Pregnancy in the UK

We had ours in March and used the birthing centre at Kingston Hospital. It was a great experience. The delivery was managed by the midwives but the doctors did come in at the end to help with a bit of suction to help the little guy on his way out. We didn't have to transfer to the labour ward since the two were on the same floor side by side.

As the dad I was able to stay and the baby was with at least one of us at all times. We had to have a shared room in the recovery area but it was fine.

If you are in London and need transport to the hospital, I would highly recommend Green Tomato Cars. Let them know you're going to the hospital to have a baby and they'll plant a tree in your baby's name.

What a coincidence, both my kids were born in Kingston and my experience was similar to yours.  It was really fantastic . 

There might be some confusion about wether dads can stay or not.  In my experience, dads can stay next to you the entire labour until delivery (whether he wants to or not).  It's only after the delivery that they make dad leave while mom sleeps.  And the nurses fall over themselves to support mom and baby during the night.

I've had babies in the US and the UK and overall I liked the facilities and care in the US better, but still would take the UK's healthcare. I had c-sections both times and was lucky enough to end up with a private room after I had the baby. It was frustrating that my husband couldn't stay because I couldn't sit up to get the baby when he cried so I was constantly calling the nurses. They also discharged me after one night which was pretty surprising. They gave me the option to stay but I got the feeling they wanted me to leave. In retrospect I should've stayed because I was not very mobile and in a lot of pain. This is the only time I've preferred US medical care (cost aspects aside), every other healthcare experience has been much better in the UK.

I've had babies in the US and the UK and overall I liked the facilities and care in the US better, but still would take the UK's healthcare. I had c-sections both times and was lucky enough to end up with a private room after I had the baby. It was frustrating that my husband couldn't stay because I couldn't sit up to get the baby when he cried so I was constantly calling the nurses. They also discharged me after one night which was pretty surprising. They gave me the option to stay but I got the feeling they wanted me to leave. In retrospect I should've stayed because I was not very mobile and in a lot of pain. This is the only time I've preferred US medical care (cost aspects aside), every other healthcare experience has been much better in the UK.

I'm curious what kind of pain relief you were sent home with after the c-section, if you don't mind me asking?  Also, did you have to fight for your section?

Did I read correctly that you were sent home  one night after having a C section?  That sounds nuts. 

My son was born at around 5:30am on a Sunday via C-Section and I was discharged after being in the one night on the Monday am- I was sent away with just paracetamol (but I think you could have had something stronger) but as I had only had paracetamol since my spinal wore off they didn't give me anything else - this was in Nottingham

I'm surprised, but I'm no doctor.

I'm no doctor either but that was a quick stay in that hospital!

Two out of my three kids were c-sections and born in England. We stayed in hospital for three days both times. To be honest, I was climbing the walls with boredom by day two but that's me. But I may have felt differently if I was only in 24 hours. Yikes.


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My son was born at around 5:30am on a Sunday via C-Section and I was discharged after being in the one night on the Monday am- I was sent away with just paracetamol (but I think you could have had something stronger) but as I had only had paracetamol since my spinal wore off they didn't give me anything else - this was in Nottingham

Good for you! 

Yes, I was discharged after one night. They gave me some kind of codeine derivative but I didn't take it. I didn't have to fight for my section - I'd had a previous one with my first baby due to placenta previa, and they scheduled me for an induction (a little earlier than needed but that's another story). During the wait they lost track of my baby's heart rate so they rushed me in for surgery. Thankfully they were able to find it again and gave me the option of continuing to wait but by that point I was like "NO JUST GIVE ME MY BABY!"