Child birth options

I’m not sure what area you’re in, but I didn’t give birth at the hospital my OB wanted me to give birth, and I gave birth at the best hospital in the state and I just had my baby delivered by the on-call ob. As long as they take your insurance, you can deliver wherever you want.

Just make sure you have all your records from your ob to take with you. The hospital doesn’t know anything about you so they need it.

I'm planning to give birth somewhere that might take an hour to get to depending on traffic. My doctor suggested that once you feel any contraction, even if it's early, do the commute and hang out somewhere. Then you'll be closer when you really need to come in. I think your hospital idea is a good one, but of course you do run the risk of not getting much notice and having to do the commute. My doctor also pointed out that the tendency for first time deliveries is that the mom typically comes in early, and it usually takes longer. So you will probably be fine

Incognito I believe you’re UK based as there is a St Thomas’ in London. You can birth where you want. However I’d highly recommend a homebirth. Even stepping foot into a hospital puts you on the cascade of intervention leading to trauma and morbidity. Definitely research it!

@Lottie was considering this but you can’t get the epidural 😭

I changed hospitals at about 28 weeks from one 6 mins from my house to another about 40 mins away because of the CQC report. Best decision I could have made! You need to trust and be comfortable where you give birth x

I had my baby at St thomas (in London) which was a 1 h drive but we went at 7am on Sunday morning so was more like 45 mins. Icoped well on the journey but my labour was a bit weird and even though contractions so intense and 2 mins apart for a couple hours was only 2cm. They didn't make me go home due to the journey time and how much pain I was in every 2 mins for 2 mins so gave me a room on midwife ward but on our own and midwife only checked us every 4 h until I was further along. So it wasn't so bad at all but if I had another baby I would try for queen charlotte

Before they gave me a room I had to labour 2 hours in the MAU and it was horrible as they wouldn't even get me a birth ball and that was helping the pain so much at home. No relief available on MAU at all while waiting for a room apart from the tens machine i brought and my comb and meditations. So don't go when they have a shift change lol as they take a while to find someone to sort you out. Probably I should have gone home as it was just a 1h journey back to my shower and birth ball versus 2 hours waiting in the MAU 😅🫠

To me the idea of a home birth sounds like a gamble as I’ve heard way too many case of mother’s needing an induction/episiotomy/C Section/stitches/blood transfusions etc so if I was you, I’d want to be in a hospital to save my baby’s life and potentially my own. ☺️ Also if the hospital you’re looking at is St Thomas in London just consider traffic. You can give birth at any time between 37-42 weeks. Is there not another hospital you like more that is close by you could go to?

Mine is 35 minutes away with no traffic? If I end up having to make my way up at rush hour you're talking 50 minutes easy. Took me over an hour to get back from an appointment the other day! Not sure if that helps or how close to an hour away this one is for you? Tbh I had the choice of two reasonably and they're both reasonably the same distance! I don't really have closer and I absolutely do not want a home birth. I just don't!

@Amy all the hospitals around me are rated ineadequate as a FTM I’m already terrified about giving birth and wouldn’t want to deliver in such poorly rated hospitals

I completely understand that. Are they under a performance review by the CQC? Because if they are. You might find them to be the best hospital because of how much scrutiny they are under. Also, what has your experience been so far with your scans, blood tests etc? Just because it has that rating doesn’t always mean that you won’t have a good experience. ☺️

Hey! Yes - we lived an hour from St Thomas. Was scheduled for a C-section and had a hotel booked for the night before/night after for my partner but my little one came 4 weeks early. Still made it to St Thomas’ in time and managed to get a hotel for the night too, so my partner was able to nap/have a wash x

I had an awful experience in my local hospital so decided from the start to register with the only hospital within a 30 mile radius of my house with a good cqc rating in maternity care. It is at least an hour away in rush hour but can do the journey in half the time at other times of the day. I have been very happy with their care so far. As someone from the UK, you can change hospitals, you can just do a self referral. Make sure that you have your notes with you and chase them up for appointments. Peace of mind is everything, so go where you feel comfortable. The vast majority of women don't give birth immediately so I'm sure it will be fine.

