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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

New to London - need help chosing a consultant for Portland Hospital

61 replies

skiingone · 20/08/2008 12:29

Just joined the site as it looks very helpful. To all other women who are pregnant I wish easy pregnancies, easy deliveries and healthy babies.
Ok, I' 32 and just mived to London, following my partner's move for his job and now I'm about 5-6 weeks pregnant with my first child. I don't have any family or any close friends here yet. So I would like to get some advice from recent mums on which consultant I should contact to make my life easier. The good thing is that my partner's insurance would cover most of the costs of private care. I live close to Portland hospital and if anyone has used a good consultant that whould lead me through this-please let mr know. I found Dr. Donald GIBB on the internet, but then I saw lost of negative feedback on this site about him, so now I'm doubting that he would be a good choice. Any advice would be appreciated. Thansks a lot in advance.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

bundle · 20/08/2008 15:11

st john & st liz known for touchy-feeliness if that is your bag

LadyThompson · 20/08/2008 15:12

There's a brand spanking new birth centre at St Mary's - it's NHS.

But they do private births as well, in the Lindo wing. I've got Lorin Lakasing - she does NHS as well. She's smashing.

eandz · 20/08/2008 15:29

ooh, but i have to warn you...there is one doctor i would avoid in all of london.

but i don't want to get sued with libel. so i won't really post his name. i'm just having a difficult time with him.

LadyThompson · 20/08/2008 15:59

Eandz, I don't think expressing your opinion, with all the usual provisoes, is libellous...who is it??

eandz · 20/08/2008 16:03

ladythompson
have you ever seen that movie 'what about bob' ? well this doctor and he is my doctor and is going to deliver my kid...he reminds me of bob. and i'll be more than happy to name him but i'm really anxious about it.

your more than welcome to email me and i can tell you, or if anyone else wants to be warned of my experience... kishmish at gmail dot com

LadyThompson · 20/08/2008 16:05

Well, I will, as I am genuinely concerned!

orangina · 20/08/2008 16:10

Could you post initials? (feeling nosy)

slinkiemalinki · 20/08/2008 16:12

Poor eandz. I hope that the situation is worked out for you and you are able to swap.

eandz · 20/08/2008 16:15

slinkie
the swap is pending our meeting...and the meeting time keeps changing. so i'm getting kinda nervous.

orangina · 20/08/2008 16:24

poor eandz... when is your EDD? I know someone who swapped consultants and hospitals at a very late stage as she wasn't happy with who she had.... it was all fine in the end, but she felt almost guilty about moving on...

eandz · 20/08/2008 16:27

oragina
my edd is sept 20th. we won't get reimbursed from my insurance for the deposit if we switch. but the doctor has offered to trade patients with another ob in his practice if we all think thats the only reasonable solution. the only problem is, the appointment where we sort this out keeps getting pushed back.

but besides his pushiness, i think if i have to stay with him he wont harm my baby or anything.

orangina · 20/08/2008 16:33

So he realises you are not happy with things at the moment...? Sorry to hear you are having to do this. Really hope you get your meeting sorted out soon. Good to know that all will be well w your baby, but it's nice to feel positive about your ob as well...

eandz · 21/08/2008 12:31

orangina
he definitely knows i'm not happy with him. he's meeting us today (hopefully he wont cancel) to discuss which one of his partners he's going to swap patients with if we continue to feel uneasy with him.

onceinalifetime · 21/08/2008 12:39

The Portland might have great 'antenatal' facilities such as physiotherapy, massage, antenatal classes, champage but they don't have good emergency back-up - in the event of any complications, you or your baby would have to be transferred to another hospital. The private wing of a larger hospital as has already been suggested might be a better option - personally I would find that more reassuring. I would check The Portland's stats against other hospitals too.

Anchovy · 21/08/2008 12:59

Onceinalifetime, posts like your make me sigh a bit. (I declare my interest in that I had both of my DCs at the Portland).

The Portland has a NICU: if there is a problem with your baby, it will get transferred to it. It has had it for quite a while - I don't know why everyone goes on about that not being the case.

