UCLH: labour ward vs birth centre

I am due in March - 1st baby. I cannot decide between labour ward and birth centre at UCLH. Have any of you given birth there recently and could share experience? Thank you

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I haven’t given birth there, but gave birth at St Thomas’ Hospital in their birth centre & I imagine birth centres in all hospitals are very similar. My experience was amazing.
I guess it comes down to what type of experience you want. Do you want a midwife led, no medical intervention or major pain relief type of vibe or are you wanting the presence of doctors and potentially an epidural?
In my opinion birth centres are the way forward, but they also offer the option of going to the labour ward if necessary, as they tend to be very near each other.

I've given birth in a birth centre and labour ward . In queen Charlottes. I would 10000% choose a birth center again !!

At birth centre you get your own private room after giving birth. At labour ward it is an open area and the ‘room’ you share with 3 other mums. I gave birth at UCLH and I listened to their advice not to come to hospital. The moment I decided to go there was too late that they put me straight to labour ward instead of my preferred water birth choice. So I ended up in sharing ward with others and my partner couldn’t rest at all.

Ive given birth in a birth centre but in queen charlottes 2 weeks ago. Highly recommend it, amazing experience. I’d do it again. Happy to answer any questions x

Also I Found if you choose labour ward your stuck in the pre assessment ward before when your IN labour and have to share with 4 other women in a bay ! Not ideal when your in pain 😩 and it takes forever to transfer to the labour ward with your own room , then thrown out quickly back to the shared bay 😩

Birth centre. I had a c section at UCLH but started out in the birth centre which was in my birth plan. I was so tense while contracting in the waiting area for hours and hours, but suddenly I felt completely relaxed in the birth centre. It was the best part of the whole labour experience for me. Hopefully I get to have a VBAC with my next baby there. Gas and Air. Comfy cushions. Ambient room and calming music. It was bliss. Anyway, my baby decided to poop during labour so I was forced to go up to the labour ward. They practically had to pry me away from the birth centre.

I had my baby labour ward at UCLH as I needed to be induced - you have your own room when you’re giving birth but shortly after the baby arrives you are taken to the ward where you are just separated by curtains with the people next to you. I had to stay in a week and honestly it was horrible 😂 I just wanted to get home.

do you know if all the rooms in the birth centre have a pool? Essentially, I would like more natural birth and the pool is the biggest draw in to choose birth centre. I am just little worried about how quick they will be about identifying and moving md if something went wrong. This is my first birth so no idea what to expect

would definitely prefer no medical intervention if I can avoid it. I am also planning no epidural if I can make it as anaesthesiologist said might not work for me anyway due to previous spine surgeries.

my experience was literally identical to you! I went in to be induced as an emergency and stayed on a ward I don’t remember. A few hrs later I was wheeled down to the delivery room where we stayed for the whole day. My son came at half 10 at night. I had enough time to have a shower (my partner had a shower too) before I was told I’ll leave for the maternity until within an hr. I walked to the maternity unit and was put into a bay with 3 other beds separated by blue curtains. Every morning the midwives asked who wanted to go home but because I had strep and my son had to keep being tested for jaundice we had to stay at least 24 hrs. By the 3rd day I didn’t want to stay any longer so I begged them to quickly do their tests so I can go! That maternity unit was horrible!

sorry just seen this, I don’t recall seeing a pool in mine. They do viewings of the birth centre on Wednesday mornings I think, so def check it out! I’m sure they’ll answer all your questions while you’re there

hey! How was your experience in the end? Assume you might have already had the baby by now? If so, massive congratulations 🥳

I’m due in early May (this is my first baby) and really hoping for a water birth at UCLH

Yes, just had my baby there on Friday. I couldnt have water birth at the end as I was induced at 41 weeks for reduced movements and being past due date. My birth ended up in emergency forceps delivery but I have to say that despite and my delivery being anywhere near to what I hoped for in birth, my wishes and preferences were respected whenever possible and although traumatic due to last minute emergency I would rate it as a positive experience and choose UCLH all over again.

in our community

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As above. Trying so hard to keep my eyes open

Is this normal??

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and having really aching legs and they’re all lumpy and swollen. Above the knee and behind the knee . Should I be worried ? My legs have never looked like this up until a few days ago. ??

Induction experience

I just wanted to share my experience with being induced as I wasn’t sure what to expect and thought it may help others.

I opted for the foley balloon which was inserted at 8am Saturday morning, I had to stay in hospital due to hypertension and protein urine however usually you can just go home once this has been done. The insertion of the balloon was not painful, was slightly uncomfortable as there was slight pressure. I actually found having the cervix checked prior to be worse (again not painful at this point just uncomfortable) The balloon had little effect and after having it removed I was still only 1cm. Removal also was pain free and hardly even noticeable.

I then had my first dose of the gel and definitely noticed a difference, I started experiencing period like cramps almost immediately however they were light and manageable. After 6 hours I had another cervix check and although my cervix was soft it was still only 1cm and was only open at the front. I had another dose of the gel and felt an increase in pressure and more intense cramping where I now required pain relief (codeine). After another 6 hours I had another cervix check and I had now dilated to 2-3cm however was still quite difficult to get all the way through so a third gel was recommended which I agreed to.

Almost immediately I noticed the difference and was in considerable pain, I had paracetamol and codeine however the contractions had now become intense and a lot closer together (around 3 minutes apart). After a couple of hours I had my last cervix check and was 4cm and taken down to the Labour ward to have my waters broken and an epidural.

I had been in my room for approx 20minutes when my waters broke by themselves and I was now 10cm and actively pushing…. There was no time for the epidural and my beautiful girl arrived into the world within 2 minutes of pushing.

All in all I would say the cramps/contractions were manageable up until the third gel where it became pretty unbearable however it was for a very short time a gas and air helped take the edge off. The worst part about any of it was actually the later cervix checks where after stimulating the cervix my contractions were at their most painful.

If I had to be induced again I would skip the balloon and opt for the gels immediately as thy had a quicker effect and I would have been out a lot sooner if I had done this to begin with.

One more thing, I’ve never believed when people say “you forget the pain once they’re here” but I can honestly say this is true. It’s been 4 days and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Gave birth (vagina) 5 days ago and yesterday morning and this morning getting lot of pain in my right bottom side and lower back

Exercise 6 weeks after c section

What movement did people start to introduce? I won’t do anything too vigorous until I’ve seen the pelvic physio as I don’t want to compromise anything that may have been extremely weakened through pregnancy! But just wondering what types of classes/movement people started off with?

It’s my birthday tomorrow.

Ok so I am going to be 35 years young. I can’t believe how much this life has thrown at me but it’s okay I’m a survivor. I am truly blessed to be alive. 🥳🧁🎂 The only downside is I won’t be celebrating my birthday because my man can’t take me out. So many emotions right now.