Portland or Kensington Wing Midwife led....Help!

[londonmummy2005]

Hi there,
I'm 8 weeks pg with baby number 2 and can't decide whether to go to The portland or Kensington Wing at C & W. I think I'm going with midwife team as didn't need a consultant last time and I think they transfer you anyway should the need for one arise.

Just wandered if any of you ladies had any pros and cons of the 2. I just got back from Ken Wing and looked great and liked the fact that you're not charged extra for every little thing unlike the Portland. We're self paying so would be nice to know roughly how much the final bill will be and I think the Portland could escalate if any probs whereas C&W will transfer to NHS.

I also likethe idea of being nearby to NHS if any probs, on the otherhand Portland more convienient and more cosy which I liked. Need to decide soon before they get full up, any help greatly appreciated!!

I had a baby with the midwife led team at the Portland and they do a complete all inclusive package, you only get charged extra if you have complications and move to consultant led, even then there is a good chance if you have insurance they will pick up the tab. I cannot recommend the team enough, have you met them yet?

Thanks Bellasmama,

I went on a tour a couple of days ago and met one of the midwives as the lady in charge of tours was away, she wasn't a very good spokesperson! Very sweet, but kept going on about getting your credit cards ready and how midwife led was the 'cheaper' option when i asked her the difference between the 2! The other couple being shown around with us were consultant led and she seemed to be more interested in them. The hospital is in the midst of a refurb but I've seen it before. I like the fact that there are only 6 midwives so at least you'll know whichever one is at the labour whereas at kensington wing there are 25 so you may not have met the one you end up with. How long ago were you there? was the price much over ( if you don't mind me asking!) My husband sais we should allow for an extra £1000 on top of package for epidural room service etc but do you think it;s much more if no complications. Thanks for your help!

From memory the only extras if there were no complications was for an epidural and if your partner stays and has food. When I was there the MLD package included 2 nights stay (all your food etc included). Given you had no complications with your first that should be it. I did have to transfer to consultant led and had to have a CS and chose to have an ECV plus extra nights in hospital but BUPA picked up a huge chunk of the tab. It would have come around to £12,000 for the lot and apparantly obstetricians fees do vary a great deal. Mine charged £2000 for the CS and the extra nights were around £1000 per night. The midwives were so supportive and kind though even though I had to leave them as my lead carers they were with me every step of the way. Like I said and extra £1000 will be more than enough if you are straightforward.

Thanks so much, I checked with our insurance and they cover any complcations like breech so if I need to be transfered to a consultant or have CS they would cover it. We were thinking of getting the double bed/deluxe room so my DH can stay..the food bill would be mostly his! I like the idea of getting to know the whole team before the birth, who was your favourit midwife?

I dont know if she is still there but Liz was fantastic and was there for the delivery.
Rey was also great fun. TBH I liked all of them, it was 4 years ago now but the team when I was there was Liz, Rey, Fredette and Chris. They also looked after me postnatally in hospital as well and there were a lot of laughs! Who is there now? My little one was breech and it was covered. It is pot luck which room you get although you can put in a request, I had to have a single bed after a CS but they brought in a z bed for my DH.

Londonmummy,
Sorry to be the voice of doom (which I so often seem to be on a thread), but can I advise you to check whether they have upgraded their NICU yet to level 3. A friend of mine's baby was born at the Portland very poorly and needed intubating, but they didn't have the capability their and she needed to be transfered. Sadly her little girl didn't make it. I know that we don't like to think of bad things happening, but having been through this same thing, (although mine was a home birth) I would always say that it is best to be as near as possible to a good NHS NICU facility as if those things do happen, minutes/ seconds really do count.

M, what a truely tragic story and please dont take this the wrong way but who is to say that the darling baby would have survived if she had been on the NHS? I know 2 babies who have died through blunders in NHS hospitals (both London teaching hospitals with grade 3 facilities) This always seems to come up on these threads and sad as it is it can happen anywhere.

Thanks for your advice mrsrvc. i know they have a very good neonatal unit at the Portland and they move babies from John and lizzies there, my dh is very paranoid about these things and it was the reason we didn't opt for the portland the first time around but having spoken to lots of people including very close freinds of ours that are involved in obststrics at the nhs,it seems that even in NHS hospitals babies still need to be transferred to diffeent units and if it's 5 mins away or 7 mins away i think it's the moving thats the problem. The portland has UCH literally 3 minutes away so I'm not too worried in the event of any complcations. God willing everything will go to plan and I think these terrible tragedies occur in every hospital and it;s just very unforunate.

Oh I do know that these things happen in all hospitals, and as you say, there is no guarantee that the little one would have survived elsewhere.

