Queen Charlotte vs Chelsea & Westminster

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Any advice for a first timer? I have read horrible reviews for both! Queen Charlotte is closer to home but C&W is more convenient from work but I realise there are more important things to consider than proximity. Can't ask my friends without giving the game away!

Queen Charlotte's definitely - I've heard a couple of bad stories about C & W. Had my baby in the birth centre at QC which looked after us brilliantly. Friends in the main bit seemed to do fine.

I second Queen Charlotte's - it is a leading teaching hospital and has a good reputation.

The antenatal care can be a bit hit and miss with regards to long waiting times for appointments etc, but in my experience the care on the delivery ward was fantastic. I could have married the midwife I had whilst in labour (he was a man by the way)

I have had approx 8 friends who have had babies at QC and they have all had good experiences.

HTH

in my limited experience; C&W have been fantastic. I am 28 weeks with my first and so far the antenatal care I have received has been fantastic!

They have seen me in the day assessment unit at the drop of a hat, have bene admitted to the antenatal ward which was clean and comfortable; the care I received was great, with everything being fully explained.

Obviously I am yet to give birth there, but am completely confident after the care I have received so far.

Don't listen too much to other people's horror stories; they are their stories; their births may have been horrific where ever it happened.

You can certainly ring up and just go for a look around (think it's on Tuesdays). Perhaps do that at both and see which one seems right for you after that?

Agree with Sammi

Had an Elective CS at QCHH and it was brilliant. The Theatre staff excellent and the after care - ok, but the appointments and waiting times very long in comparison to where I am now. That said however, I would go for QCHH every time. They are by far the best and heaven forbid anything was to go wrong, they have the best neonatal etc in the country

If you are considering proximity go with the one closest to home. Travelling to an ante natal appt us no hassle but travelling in labour is a nightmare. I chose QCH for that reason. As others have said the ante natal waits can be long but for both my labour I have had amazing midwives (I also had a man Sammy, maybe the same one, his name was Graham and he was the best midwife ever).

The only downside to QCH is the location. It is the arse end of the world. I was an inpatient for several days before having my first and I longed for a decent cafe or food shop in walking distance. At CW I could have gone to Carluccios or 500 other swanky places. But that is a tiny consideration. The neonatal care at QCH is the very best in the country - my paediatrician friend said it's the only place she would ever consider having her baby (she was high risk though).

Aubergines - yes I had Graham too!! Small world eh?

Haven't had the baby yet. But I switched from QC to C&W at about 20 weeks because of proximity and the fact that I just didn't have 2 to 3 hours to wait for each appointment.

C&W have been fab for antenatal care - lovely staff and midwives. Will see how we go with the actual birth/post natal.

Hi I had the same choice as you. Went for CW as it was easier to get to from work for all the ante natal appointments. Also both seemed to have their pros and cons. Had a very complicated birth which ended in a cs and was very pleased that I was there as they were brilliant. I was up three hours after the surgery and I have had absolutely no post op problems. On the other hand, life in the maternity ward was just dreadful, the bathrooms were dirty all the time, and with one shining exception the nurses were actively unhelpful. I was supposed to stay five days because of the birth complications and lasted two. To summarise, I would go there again as I am so grateful to have left there with a heathy baby and healthy myself but I wouldn't hang around long afterwards. May be true of everywhere of course.

I had one of my children at QC because of its great rep, but was treated (I felt) very shabbily. Perhaps I was unfortunate with the staff I encountered, but I found them rude, sarcastic, and insensitive. I was told I was not in labour when I was (2nd dd, so not a complete novice), but was kept in and husband sent home as it was night time, I was given no pain relief at all, I spent a few hours in more and more pain, to which they were unconcerned, and I had to tell them the baby's head was coming out. I was told not to be silly, then they checked and realised it was. The birth scene was like something out of the Exorcist, with screaming, shouting, blood, people rushing around. Not very nice. I was lonely, scared, in a lot of pain, and crying, and they were pretty horrible to me, tbh. My husband missed the birth, as they didn't ring him until it was too late. When he arrived, stressed and panicking, they found it amusing to tell him he had missed it. The same ones who sent him home earlier.
I suffered severe pnd for many months afterwards, and when I became pregnant with ds, suffered a very severe depression as the whole birth trauma came flooding back. I nearly had a termination as I could not go through that nightmare again.
Luckily, my GP was incredibly supportive, and I was seen by a consultant at a different hospital. I was determined to have a homebirth as I refused to go through it all again, but we compromised on staying 6 hours after birth as long as all was well.
I know this sounds like one of those awful birth stories, but the point I wanted to make was, that I went to QC as I had heard it was the best place to go, which I sure it was for anyone with a more high risk preg, but I felt, that as I was very low risk, I was nothing special, and was just left to it. Sorry for being so negative

