"Care with warmth, honesty and consistency"

From our early to final experience the Whittington has offered a really positive experience. We were always treated by warm and loving staff who were highly professional and supportive.

Our pregnancy was without complications - appointments always ran to time, were well communicated and the free classes we attended were informative and well run. Our midwife was able to see us for every appointment and despite I am sure a high caseload, always remembered everything (from our jobs to family arrangements).

Our midwife in the birth centre stuck completely to our birth preferences until things got a little difficult - they then delivered our daughter with a cord around her neck and revived her when she struggled to breath all while reassuring us as we looked on. Sadly because of the length of the third stage of labour and baby getting a bit stuck I had some tearing.

I was in surgery within 30mins and the staff there reassured me, spoke with me, communicated with my partner and put my baby on me for skin to skin during the procedure. They were absolutely brilliant.

In Celiiar ward it was busy on that first night and we ended up being in hospital for 4 nights because our baby had jaundice and lost some weight. Over the time we were there every midwife knew exactly our case background and was warm, supportive, kind and on hand to help. We also had contact with baby nurses and doctors and breast feeding support. Our baby's tongue tie was diagnosed and a referral made within a day and we have an appointment in under a week to address it.

Being on Celliar was like being cared for in a huge family. Both midwives popped by to see us and it is clear at the Whittington that the staff really care about you and your new family and want to do their best to look after you. This extends across the board and includes the cleaning and healthcare assistants - everyone who comes in your cubicle / room basically does so with upmost respect and warmth. This isn't an easy culture to build across the board and something that is so important in what is clearly a pressured service. The Midwives who visited us at home carry this same ethos.

We chose The Whittington because we heard it was a personable hospital (compared to clinical tone at UCH) and we absolutely felt that it met and exceeded our expectations in terms of medical and personal care.

We have a few small points for feedback which we have provided directly to the hospital but given the complexities in our case and the time we spent there I would unreservedly recommend having a baby there - if relationships, people, warmth etc are the most important things to you then The Whittington is your place!