When I had DS there (and his birthday is mid October), there had been, I think, 2 maternal transfers from Portland to NHS ICU that year (I asked). I suspect that compares well against NHS to NHS hospital transfers - anyone who has a baby at a NHS hospital and thinks that there is a spare ICU place ready and waiting is, I think, probably likely to be disappointed.

The champagne is a post natal facility, not an ante natal facility .

I suspect their "stats" would compare very favourably but how and what do you compare? They are always cited as having a high C-section rate, but a huge reality is that a lot of people have medical insurance through work which only kicks in when a C section is required and they then change to private care at that time.

For the record, my PIL had been a consultant at Queen Charlottes and was entirely happy with the provisions and care available to me there - he knew quite a lot of the drs there as they had all been around a number of the London teaching hospitals at the same time at some stage. I was also recommended to ge there by my excellent GP who is on the board of a major/remowned maternity hospital - these are people who honestly would not recommend it if they had any professional concerns with the care there.

onceinalifetime · 21/08/2008 13:10

Anchovy, fair enough - I've never used the Portland and am only going on anecdotal evidence. I don't think it's celebrity status helps tbh and the cases where there have been some serious mistakes made have been high profile because of this and because the people affected might not have been celebrities but were wealthy and somehow the implication is that it 'shouldn't have happened to them' as they were paying so much for their treatment.

However, I do think the op would be well advised to look at the alternatives and not just choose a hospital because it's two minutes away and probably listed on their insurance form. There are other criteria to consider. However, I am also assuming from the op that she is expecting consultant rather than midwife led support so maybe the Portland is the best place.

eandz · 21/08/2008 13:11

you can't really check stats at the portland. it's a specialist hospital. some people go there specifically for difficult pregnancies. and because they want c-sections.

nadssss · 21/08/2008 13:27

Hi there - my sis in law used Keith Duncan - she said he was wonderful and nearly named my nephew after him!

I've seen Dr Gibb four times since my pregnancy and although I can see his manner might be a bit, well, odd sometimes generally he has been really wonderful - very straightforward, reassuring and nice.

Def see both these guys

nadssss · 21/08/2008 13:28

Hi there - my sis in law used Keith Duncan - she said he was wonderful and nearly named my nephew after him!

Def see both these guys

eandz · 21/08/2008 13:54

yeah, i've always wanted keith duncan. but people who magically know they are pregnant (in like the first 4 weeks) often book him out.

ScaryHairy · 21/08/2008 15:16

Hello

Sorry to butt in, but I have a question. Roughly how much would it cost to have a vaginal delivery with consultant-led care at The Portland? Would I get any change from £10k? I find their list of prices very hard to figure out because of all the bits that are not included.

I'm currently leaning towards John & Lizzie for my VBAC, but am finding the prospect of schlepping to St John's Wood alarming (and they don't have a NICU (!) although my friend who delivered at Chelsea and Westminster on the NHS found her baby being sent to Mary's so transfers happen everywhere...).

Sorry for the waffle and TIA for any responses!

eandz · 21/08/2008 21:57

scaryhairy,

you get away with a less than 10k vaginal delivery at the portland (around 8k) or slightly less if you go with dr economides. there is another dr who delivers there (i'm with him) who is less, but i wouldn't suggest him.

if you want a price breakdown of different private places with different doctors i can email you a proper breakdown. (my email address is everywhere on this thread.)

ScaryHairy · 21/08/2008 22:08

Thanks eandz. That's actually not too bad (compared to what I was expecting after reading the tabloid press [shame]!). I guess my BUPA should kick in should I need a section, although I will need to clear that with them. I think maybe I should go speak to the people at the Portland too before I make up my mind...
Is Mr Econimides nice? I am sure I have heard of him.

eandz · 21/08/2008 22:12

economides is wonderful!

but i don't think bupa cover him...(a lady in his waiting room told me her bupa wasn't covering it)...but she was seeing him for a cyst.

slinkiemalinki · 21/08/2008 22:25

It really depends on the doctor like eandz says - have a friend who's had two with Mr Armstrong at the Portland - I think he is £4K (or £4,500 can't quite remember) for a normal delivery, more for a c/s, so a normal would definitely bring you well under £10K (although if you stayed in longer that would take your hospital fees up of course). Mr Duncan is more but he charges the same no matter how you deliver.

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