Totally your choice obviously but I had 2 terrible times at QC (the births were ok it was the rest of it) I honestly would never recommend to anyone.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I am terrible at making decisions. I am tempted by QC because of the neonatal but the 2-3 hour wait sound horrific and that's even before we get to the labour part. I guess it can be a bit hit and miss either way. My sister in law has had two babies in QC (I cant ask her about it without giving the game away as I am only 6 weeks!) and she had a tough time during labour but nothing to do with the staff. Although as a visitor I remember them being fairly surly!

I had my baby on Friday at C&W.

Fabulous - midwife was perfection, she knew when to talk, when to advise, when to leave me to it, was really inclusive of DH in all decisions, respected my choices etc.

Post natal was great as well. Baby born at 8:30pm, non-hurried time in labour room (straight onto my chest, left time for cord to stop pulsating, DH cut the cord), got to the ward about 12:30am, had the munchies and they sent down for a snack box for me. Were fab helping me sort out the bed to snug bubs up with me and answered call button immediately with paracetamol for after shocks. We were discharged and out the door immediately after lunch the next day.

Bathrooms were clean and nice (though need some shelves!). I didn't need much but I could overhear the care the lady in the next cubicle was receiving as she was unwell and baby was having trouble feeding and they seemed really caring and on the ball.

If I was having another baby I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Are you wanting consultant-led hospital care or are you interested in birth centre? I had DS1 at QC's midwife-led birth centre, and they were wonderful from start to finish. Can't comment on the hospital side personally, though 2 NCT buddies who needed sections/instrumental deliveries had positive experiences there.

Morloth - which ward were you? Sounds like you had a very different birthing experience to me! Had DD1 at C&W with lots of complications. The medical care was good but aftercare was horrendous - almost as if you're handed over to the "B" team of midwives after birth. I was very uncomfortable after a C-section and left to my own devices, had to change the catheter myself etc. If you're in and out of hospital in a day then it's probably OK but wouldn't recommend for C-sections or longer stays if you have a choice.

Now 30wks with DS and sticking to C&W for convenience. Spent a few hours on the ward this week for observation and hated it. Dirty, wet communal bathrooms etc......... Seriously considering paying for a private room this time.

I have my DD at QC and I found the antenatal care great! I never had to wait more than 45mins for an appointment, had an amazing consultant, friendly midwives, and a clean modern building. However I went into labour spontaneously when I had a planned CS booked and I was treated horribly by the midwives on arrival. I was left to labour alone for nearly 9 hours, with a midwife coming into my room twice. Once to attach a monitor, which turned it self off and ran out of paper, which my DH brought to the midwife station and once when a MW came to fetch a piece of equipment from my room that was not in the room she was working in. When I was screaming in agony for pain releif she opened a cupboard door and said that 'if you were in pain you should have just grabbed the gas & air'. Like we knew?? Then a shift changed happened and a new MW came on and it all changed, I was whisked in for an emergency CS within the hour of the shift change. The after care was friendly and helpful but I did book a private room, I would highly recommend this. I would not have wanted to be in a shared room after my CS.

I have had several friends who have had births at the birth centre there and raved about the care, the facilities and the midwives there.

Biw I think it was the Ann Steward(t?) Ward. Am very lucky with the birthings (I think it is the huge hips [my babies don't even get squashed heads]) have a really easy time of it so am probably an easy customer to please.

My only complaint would be the noise on the ward (babies crying/MWs and women talking etc), but obviously that can't be helped when not in a private room.

Had a visit from the Community Midwife today (who is from QC because of postcode) and she was fab as well, so there is probably much of a muchness between them.

