Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Maternity Hospital Recommendation
Hello,
We are expecting our first child and were hoping someone can recommend a hospital that they have recently had a baby in? I have heard a few horror stories and are struggling to pick one!
All advice is welcome
Many thanks
Con
Tags for Forum Posts: maternity hospital, medical care
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Veronica on
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Hi Con,
We had our baby at UCL Euston and we'll def be going there for the next one. Highly recommended ;)
Veronica
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Permalink Reply by Alice Mezzo on
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I had my children at the Whittington hospital, and was lucky enough to have spent most of my time in the birth centre. I would highly recommend the midwives and facilities there, but I have heard mixed reviews about the labour ward itself. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Con2 on
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Thanks both, we were thinking Euston was too far from N22 when the time comes. Whittington is a possibility we are also looking at North Midds
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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I had both of mine at the Whittington, although not very recently because my youngest is 9 yrs now. But the midwives and the care I had was great. I had pre-eclamsia with my first baby and they were excellent with my induced delivery. The wards afterwards aren't great because there is very little space so you get zero sleep. With my first I had a semi-private room afterwards and stayed one night after the baby was born, but was on the ward with my second and I insisted I didn't want to stay the night.
I go to the North Mid with my son for eye check ups and a few blood tests. I don't really like it, parking is a nightmare and the blood testing wait and organisation was awful. BUT I haven't been to maternity and I don't know anyone who has, so can't comment on that aspect.I do know several people who have had babies at UCL and they thought it was a very good hospital.
I would recommend visiting a couple and getting a feel for them (if you haven't already).
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Whittington is first rate. I've had both kids there (second one only 4 months ago), and can't speak highly enough about the care. I was on the labour ward both times and the staff, facilities and antenatal care are great.
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I had both of mine at the Royal Free. When it matters it's a fantastic hospital - we had complications with the second and the service was outstanding. I have also only heard really positive things about the Whittington. Congratulations and good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Milda Rami on
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I had my son at Whittington 2 years ago. I would say antenatal care was good, the birth centre and labour ward staff were amazing, but unfortunately postnatal ward was absolute hell and postnatal care non existent. So I'm not sure I can recommend it. My friends had similar experience, although those who were lucky enough to end up in the birth unit sing praises. One thing to consider, Whittington doesn't have parking so you need to take a taxi to get there which is less than ideal when you're in labour. Good luck!
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I had my baby at North Mid in March and had a positive experience with staff. The new birthing centre is great, facilities wise, and there is room for your partner to stay postnatally even if you end up being transferred to a ward (which is not the case in all hospitals). The midwives actually bothered to read and respect my birth plan. We were unlucky enough to have to spend time on the Special Care Baby Unit and the staff there were fantastic during a very traumatic time (baby is fine now). We never had a problem parking there. Not sure if this is relevant to you but one of the things that appealed to us about the birthing centre was that the midwives were well aware and respectful of hynobirthing. I would use North Mid again for a future pregnancy.
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We went to the Whittington and I would recommend it. I ended up having to have a 'red button' emergency C-section (the kind where they tell you they'll explain the consent form after the operation because they need to get the baby out NOW) and the doctors and nurses who did that were fantastic. The anaesthetist was particularly great, and explained what was going on throughout the procedure and did a lot to keep us calm. We were on the postnatal ward for 5 days and unluckily for us we were right next to the nurses' station so got little sleep (but frankly we probably wouldn't have at home either, babies are not conducive to sleep!), but we had great care from the team there. There are midwives and nursery nurses 24 hours a day, and loads of breastfeeding support. You sometimes have to go to get them, and they're busy, but they all had time for us.
We also had to take our son to a paediatrician for various things during his first year, and we've been to Paediatric A&E several times this year, and I would recommend going to the Paeds at the Whittington without hesitation. We've also had to go to Great Ormond Street for two separate issues, and they always had good things to say about the Paeds at the Whit.
And re the parking, there is actually a car park at the Whittington, it's just a secret - and it's expensive and you can only use it in the night or at weekends. We just used it when we were going home though - we got cabs to the hospital when I was in labour.
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I was unlucky to give birth on Thursday because their lactation lady only did Monday to Friday MORNINGS. So I didn't get to see her until Monday morning. By that time my son's weight was down to the point where they made me give him formula because they couldn't provide me with a breast pump because they only had one for the whole ward (because the second one gone missing). It was just awful! Also, I had to beg for my pain killers because they were always too busy to give them to me on time. The ward was overcrowded, busy and very very hot.
But I agree that their paediatrics A&E is brilliant. We go there if we neee to.
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Oh and they kept us in for one more night because they didn't have enough staff to sort out discharge paperwork. It was a terrible experience overall (6 nights).
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That happened to us too - my son's weight went down loads and so we had a feeding plan to get him up to a level where they could discharge us. It was massively stressful at the time but using the formula at least got us out of there.
The ward's not exactly a 5-star hotel and they're clearly under-resourced and under-funded, but what part of the NHS isn't? I don't think you'd find many inner-city hospitals in the UK can provide personalised care. A 5-night stay and an emergency C-section at the Portland would have cost me about £15k so I think I got an ok deal out of the Whittington. And I think their obstetric care is really good.
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