Anyone any experience of either Chelsea and Westminster or St Thomas's (Westminster)?

[blueberry69]

I have just had a private scan that has shown I have a very short cervix and have been advised to see an obstetrician to take advice on whether or not to have a stitch put it.

However I am currently 15 weeks and am still waiting for an initial booking-in appointment so am not under anyones care yet and need to find someone.

I have been given 2 names: Dr Mascarenhas at St Thomas's and Dr Mark Johnson at Chelsea and Westminster.

Has anyone any experience of either of these consultants - or any others at either hospital. If so I would be so grateful to hear your views.

Hello blueberry69, I am surprised to hear you haven't had your booking yet. When I worked at my local maternity unit women cam in for their 'cervical suture' (also known as the Shirodkar suture) between 14 -18 weeks (usually based on previous pregnancy experiences). I would - as a matter of urgency - insist upon speaking with a midwife ASAP. You could also try phoning the consultants secretary's and explaining your situation, also try your GP - may be able to arrange urgent Fetal Medicine consultation for you. Every hospital seems to work differently so I would suggest you try to cover all bases, just to be on the safe side.

Good luck..

Thanks mummy - they have been sooooo slow about booking me in which is why i went for a private scan. I knew a short cervix was a risk due to 2 cone biopsies I had around ten years ago.

Now i know that is a problem I really want to see a good consultant who can not only do the procedure asap but also monitor me throughout the pregnancy. I will call both consultants and see if either can fit me in but wasn't sure if one hospital was better than another...?

I have had babies at both (on the NHS - you didn't mention if you'd be going private). Both pregnancies were complication free though the births weren't, for different reasons. St Thomas won hands down for care during labour and post natal care, if that's any help.

Thanks snickersnack (love the name! ).

Yes - we are now thinking of going privately - does that make any difference to your answer..?

I haven't given birth yet but the ante-natal care I have been receiving at C&W has been excellent. Great on the ball, intelligent midwives. Not had to see a consultant but the whole atmosphere is quite nice.

Hi,
I had both my DS's at C&W NHS & am currently attending for my current pregnancy (am around 27-28 wks). I have seen a few consultants there though unfort not Mark Johnson so sorry can't comment on him. I think C&W very good at every stage apart from after care & have only ever heard good reports regarding St Thomas too. Again, if you're going private, have only ever heard very good reports for both hospitals private wards. People do always seem to be especially impressed by St Thomas. If it were me I would perhaps go with the one that was closer to where I lived/or worked, depending on what suits you more.

I had my DS in 2007 at C&W NHS and thought the OB did a great job repairing me (I don't know who he was, though). I had a third degree tear as well as an episiotomy as the delivery was forceps assisted. I was stitched up beautifully (I quote my GP when I was examined at my 8 week postnatal visit), the OB took his time - over an hour. I healed pretty quickly. TMI, the piles were worse to recover from than the stitches!! I know yours is a different sort of stitching, but I think that the expertise demonstrated in a random case like mine shows the quality of the care they offer at C&W.

The team at St Thomas are fantastic. My LO was born there 19mo ago and the midwife team at the Lansdell Suite were second to none. 4 friends have since had their LOs there and all had a good experience.

Good luck. It's the best thing ever !

Mr Maxwell at St Thomas' is lovely. I had a private scan with him.

I had my first son at St Thomas Lansdell Suite with Dr M and we had a most wonderful experience. If however you have an emergency, the LS is not great as you usually have to wait hours for Dr M to turn up. Travelling there is also harrowing if there's traffic and you have a problem. Hence, this time around, with baby no 2, we are still using the LS but we are registered with the NHS for emergencies (as they are so much quicker). However, regarding the birth and advice re non urgent maternity matters, Dr M is fantastic (although super busy). I've heard great things about C&W but I have found that every time we went there for IVF discussions we caught some terrible bug (although there could be some coincidence here). I hope that helps.

I too am confused re which hospital (st Thomas' vs Westminster & Chelsea). I have just found out that I am 7 weeks pregnant, it's my 1st child and don't have any friends who have given birth at any of the 2 hospitals. I am not planning to go private and would like to give a natural birth, where I am contemplating btw yoga birthing vs hypno birthing. Any suggestion and/or recommendation? Thanks!

Don't know anything about thomas's but had DC1 at C&W on nhs. After care pretty rubbish - but this is typical of all london hospitals. Nct friends who delivered at kingston and tooting said the same. Ante-natal was done mostly at satellite clinics if there are no problems. Care during labour was fantastic. C&W is known as a teaching hospital so they have excellent consultants and lots of women with problems are referred their for specialist care. This is one reason why their c-section rates looks high, but actually it's just proportional to their % of higher risk cases.