I would say that I am also not backward in coming forward if that makes sense. I don't need much help but when I do want it I will insist and I find that works well (in all areas of life!).

Have been told by a number of people that the Birth Centre at QC is fab. You can go there if you've had a straightforward pregnancy and if the labour is uncomplicated. Any probs, you get whisked down to the ward.

Also, you get your own room to stay in and your husband can stay (I think for up to three nights) - rather than being on a ward.

Just wanted to add that I have just had my baby at QC and cannot rate them highly enough. Everyone was amazing. I started out in the Birth Centre but as things weren't progressing I went up to the delivery suite to be induced. Here the care was also amazing - I was offered an epidural straight away, which was topped up whenever I wanted and had two amazing midwives (I was there for two shifts) and a whole host of lovely drs who looked after me (including a professor who came to see me and talk through my options with me). I ended up with a caesarian (having not progressed past 8cm and with a baby getting distressed) and again, the surgeons and theatre staff were amazing.

I also had a great experience on the ward - maybe this is because I had a caesarian? Perhaps they give you better care as you can't do much?

While any hospital can offer good and bad experiences. I was really happy with the way I was treated and would recommend to anyone.

i had a truly appalling experience at the C+W and would really discourage you from risking it if you have an alternative. the antenatal care was fine - though i never saw the same midwife twice - but my experience of giving birth there was disgraceful. you might be fine if you go into labour at a nice convenient time of day, but if you hit the magic 4cm dilation (they will turn you away at anything less) at an inconvenient hour then expect to have to hammer on the door of the maternity unit for a long period before anyone bothers letting you in (you will see staff pass by, notice you at the door, and not open it); then expect to spend a long time doubled up having contractions in the corridor while they fail to sort out a room for you; then expect to be left on your own for literally hours while you're in labour. i was moved room three times during a 32 hour labour and after my DS was finally born, with me in a state of exhaustion, and having had various interventions, an hour after giving birth they had me walking a long corridor carrying him to another ward. in retrospect there is no way i should have been carrying him any distance OR walking, never mind both, given the state i was in. (close to collapse.) it's good to hear others have had a positive experience, but at best it seems hit and miss.

I had a brilliant experience at QC. Everyone else in my NCT group went to C&W or Queen Mary's, and they all without exception had a dreadful time.

C&W has a good reputation for childbirth, but absolutely appalling for postnatal care.

I think these things are often very individual - the key thing is whether you will encounter staff who are kind and professional, and that can't be guaranteed anywhere - but generally (and I have worked for a long time in maternity care) QC has a much better reputation than C&W.

QCH is a bit ropey for antenatal stuff because you have to wait for AGES and you dont see the same midwife (in my current experience anyway). However it is a specialist maternity hospital and the medical staff are top notch (I would say that as my mum was a consultant there for 20 years!). I have found the wait for antenatal appointments really frustrating, but I have GP led care (as I think is common) so you only have a small number of trips to the hospital itself before the big day. I chose it even though it is further away from home for me than C&W because I thought that if anything were to go wrong , at least I would know I was in a super duper specialist place with all the right brains working on my little one.

It's obviously up to you though and C&W doesnt have a bad rep either. They are both good hospitals.

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS

I'm 15+6 weeks pregnant and have had severe complications because I have multiple fibroids.
I am under QCH and I cannot fault the care I have recieved from them to date.
I was hospitalized for a week and the staff were fantastic.
I agree that the waiting times for antenatal appointments are dire but they are so thorough compared to CMH and the dreaded Northwick Park where I have previously given birth.
I'm probably going to have an elective c-section at as early as 30 weeks but I have every faith in the staff at QCH.
I have a friend who works a C&W hospital story and after the horror stories he has told me about that place it should be closed down!

I was very happy with QCH, and they are a leading hospital

Now the birth itself, whoaah! But they have done good by me

look you are in a major capital city inn a developed country, and frankly both hospitals will be FINE

and so what if you have to wait for ages, take a book and relaaax

Hi there,
Any updates vs QC and CW? First time mummy and having same dilemma as to what will be best. Need to make a decision soon. Thanks.

I'm 39 weeks pregnant and will be having baby at C&W. Care so far has been excellent, but can't comment on birthing stuff yet. Good luck!