Choosing between local and higher-rated hospitals for pregnancy care

[NewmumBeth]

Hi all first post and I’m very early as I’m not even 5 weeks yet! But I was going to register my pregnancy on NHS as it suggests and it started giving me options for hospitals. I live in Northamptonshire and it says my nearest options are : Northampton general and Kettering general (both of which seem to not have the best reviews) and then I can consider going further afield to ones rated “good” which are Milton Keynes , south Warwickshire and Coventry.

appreciate some may not be from my area so might not have views in particular on any of these hospitals (but if you do, please tell me!) but I guess more generally , new mums- if your nearest hospital was rated “requires improvement “ are you steering clear or going for it still for convenience?

I assume my scans might not all even be at the hospital so going further away isn’t a huge deal ?

thanks a bunch xx

Consider the travel time for when you are in labour. I got stuck in traffic on the motorway fir 2hrs.. it was hot and uncomfortable, and fortunately stalled labour a bit... but I then had an unattended birth in hospital because it accelerated fast.

What are your journey times to all of the hospitals at night and also in traffic? Is it specifically the maternity wards that require improvement? If so I'd definitely try and avoid them. A first baby probably will give you warning they are coming - but not always. I lived three mins drive from my hospital and was in full blown labour by the time I got there after my waters broke in my sleep 30 mins earlier.

Thank you . So the furthest one on the list is south Warwickshire which is about 45/50 mins . Northampton (closest) is 20

it is the maternity ward ratings I’m looking at and that was voted “requires improvement” and I saw some reviews from mums who said there was understaffing issues . So I think I want to avoid there - so in my head I’m like - well - does it matter then if the hospital is 35 mins away or 45 mins away 😂 I suspect that 10 mins is actually crucial but for a better hospital ?

In that case yes, I'd go to the further away hospital as they are pretty comparable distance-wise. All hospitals are pushed for staff anyway so you don't want somewhere where they've been flagged for it during an inspection.

Where will your midwife clinics be? Mine were at my local GP clinic but if yours would require you to travel to the hospital that’s worth considering.
If your pregnancy goes well you will probably only have to go to the hospital for a couple of scans and then when you’re in labour. So 10 minutes extra driving won’t make much difference.
I’d pick the better hospital as long as you feel confident about travelling there in labour

No idea about those particular hospitals but it’s worth bearing in mind that if the ‘requires improvement’ was a little while ago they will have been under a lot of scrutiny since and may well have made improvements since. (For me though CQC ratings are probably the last thing I’d look at in choosing a hospital for most things!)

Yes , could be right . What things are you looking at when it comes to hospitals , stuff for me to bear in mind ?:)

For something like maternity care I’d probably ask around and see what experiences other people have had recently. I might also be tempted to see if that unit had a social media presence so you could have a ‘look around’ before any formal tours. If I had any other medical problems I might think about what other services the hospital had/where my normal care was based. I’d also look at silly sounding stuff like parking/transport etc. Staffing’s an issue in almost every maternity unit and it’s probably going to be busy everywhere in about 8 months with the last of the World Cup babies!

For me, I’d be looking to see which had PICU. I’m sure you won’t need it but having seen it first hand, I can say it’s much easier being in the same hospital should baby need it.

Good luck with your pregnancy and congratulations.

Sorry, NICU not PICU.

As another thing to check, see if the various hospitals allow birth partners to stay overnight! My nearest doesn’t so I preferred to travel as postnatal wards are hell on earth and, in my experience, unbearable without someone to advocate for you. Definitely contributed to my PND with my first when my DH wasn’t allowed to stay. So much better with my second when he was!

Other women prefer to have no men there overnight so might prefer one where birth partners are sent home at 7pm. Either way, something to consider.

The 20 minute car journey to my nearest hospital was hellish when I had contractions every 5 mins. I’m very, very glad we weren’t trying to go to somewhere 40 minutes away.