Does anyone know how to find the best maternity hospital near me?
You are at liberty to book into any maternity unit you like, there is no “catchment area”. All maternity units hold open days, usually once a month, where you will be shown around the unit and told all about the facilities on offer. I would advise you to take these tours and ask them directly about what birth options they cater for. Also ask if they offer mobile epidurals, in the event that you need an epidural you would still be able to walk around and go to the loo with a mobile epidural, you are bedridden with a regular one. Don’t think just because celebs go to the Portland that it’s a good hospital, they were under investigation a couple of years ago because of the high number of deaths during c-section. You really cannot beat an NHS hospital, should anything go wrong you have the facilities of a full hospital and crash team. If anything goes wrong at the Portland you have toi travel by ambulance to the A&E dept of the Chelsea & Westminster NHS.
