UCL Hospital - anyone have any experience?

[giantpurplepeopleeater]

So it looks like this is the hospital I will be going to when giving birth.

It's my first - so have no idea what to expect, whether I have a choice and what the system is - I was just refered here.

Does anyone have any experience of this hospital?

What I have seen so far all looks good, but like I said, I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Anyone got any advice?

Is this the one off Tottenham Court Road? I don't live in London any more, and I know it was a long time ago, but my brother and I were both born there, as it specialised in prem and unusual births at the time and I guess being a university hospital you're probably going to have quite a few really good consultants overseeing things, good equipment and pretty good policies, so it'll probably be ok.

Yes - thats the one! They have a fairly new wing - the EGA wing for ante and neo natal care and they have a birhting centre as well as labour ward.

Thanks HobbitMama - I was thinking the same as you - that being a university hospital it should have some good consultants etc - fingers crossed!

There is a much of the muchness about London hospitals - they're all big, all understaffed and all incredibly busy!

However, there are som good things about UCH. I had my second child there two years ago. The maternity wing is fairly new and quite spacious, clean. There are some excellent consultants there (although unless you have a high risk pregnancy, you won't meet them!) and the special care baby unit is one of the best in the country.

The birthing centre has mixed reviews. It isn't one of the more progressive hospitals re: natural birth.

My experience (I had a high risk pregnancy and a c-section) was fantastic. The antenatal care was also good there, although always incredibly busy with long waits. bring snacks and something to readif you are having your care there.

Hi GiantPurple,

I'm also pregnant with my first and have requested to be referred to UCH (instead of Royal Free or St Mary's, which were my other choices).

My dad is an Obstetrician/Gynae (handy, I know!) who has been involved in monitoring maternity care in North West London and he said that, of the three, he believes that UCH has the best reputation for antenatal care and for being on the ball should anything go wrong.

This isn't to say that there's anything wrong with the other two (don't want to scare anyone), they are all meant to be fine, but he said that he felt that going a bit further to UCH would be worth it.

Hope that reassures you...

Thanks ellieinshock - it really has!

I know wherever I go in London will be overstretched - the nature of living in London! But ut looks like I might be going to be put in the high-risk category and am keen to ensure I am at a good hospital.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reassure me! If anyone else has any experiences would love to hear them.

I am 33 weeks so not actually given birth there but the ante natal care so far has been pretty good I think Ialthough I don't have anything to compare it to!!). Not perfect but pretty good. I haven't had to wait too long for ante natal appointments (30 mins was the worst) but the wait time for scans is pretty long - I think we were there for over an hour waiting for the 12 week one so definitely bring snacks/magazines for that! The midwives are nice but you never see the same one. I have some of my appointments with the GP so see the same GP every time.

All the people I know who have given birth there have said it was great which has reassured me.

BTW Thanks EllieShock - your post has made me feel a lot better as well.

Good luck with everything

Im 25 weeks with my first and Im also doing my antenatal at UCH. So far so good. I was very pleased with the sonographers that did my scans, specially with the one at 12 weeks. Baby was moving a lot so my scan lasted for over an hour. The sonographer was not in a rush and was very patient. I also had a CVS done and no problems whatsoever. Fingers crossed care in labour will be the same. Im sure im going to need it on that day!

Gave birth in the EGA wing at UCH 16 months ago. The wing had just opened and the unit was beautiful. All my antenatal appointments were great, the birth was a disaster, I'm sorry to say. I have a beautiful daughter and she is fine, but I sustained damage that will be lifelong. We arrived in the middle of the night and once the initial assessment occured, I was given demorphine and we didn't see ANYONE until I sent my husband out to say something was wrong and I needed help (5 hours after inital assessment). It wasn't busy (they couldn't use that excuse) all the midwives were standing around chatting when we arrived. After my husband returned with staff, they were concerned the progession had happened too fast and the baby would be in jeopardy because you can't have demorphine within a certain period of delivery. I was too wacked out on demorphine to help effectively in the delivery. I tore badly, it was terrible. I was rushed to theatre and the team there was outstanding, but it was all preventable if only I had been monitored regularly. Sorry this isn't a happy tale. From what I've read this story could occur at any NHS hospital, so it's really important to be very explict in your instructions to staff and assertive in seeing them very regularly once labour has begun to monitor you carefully.

Hi

I am 6 weeks pregnant and considering UCH as my hospital of choice. There are some good stories here although from 3 years ago. Any recent examples?

Thanks

I had a ELCS there 2 months ago. The team of midwives/obstetricians/etc dealing with the csection and the midwives in the recovery room were amazing. Incredibly nice, supportive and relaxing.

The run up to the section (standard tests, general midwife appointment etc) were satisfactory. Some midwives are better than others. You will always have one that is rude and dismissive but there are plenty others that are great and supportive. If you are interested in knowing that there is a great team of specialists around for emergencies/special cases (fingers crossed it never comes to that), then UCH is great.

The sonographers were great. They took their time with everything.

I am sitting on the fence regarding the maternity ward as we were forcibly discharged (they were very very busy) even though I was concerned regarding the baby. He was not feeding well and had low temp. The paediatrician had asked to see me if the baby's temp does not rise however the midwives took the view that he was fine. However, I must say that from what I hear, that is just the state of maternity wards. Overall I cannot complain. I would go back for the second one for sure.

Thanks for your views TheMusketeer. Hope your baby is feeding properly now.

Hello girls, I'm french living in London and i have been referred to the UCLH for my pregnancy..i would like to know what did u hear about epidural? I'm a bit worried because i had some reviews saying that even in the labour ward, you can wait a lot before you get it!!!!

Hello ladies,
I gave birth to my son 3 years ago there and it wasn't a great experience. I wanted an epidural, but wasn't given one as they were too busy. I was sent to the birthing centre for assessment, they said they will call me when they have smb to put me an epidural, well they never did. I spent all night waiting. I ended up in the birthing pool, where I fell asleep from exhaustion. My contractions bacme less frequent, but they kept me in the pool. Finally after what felt like hours and hours of pushing my son was born. I had a bad tear though. They took me very quickly to the theatre to 'fix' the tear and did a bad job. I had infection afterwards and had to 'fix' the scars in a private hospital over the next year or so. It was horrible as I could have sex for a very long time due to pains in the stitches. Sorry for TMI.

On the positive side, I had the same midwife through the entire labour, she was good. Also at all times my hubby and I had a room to ourselves and he stayed there for 2 days, nobody tried yo kick him out. I was too ill to be by myself. So no sharing room with anyone! And nobody was going to get rid of us due to lack of beds, we left home when we were ready, and they even asked if we are sure we want to go. That was all in the birthing centre.
So I would recommend giving birth there if you fancy a natural one. But I think the Labour ward is a very different story.

I went back to hospital with various concerns after the birth and they were very good, taking time to listen and arranged a good specialist to see me.

I am now preggie again and having read that other hospitals are even worse I am going back to UCHL. But this time no natural birth for me, thank you.

Another positive thing is that it is very clean and modern.

Im under UCLH, EGA wing for monitoring because DD has some problems. They have been nothing but wonderful. I would recommend their antenatal treatment. Ill give birth locally, but if/when DD needs treatment she will be there or GOSH. Im really pleased that we got sent to UCLH because of GOSH being their next step. Other London hospitals refer elsewhere.