. Even if you didn't go down the private route I'd say that you'll get a very good level of care at QCCs as, with twin pregnancies having the potential to be more complicated they are all over you like a rash. If I ever had another baby I think I'd be shocked at the lack of attention as I got very used to turning up and having midwives and consultants appearing from nowhere.

Kx

Kits, I thought it was you! I was thinking about you a few months ago and hoping that everything worked out OK in the end.

I am so glad your twins arrived safely but sorry you had such a long stay in hospital running up to their arrival. I found 2x three night stays at QC drove me mad. I take my hat off to you for getting through 5 weeks in addition to your earlier visits. I always remember you because I felt so bad that I was keeping you up on the night of my induction, I remember that the night before we had both been repeatedly woken by the lady opposite and I felt so bad disturbing you when you needed rest.

Anyway, we are really well. 'A' is gorgeous, 20 months and chatting away. Two days ago I found out that I am expecting our second baby in December! We are really pleased and also a little scared. I may ask to go to C&W next time in case I get pre-eclampsia again, I can't bear the idea of being stuck in White City again.

How are your girls? What has life with twins been like?

Breadandroses and Kitstwins, thanks so much for your replies. I'm going to go with QC's and ask about private care. Also just seen some other threads with details of consultants there so that's really helpful too.
Thanks again!
Charlie

Msg for Artichokes

Don't worry. I well remember the lady keeping us up. And the incessant bleeping of the monitor that went on for HOURS! And when they finally carted her off to the labour ward they left the machine bleeping, which seemed like the final insult! If memory serves me correctly I think I lumbered over (with much muttering) and ripped the plug out of the socket before stuffing a ball of cotton wool in each ear. Oh happy days! And you were incredibly quiet I thought - I remember you trying to find a decent bath that would enable you to get your bump under the water, but I don't think you were successful. I don't know which loon designed the baths at QCCs but he'd clearly never been near a pregnant woman. In the end, I got so p*ssed off with it I finally snapped and begged to be allowed a bath in the giant one on the labour ward. As by this stage I was a permanent and sobbing fixture in the hospital they relented and I was allowed half an hour's wallow in rusty bathwater to the sounds of women groaning and straining next door. A surreal memory!

Congratulations on your second baby! How fantastic. I'd love to have another but I'm a)too knackered from the girls, and b)too scared to contemplate another round of placenta praevia. There's no guarantee I'd get it again, but knowing my luck.....I don't think I could cope with another complicated pregnancy so for now we're devoting our energies to the two human wrecking balls that live in our house!

Life with twins is great. Completely exhausting and relentless, but pretty amazing for all that. For all their capacity for chaos I wouldn't change it, although the first six months were a blur and the first two weeks were HELL. It's amazing what you get through. Amusingly, I was back at Queen Charlotte's a month or so ago for the girl's assessment with the Multiple Birth Foundation and it was very strange to think that it was my home for nearly six weeks. My window overlooked the entrance (still with the abandoned wheelchair and cigarette puffing delights you'll be pleased to hear). Never again!

If you do chose C&W and fancy a coffee then let me know - I am often to be found in Carluccios as it is one of the few places that can accommodate my tank of a double pram!!

Kx

Hello ladies,

Anyone with recent experiences of Sir Stanley Clayton ward? I am first time pregnant & 19 weeks now. My insurance covers me for upto £8000 for normal birth and unlimited if complications. Would it be true to say you would be ignored if you are not high risk? So far (I know its too early), my pregnancy is very normal and I want to have a natural birth. Could you please advise if private midwifery care led package at QC is good? Anyone with recent experiences?
Really appreciate all help!
Thanks!