However, my friend specifically mentioned to me that she thought that the NICU was good at the portland which is why she had decided to go there, however there is a great deal between level 2 and level 3 in terms of what can be done, specifically the baby being intubated. (i.e getting 100% oxygen)

I am sure that the Portland do a fantastic job, its just worth being aware that the transfer from one place to another can have a significant impact on the end result. It might just be a question worth asking.

I hope you have a good experience wherever you choose.

LM, I had a friend who had twins in Cambridge who needed special care, no room there and one ended up in Peterborough and one in Ealing both miles away so even if you opt for the NHS there is no guarantees. You are right that UCH is moments away so dont worry. Where did you have your first baby and why are you opting for private this time? Im sure all will go really well for you!

Thanks for your advice ladies,

Bellasmama I had my last baby at Queen Charlottes with a Private midwife scheme, it was great and I had the same amazing midwife throughout and had all my appointments at home! Unfortunately this scheme doesn't exist anymore so that's why I'm opting for somewhere else. I think I'm leaning more towards the Portland I'm booked in for next Thursday so will just discuss with dh and see

3 of my friends/acquaintances have recently (in the last year) given birth at The Portland...in the tours they were shown the most beautiful, large postnatal rooms (which after all, you are paying about £1000 a night to sleep in). On the day of delivery, they ALL ended up in a small, pokey and shabby room. I realise that it is the health of your child and your recovery that is paramount, but when you are paying such a huge amount of money, I would certainly be quite miffed!

The Kensington Wing has new rooms/facilities and is attached to the NHS hospital. To me it is a no brainer (+ there is better food outlets opposite the C&W!!!)

How interesting they closed down the private MW led unit at QC - I was booked for the same service at St. Thomas's for this baby (23 weeks) but they closed that down as I was booking in. Really sad.

I then looked into Independent Midwives - given that I am having DC2 also, and this time want to get HOME asap, I have opted for the much more economical option of having the same midwife throughout the antenatal period and for 6 weeks postnatally (interestingly, a huge number of their clients are postnatal care ones from the Portland). The midwife can not intervene medically in the birth but can be a support during labour and give me plenty of support after the birth (which the NHS staff weren't able to do with DC1) i.e. getting baby latched on, get me comfortable in bed, calm my overexcitable DH!!!! It is £3k v £10-13k!

Anyway, good luck!

I gave birth at the Portland last year - had consultant-led care. I had the standard room, which was not small and pokey, but modern, clean and comfortable (all were renovated recently). I saw both standard and larger rooms in the tour, and my room was as expected. The birth went very well, I had a fantastic midwife looking after me all through the labour and birth - really cannot praise the midwives there enough. The quality of care after the birth was also superb, I stayed for 3 nights and felt that me and my son were in the best possible hands - Portland has a top-notch NICU and paediatricians. I live near the C&W and chose not to go there because I have some friends who have had terrible experiences, serious medical errors, in the private wing. If I didn't go to Portland, my second choice would be the Lindo wing at St Mary's.

I have 2 friends who have recently given birth in The Portland. One has had all 3 children at the unit and she said that she was extremely unhappy with the treatment she received the third time which was just before xmas. She arrived at the hospital in labour and was seen by a bank midwife who, she said, didn't know where anything was and was unable to access things that she needed. She was also left alone for significant periods of time. She was under consultant care and had no issues with the consultant but the post natal room was dirty, her sister had to clean before she could use the bathroom and she is currently in dispute with the hospital and they have given her a significant refund and have recognised that she didn't get the care she was paying for.

Her feeling is that the hospital is struggling financially at the moment and is relying on bank staff and smaller resources and that standards have dropped significantly and he feeling is that the knock on effect of the recession ie expats with superduper health insurance policies have left london and other people who may have been self paying are tightening their belts.

Another friend had an elective section a couple of months earlier and whilst the medical care was very good she also had issues with hygiene and was moved to a dirty room which was unprepared for her after her section, again resulting in a room "upgrade" and a cash refund.

I appreciate that these are just 2 cases but it does seem to make sense that a private hospital like The Portland may be suffering in this market so all I would say is check and double check that if you go down the midwife route there you're going to be guarnteed on of their midwives and not a bank one who doesn't know the hospital.

Thanks for all your stories ladies,

I've heard horror stories for nearly every hospital in London so I'm not really going to start comparing these, but it's great to be able to take everything into account all the same.

We were shown all 3 kinds of rooms including a suite, I realise this isn't what we're getting! We're opting for the double bedded room so dh can stay. As long as any problems are rectified I'm quite tolerant but I know my rights and am ready to let all hell break lose if I get a dirty room/bank midwife, and in the circumstances as long as my baby is delivered safely I'd be happy with an 'upgrade' refund as compensation!

Hello there,

Does anyone have more recent reviews?... as some of these go back to 2010?