Which London hospital for maternity care is the best?

[livetolearn1314]

Hi mums, i'm 6 weeks pregnant, and it's time to contact NHS, could you share your experience or opinions on which London hospital provides better maternity care please? I'm based in SE zone two. Thanks xxxx

Not your area, I know, but I researched North and West London for a pregnant friend. I think they were all Inadequate on CQC rating but most were assessed 2021 and so much can change in 3 years so that wasn't much help.
In the end one of DD's friends recommended where she gave birth earlier this year.
Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy.

The best hospital is the one that's the closest to where you live. There will be many times when you will need to urgently go in for a check-up and the last thing you want is commuting for an hour, esp when you are stressed/worried about something. My advice would be to choose the one that's the closest to your home. Even better if it's walking distance.

UCLH is brilliant. I had my daughter there (albeit 14 years ago) and I felt like I was in safe hands.

However, I had a very easy pregnancy and birth with no complications whatsoever, so maybe that's why I found the care great.

A friend of mine recently had a very complicated pregnancy and gave birth at 27 weeks to a now very healthy baby and she cannot speak highly enough of the maternity unit at North Middlesex hospital.

@livetolearn1314

Have you made an appointment with your GP, OP?

I contacted GP, they said I just need to find a hospital and self refer. Hence trying to make a decision quick enough to have the first appointment next week

I Had DS at Queen's Charlotte in Hammersmith on the private wing (Stanley Clayton) but have also used the NHS side. Their maternity and fetal care unit is rated outstanding, and I'm going back there for my current pregnancy. Not sure they don't pop under more often when you search, but my entire experience there was great! FYI they're in the same trust as St Mary's/Lindo Wing, so have all the same consultants.

How odd. My GP in SE London handled all this. Everything all the regular apts were done through the GP surgery with a visiting midwife

Op, you've got some mad replies on this thread. The absolute last thing you want to do is a long journey in labour in potentially rush hour traffic across London.

@contentsmayb is totally right. Do a search for the nearest hospitals to where you live and look at their CQC reports plus journey times. Maybe post a short list here and people can be more specific in recommendations, rather than suggesting hospitals on the opposite side of London.

For example, in my recent pregnancy, from 36w to delivery, I was visiting for monitoring every other day. You do not want to pick a hospital a long way away if you end up needing a lot of appointments. Also, i gave birth in an inadequate rated hospital (wrong side of London for you) and my care was excellent, but if I'd have picked the hospital that was outstanding but an hours drive in traffic, I'd have ended up giving birth in the car as my labour was an hour and started in the morning so prime rush hour.

Congratulations on your BFP.

Op says she is SE zone 2 so Hammersmith is probably not ideally located for her.

I am south east and will be going to san Thomas. It is rated good and is only 15 min ride from my place . A friend will be going to Queens hospital which is reviews outstanding but it doesn’t not worth the stress of commute just because of the rating. st Thomas is a good hospital and is my local one so I would advise if your local hospital is good just go there . Anyway you can always change you can do the referral and if you change opinion you can ask to be transferred elsewhere

The closest one! If you have reduced movement and want to be seen quickly, if you have to have multiple scans, if you want to get quickly to the hospital in labour and get your newborn home as quickly and as safely as possible - pick the closest.

All London hospitals are much of a muchness. In my NCT we were split 3 ways on the hospitals we went to, all at roughly the same time, some were good for some things, some were bad for others. Honestly it depends on the staff on that day, your mood, other patients, etc. I would do yourself a favour and pick the closest!!

My post code is SE4, my nearest hospital is Lewisham or Queen Elizabeth, both I'm not keen on. I'm looking at Guy's, but I think for labor they would still send me to St Thomas'. I think it's going to be over half an hour drive, a bit nervous for labor day, however, I go to work with London bridge as a stop, so easy to fit in Guy's hospital appointments.
What do you al think?
I'm now frustrated that my GP gives no valuable information at all on the phone.

Where are you based?
I would avoid St Georges at their CQC for maternity was rated inadequate. I would also avoid Kings as their CQC for maternity was requires improvement.

St Thomas' or Lewisham are both rated good for maternity so whichever is closest out of them maybe.

@livetolearn1314 But St Thomas and Guy's hospital are next to each other. Indeed the maternity is in St Thomas. In any case I have a friend who gave birth to Lewisham hospital as she was based in New cross Gate and she had a really good experience. She told me that some of the other mothers in her area chose st thomas or Queen but she preferred to stay to the local hospital and had a really good experience. Just a reminder that after birth you will have to have visits from midwifes of your local hospital and not St Thomas.

I expect your nearest are St Thomas or King's. Both very good, big research hospitals- Kings especially has excellent pre natal care/facilities.

Agree with those saying the closest! I had both mine at Kings and all was fine if that helps?

It seems that some people on here think that the only thing that's important when it comes to proximity is the time around/during labour.

You will have so many appointments in between! Sometimes you will have a bleeding and they will ask you come to come in immediately, sometimes your amniotic fluid will leak and you will need to be seen urgently. Sometimes you would need to go in every day! Or you will have a scare because your baby stopped moving and they would need an urgent scan. Once I went in and they said: sorry, we messed up you appointment time, come back tomorrow. I had endless scans (and sure, maybe I am less lucky than others), but every single woman will have something that gives her a worry during pregnancy and you will need to be seen urgently. At the end of the pregnancy, you will have appointments every other week or so as well for various check-ups/tests.

During labour, you sometimes go in every few hours to get you checked. Because they won't admit you if you have not dilated enough and the best place for you during that time is home. Otherwise you will need to stay at a nearby hotel.

When I got pregnant at first, I too was looking at better hospitals, but you have no idea how grateful I am for having stayed with my closest one. It has been a blessing. All staff at all hospitals will be wonderful. Some facilities will vary, but it's not that important to good care.

I am at St.Geroge's and cannot praise their care enough. Ignore the reviews. All NHS staff will be nothing but wonderful.

I had a baby at St Georges in April (so after they got their inadequate rating) and my care was really good. I actually had a thread about them at the time. We chose it because we had DD1 there who needed NICU and they were excellent. Anyway, they were totally open about the report and explained what they are doing to fix it. I know the report will put some people off but just to say that it didn't reflect my experience at all.

I had a horrendous experience at one of the hospitals I mentioned and a friend lost her baby due to medical negligence. Obviously some people will have good experiences too. Ime the CQC ratings are fair.

@livetolearn1314 Also do not stress too much. I would say do your referral to Lewisham hospital. Wait for the first appointments and then you decide. No one will see you till you are about 10-11 weeks. I am in the same boat with you and I have my first appointment in September with midwife in St Thomas.

St Thomas’ is one of the best in London for maternity and in the country for NICU, should you require it. I’d go with there if you have the opportunity. I know a 30 min drive seems long for London but is very normal for most people across the country :)

@BLon8 the issue with London is the traffic, closed roads, the parking ect. Both St Thomas and Lewisham hospital are rated good so in the position of OP I would go to my local hospital first and if I see things I don't like or I feel they are not equipped well enough I would go further away. @livetolearn1314 Just try to find other young mothers in your area and ask them where they gave birth and what their experiences. Maybe there is a fb group or whats app group you could join.