Forum Topic

Recommended maternity wards

Hi there,My partner and I are expecting our first child in July, and are due to move into the area in January. Therefore, we need to book ourselves into a local maternity unit ASAP, but have no idea where to start in terms of choosing one.Clearly, Ealing hospital is the nearest, but we have heard mixed reviews of the care here.Can anyone offer any experiences of any good local maternity hospital units near Ealing?Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance.

Kristina Wilson-Brown ● 5211d8 Comments

From the information Ealing Local Involvement Network has, all our local units provide a safe service.  Shortage of midwives is a national problem and we have heard that at times non booked in mum's turn up in labour which units can't plan for so unfortunately neither can you. The important thing is to book early as units are quickly booked up.  Good Luck and please do let us know your experiences as we have local residents working on our local Maternity Service Improvement Board. 0800 652 7200

Beth Hales ● 5205d

Our experience of Ealing (both ante and post natal) was excellent and we were there a lot! My recommendation would be to go to the easiest option for you as you will hear both horror stories and hugely positive experience from all of them. In most cases the quality of the service will depend on how busy their very stretched teams are and you simply can't predict that. Best of luck!

James Brown ● 5206d

We had our baby at QC in Oct 2010 and I couldn't thank them enough for their care. If you're new to the area I would get in contact with them asap as they run  up to 5 excellent ante-natal courses and a tour of both the birth centre and delivery suites. We took our daughter back their on her 1st birthday to say thank you for their care. I'm happy for you to send me a PM if you require anymore info. They were wonderful.

Jennifer Monaghan ● 5206d

Arthur that is good to see. I just know from my nieces experience that it was chaotic and various anti-natal appointments were cancelled and and not rearranged.

Peter Chadburn ● 5208d

I collected a recent mother and child from West Middlesex Hospital's maternity unit on New Year's day. I witnessed the doctor and midwife examining and signing off the baby for discharge. Better than exemplary. Brilliant.

Arthur Breens ● 5208d

While I have no personal experience of the maternity unit at Ealing Hospital I have had three dreadful and frightening encounters with the casuality unit in the hospital proper. If you needed to be treated in the event of an emergency requiring your movement to the casualty/emergency unit next door you would be in trouble. Also, bear in mind that some of the units of Ealing Hospital are part-time so, for example, there are only Ear Nose and Throat(ENT) staff there on certain days during office hours. There are no on-call staff for ENT after about three in the afternoon as the ENT unit is a satellite operation of St Mary's (miles away). On this basis my advice would be to steer clear of Ealing.Will.

William J Malmet ● 5210d

Yes, Queen Charlotte's does have a good reputation but in my opinion it is not deserved. My wife gave birth there six months ago, and based on my obervations they are quite simply a victim of their own success. There are plainly too many mothers-to-be and not enough staff. This issue is of course common to many maternity units but at QC it seems to be particularly acute.If you do choose QC, one word of advice;  try not to give birth at the weekend. My wife went into (induced) labour on a Friday night, and the lack of staff and pain-relief equipment was a disgrace. I know these words will possibly alarm you, but I can only speak about our own experience. Try to get as many views as possible before making your decision, and certainly check out the QC NHS website, which contains many postings from mothers about the care they received.Incidentally we had our first child at Chelsea and Westminster. The care there was much better. Two widwives were with my wife for the entire 12-hour labour as compared with one solitary **maternity nurse** (i.e. not even a qualified midwife) popping in every 45 minutes or so at QC.

Alex Weel ● 5210d

Ealing Hospital appears to be some things good others not so good and is a hospital under pressure (but then aren't they all). The Maternity Unit is one place i have heard no anecodotal complaints about and people had a good experience that i know. My niece was at West Middlesex and found that chaotic and some problems of the hospital not following up on appointments. So it was a difficult experience for her. Of course Queen Charlotte's which is now in East Acton has a strong reputation. My Late girlfriend was there for other reasons but the care was of a very high standard there and has the Hammersmith hospital next door for emergencies. So good luck and it is lovely news to see babies on the way!!!!

Peter Chadburn ● 5211d