Kingston or Chelsea & Westminster? Post Reply

[CJJ]

Hi there - I wondered if anyone had any recent experience at either Kingston or Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals?

I need to decide between the 2 shortly. I had my first at C&W in 2008 and had a good experience for Antenatal and the birth (emergency C-section) - but the Postnatal care was dreadful and I was there for 3 days - which is detering me from going back.

I'm slightly worried about the recent news of staff cuts at Kingston - but most people I know who have given birth there got a single room after the birth which is a big plus for me.

I know things can change alot in 3 years - so if anyone has any feedback to share I'd be grateful!

[Sam001]

Hi,

I had my first baby at Chelsea & Westminster last July 2010. Ante-natal care was fantastic but the post natal care was horrific. I had to stay in hospital for 3 days and it wasn't nice at all. Am sorry but I was not impressed with C&W at all!

[twice_as_nice]

Hi had my babies in C&W and I thought the care was brilliant....there were lots of agency midwives which in my view were much nicer and more professional than the midwives that actually were employed by C&W (both worrying and surprising). Unfortunately I hear that they have been reducing the numbers of agency staff which I think ironically will lead to a worse service.

My experience of post natal care was very good - but because I had twins I was in a private room which probably improves the experience by a thousand percent (since it was more private, less noisy and they were much more relaxed about my husband staying after visiting hours).

From what I've heard of people's birth experiences in a variety of hospitals, I think it's a fact that wherever you go in the NHS, pre-natal care is going to be given the resources and post natal care is going to be minimal - as resources are limited - so I'm not sure it really makes all that much difference, sorry!

[twingirlsmama]

i had a dreadful experience at kingston when i was in there for 10 days with a mystery virus so would never have considered going there for the birth of my twins.
i chose to go to C&W and whilst the ante natal care was ok, always ridiculous waiting times however, it was all very chaotic re the birth. i was booked in full term for induction on the monday and they told me they werent ready and to go away for a few hours. i went back and was just left sitting around waiting not knowing if i was staying in or not. because they were so busy and they had had several 'emergencies' over the weekend they couldnt do anything until the tuesday but said that if i went home i would effectivly lose my place in the queue - unbelievable really. i stayed on a ward overnight wheich was dreadful to be honest. i was given a private room at noon on tuesday when they induced me and from there it was significantly better although there were lots of contradictions in what i could and couldnt do compared to what i'd been told at the introduction seessions to prepare for the actual birth. 12 hours after being induced i was practically made to have an epidural which i didnt want so i couldnt walk around and let gravity help with babies that didnt want to come out! i had to have the babies in theatre in case of complications and i went back in the private room it was like a hurried check out in a hotel back to a ward.
i had no help here whatsoever from staff and i specifically asked to be woken in the night and have help with a feed - i was totally ignored. i was given no help in finding my way around and whilst i didnt expect one to one care some attention would have been nice. i refused to stay in and insisted i was going home less than 24 hours after the birth.
I feel i was mislead by the head of the team there about the care i would receive bearing in mind i was having twins. thankfully i am very organised and capable and i took it upon myself to make decisions however anyone feeling vulnerable could have been very upset by the experience.

[gail0810]

Hello, I had my first baby in Kingston hospital last August and I was very happy with my experience there overall and would definitely go there again. I chose Kingston as it's a smaller more personable hospital. All my ante natal care was at Queen Mary's in Roehampton, which was good. My only complaints were that it was a struggle to get 'booked in' and get through on the phone to find out what was going on and the appointments sometimes ran quite a bit late and I didn't see the same midwife twice - so I didn't have a 'named' midwife, but I guess this happens in lots of hospitals. When it came to the birth, I had hoped to go to the midwife led unit and use a waterbirth pool. However in the event I had to be induced and was admitted straight onto the labour ward so didn't get anywhere near the pool or midwife led unit!!!

Though we were left on our own quite a bit before my contractions really got going as the midwives were called away to assist with deliveries, they were fantastic during the birth - really caring and encouraging and I was not worried for one second. They were quick and efficient after the birth too and I was admitted to a single private 'amenity' room for a cost of £100 a night (though they only charged us for one night). You have to be very firm that you want your own room, as initially they tried to put me onto a ward with three other ladies. I was kept in for two nights so was glad I had my own room and the midwives were only too happy to help me with breastfeeding etc but only offered to take my baby for a couple of hours the first night so I could get some sleep.

My initial postnatal care was provided by St Georges and was OK as with all things in life, it depended on the individual - some midwifes were better than others. If you're thinking about Kingston you should get yourself booked in there as soon as you can as it gets filled quickly as it's small. You can always change your mind later on and go somewhere else if you have second thoughts but my GP advised that it would be difficult to change to Kingston from somewhere else at a later date.

[mrsbalham]

I had a very positive birth at C&W. Antenatal and post natal care were both excellent, the only problem was the availability of midwives but I think that's the case at any hospital on a particularly busy day. Good luck!