Thinking of changing hospitals... Post Reply

[1sttimemummy]

As the title suggests Im thinking of changing hospitals to give birth at, but Im only 3 and a half weeks away from my EDD!!

I am booked in at St.Thomas' but have an appointment to see C&W next Wednesday. After trying and failing to get an elective caesarean as they decided I wasnt going to be psychologically harmed by giving birth naturally, I now feel like I would like to be in a midwife led unit so I feel more "at home".

I have been umming and arring about changing hospitals throughout this whole pregnancy but now the time has come to make a final decision.

Can anyone give me some advice on whether C&W would be a better option? ps. this is my first, so I have no clue about anything!!

[pie81]

I have no personal experience of either but have heard both good and bad stories about both! To be honest from what I've heard I think all 3 of the big local hospitals are much the same.

Bear in mind you will only be allowed into the midwife unit if you are low risk. So if there is anything to make you higher risk eg waters breaking early (ie quite a while before contractions start), needing to be induced, any signs of baby in distress at all - you will not get that option. So choose according to the labour ward as well as just the MWL unit as you never know where you may end up.

[RHOB]

I was in C&W in the birthing unit which is brand new and has excellent facilities. I can not recommend it highly enough...your partner can stay overnight with you in the double bed if you give birth there. I had to be moved to the labour ward and although not as nice as their birthing unit was completely fine and I had a really wonderful birth. Post natal isn't that great as you are in a ward with not as much care as before but I think that is the same everywhere. You can always request and pay for an amenity room which gives you a bit more privacy if they have these. Good luck with the last few weeks of your pregnancy and I hope all goes well xx

[1sttimemummy]

Thank you for your replies - The birthing unit sounds lovely and I would really like my partner to be able to stay with me, especially on our baby's first night. I hope that on Wednesday they will give me a tour so I can see for myself!

[supermummy]

Stupid question but Have you had the tour of the home from home unit at st Thomas's? The whole idea is that it is midwife led, you have en suite room and your partner can stay over. I had a great experience there with my first.

[1sttimemummy]

Hi supermummy,

Yes I had a tour on Tuesday of both the home from home unit and the labour ward, I was told my partner could stay but he would have to sleep on a chair as there were no beds for him, and I dont think that would be fair on him, as he will need his rest too.

However I was happy to discover the water pools and was told I could go in there if they were free without booking first, so that would be a nice experience.

Its nice to hear you had a good experience at St.Thomas'.

[supermummy]

Gosh I'm surprised re the chair. My husband had a sofa bed to sleep on when we there. Maybe we were lucky then! The pool was also a lovely experience. Good luck with your choice.

[Mellomumma]

I think to me it sounds like u really want to change so if feel that strongly then u should go with where u will be most happy. You don't want to be stressed about your hospital choice when you are in labour. I would like to say though, births are unpredictable and u can give birth at anytime of the day and so whilst it is great to have the bed, u may not even get to use it for whatever reason. I have had both my kids at home from home at st thomas and can not fault the care, my 1st was born at 5.14am so neither of us slept and I had post natal complications so was moved to the postnatal ward by that afternoon which husbands can not stay. 2nd was just after mid night and by the time we could catch some z's it was nearly morning so he maybe got 2 hours on a birth mat with blankets they provided and a couple of the pillows we bought in before all usual stuff happens and then we went home.

[mumandmore]

How did you get a tour of st Thomas? I was told they only do online tours now?

[1sttimemummy]

Hi mumandmore,

Yes I think normally they do not allow tours, I only had a tour because I have been seeing a consultant for fear of giving birth- I wanted an elective section but they decided against it, so they thought it would help with my anxiousness if I knew where I was going to be. Too be honest I'm not sure it helped!

[RHOB]

If you do choose to go to C&W enquire about their doula nest as well.

[whirlwind]

Hi

I was at St Thomas' in the labour ward as induced, and I personally found it fine. However, when choosing between St Thomas' and C&W, what swayed me was the availability of emergency care. I know that isn't top of everyone's list and indeed it's a personal choice, but bear in mind St Thomas' is a Category 4 hospital, ie the highest you can get - so they have both intensive care and neonatal intensive care. C&W is not as big. I know it's rare, but I have a friend who ended up in a different hospital to her baby, and that's quite distressing.

Good luck in making your choice.

[Muddlemoo]

Hi for what it's worth i had the most amazing experience at St Thomas'. I had 3 kids (2 were prem) and they couldn't have been more helpful, friendly and reassuring. You're in one of the best teaching hospitals in the world so god forbid something did go wrong you're in the safest hands. I know there are lots of horror stories but i've heard a couple of TERRIBLE ones about C&W - too awful to go into here. Hence why i chose to go to St Thomas and they couldn't have been better. x

[mumandmore]

Hi whirlwind - so Chelsea and Westminster doesn't have an intensive care unit for adults?

[whirlwind]

I believe C&W has both ICU and NICU but is a smaller hospital overall, so my understanding is that it can't deal with as wide a range of complications, should they arise. Obviously in most cases they don't arise and hence that isn't as important to some people. I also had a work colleague with a horror story at C&W, but that's again very personal and even the best hospitals are going to have the odd horror story.