Royal London Hospital

Hopefully you have a good experience, mine was the worst experience ever.(don’t want to scare you) but I know people who’s had a good experience there x it really depends on the staff

I had my first daughter there and will be having my second soon. I have no complaints about how I was treated, other than the fact that NHS was very stretched and you could see that, but I suspect that is the scenario in most cases. Felt respected and listened, baby had all the checkups needed and for me it was the most important thing

I had a great experience there - I shared it here if helpful: https://www.peanut-app.io/share/2cb25V0DGQb Good luck!

Worst experience… and my baby has a scar on his face

I had a planned c section and it was the best experience and all the staff were absolutely amazing. I couldn’t wish for anything more. The care myself and my baby received was amazing. You have to do what’s right for you don’t listen to anybody else. At such a late stage in your pregnancy you just need to ask yourself if you want to change care now but you know your own gut feeling.

If I had to do it again, I would have gone with my gut and stayed clear of the Royal London. If you have the opportunity to go to St Thomas or UCL do that. Royal London is understaffed and the quality of care suffers for it. I had to wait 5 days to give birth, because there were no beds available, there were no lactation consultants, and my baby was sent home with a dangerous level of jaundice. Doctors there openly admit that the hospital is chaos compared to other better equipped and staffed hospitals.

It's hit and miss. I was in the hospital for a week and had so many different midwives, drs, nurses and obstetricians. Some were horrendous and others were amazing. Just remember your rights. If you're not comfortable, you don't want that midwife or want things a certain way, you are allowed to request changes. We asked for a different midwife one night and they accommodated. I advise to have someone with you who knows exactly how you want things and you are comfortable advocating for you. Labour is very overwhelming and sometimes it's impossible to think or make choices. Everyone's situation, labour and births are different so you'll be treated accordingly. When it came to my actual labour, the 2 different midwives I had were both amazing.

I was really worried about going to RLH but i actually had the best experience. My waters broke at 33+6 and i was in 5 days before baby was born, and 5 days after. During that time i saw a lot, i saw busy days where staff where stretched and ladies have birth in the pre-labour ward (safely, and were fine) and days like my own birthing day which were quieter. I met so many members of staff and only one was a little off but i think that was cultural and it was quickly sorted. I had great care, felt respected and listened to, and will be going back later in the year for my next birth.

Like what other people said it is hit a mess but my experience was really good. I felt really well cared for and my midwife advocated for me when I couldn't. Only thing I will say is that they didn't treat my partner very nicely.

Thank you so much to everyone for sharing your experiences, that helped 🥰💕

Had the worse experience during labour due to lack of staff. I was induced and there were only 2 midwives/nurses working a 11pm-7am shift during that night in the labour ward. I was scared 😩 luckily my daughter was born at 8:30am and more midwives and nurses were around. The aftercare was amazing though. My daughter had Jaundice so i had to stay for a week & they took great care of her and me. Not everyone’s experience is the same though ♥️

Cannot comment on the hospital stay and giving birth part (as I relocated to Cambridge towards the end of pregnancy), but the scan appointments were great and detailed and I liked that they were offering extra scan at 36 weeks to check the baby's growth, which actually identified me having a big baby and possibly gestational diabetes which the other hospital missed.

I had an emergency c section there and I really can’t say anything bad apart from the general NHS issue of them being understaffed etc. One girl changed hospitals and ended up giving birth in a hole-way of that “better” hospital, so I really think it depends on the situation and circumstances, RLH is a big hospital and has a lot of patients but also a lot of good doctors. Before my c section we were waiting for a bed at the ward for 4 days and that room that we had was pretty amazing. Good luck!

I spoke to my midwife about this as I also just read bad reviews. Apparently they have the best care for high risk pregnancies why they take patients from all over London and not just from their borough. This means they take on more patients than other Hospitals and the care for low risk pregnancies may be abit more compromised if you want to be on the 6th floor where the doctors at. The birth center on the 8th floor offer a tour once a month though if you want to scope it out and tower hamlet home birth team seems amazing (which I’ve decided to change to).

I recently changed from Royal London to St Thomas, because I was anxious about all the feedback I was reading, even the CQC report says it needs improvement. My experience is so much better in St Thomas already. I would recommend you to change if you still have a chance

St Thomas!