@Amy I’ve had a really good experience so far even though I’m only 14 weeks, I was considering that point too I’m just scared as the CQC reports states they have a lot of stillbirths and it doesn’t look like anything is being done to improve

I chose to give birth at an MAU hospital that was over an hour away because like you everything close to me was rated inadequate/ had poor/mixed reviews. It was a little bit more of a faff, as I had consultant led care so I had to go there for a couple of appointments during my pregnancy. But the birth itself and the staff were incredible. On the day, I was actually an hour and a half away, because I was 15 days early and was visiting family, but even with a fast labour there was plenty of time (waters broke at 4am, arrived at 10.30am, and she came at 1.30pm) x

Try not to read too much (you’ll drive yourself insane!). If you’ve had a good experience with them this far and they are under investigation, they will be doing everything possible to not get shut down. The hospital I’m currently at (I’m 26+2W) are down as ‘requires improvement’ and I can’t fault them! They’ve gone above and beyond and let me tell you, my pregnancy has not been easy. Honestly, so many maternity units are under improvement at the moment, there was even an article recently about just how shocking it is that so many need to improve. If they’ve been so good thus far, trust in your own experience and not just a report. The report is an indication of those who participated. Imagine how many mums went away with no issues at all. You’ll always hear the bad, rarely the good. Which hospital is it if you don’t mind me asking? ☺️

You don’t need an epidural always! You’d be amazed at how great breathing techniques and a hot bath are!

@Amy thank you! It’s north Middlesex hospital in north London

@Amy you can have an episiotomy at home. However even just by planning to have a homebirth you’re going to statistically be less likely to need any of those interventions you’ve mentioned.

@Lottie I think you’re brave for your strong belief in home-birthing. I’ve seen enough births of those close to me and heard enough stories of others close to me to know, I would not chance it and they most certainly did need intervention which would not have been resolved by planning for a home birth. ☺️ each to their own I guess.

Incognito, If I was you, I’d pop another post on say the England group on here to see if anyone can share their experiences to give you a bit of perspective on that hospital? ☺️

@Amy I had a homebirth myself for my first baby (I’m also a midwife) and knew for me it was the safest place to have my daughter. I wasn’t brave, I was informed and knew my rights and options. Don’t get me wrong things can go wrong, and lady with a high risk pregnancy would probably be best birthing in a hospital, but not always. Like I said, the cascade of intervention is mad in a hospital but they do also save lives when needed.

@Lottie I’m glad that for you everything went off without a hitch. I’ve known others who wouldn’t have been so lucky. As I say, it’s a personal choice. I personally just would not take my chances. That’s my choice. ☺️

@Amy absolutely each to their own! All the best with your birth, I saw you’re due in the new year! Educate yourself as much as you possibly can on all your choices and options and that’ll help ease the childbirth fear. Being in control of your choices will be your best tool 🥰

My first hospital which was 10mins away wasn’t exactly terrible but not well equipped at all when I had my first. I fell pregnant again quickly and opted for a different hospital (45-60mins away depending on traffic). I started feeling niggles that quickly turned into contractions at 38+6 after a sweep so started timing and the app was like you should head to the hospital! Hubby got me there in about 35mins - body wanted to push in the car, I was holding on. We nearly didn’t make it, he was born so fast that he had blood shot eyes.

@Lottie thank you 🥰 I’ve looked at various options and I’ve already made my birth plan and am open minded for all eventualities. I am fortunate to live only 5 minutes from my hospital.

Something you need to check is some higher rated hospitals have to close their bookings once they hit a certain number of bookings for due dates a month. One of the hospitals some of my patients go to have to do this so reject transfers of care if they have already reached capacity for that due date month to ensure safe staffing levels for those due.

I gave birth at St Thomas’ and it’s fantastic. I lived in Woolwich with baby 1 which was an hour commute and now I’m in west London (again an hour away). I’m having baby 2 there again as it’s so worth it. My local hospitals were so bad I wouldn’t even use them for a minor injury let alone birth. St Thomas’ made me feel very safe, they were so helpful and professional. They took amazing care of me and my husband which as first time parents was really nice. Having Evelina in the hospital too was a relief because so many maternity units don’t have good paediatric units in case you need them.