"Harris birthright centre"

It has been a mixed bag with me so far with this place. Its brand new, clean and efficient I will give them that. But my overall experience hasn't been super positive.

- The receptionist on my first visit in particular was rude

- Its a research hospital so the scans are thorough and long, however given that you are helping them I think its pretty poor that not only do they not give you a picture of the scan (you have to take them yourself with your phone) they only let you do so at specific points

- The doctors are knowledgeable but they are not very warm or particularly friendly. This is supposed to be a joyous, exciting time and they diminish that somewhat.

- At my second scan (anomaly scan) there was a marker for down syndrome indicated. This was a concerning moment that was made all the worse, my different people coming in and out of the room during the scan without comment to why this was happening (4 in total if I remember correctly) before they actually told me anything. It made it a very anxious experience. More so than it needed to be.

Though I will say the final doctor who explained to me what was going on and the implications and possible next steps, did so supportively and well.

Over all though it hasn't been the best experience so far. And instead of being excited about my final scan in 6 weeks i'm more anxious.

Furthermore the midwifery stuff- I was referred to serenity midwives, again even though friendly, i've never seen the same person more than once and they failed to bring up a MATB1 form (necessary from 20 weeks to give to your HR at work) and it proved difficult to chase them as they are only in twice a week and don't man the phones a lot.

All this makes me concerned about the level of care and support I will actually get at Kings when I go into labour and I am considering the Lewisham birthing centre instead.