Marvellous midwives who delivered a Princess
KATE was in familiar hands at the private Lindo Wing in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, where her medical team was almost identical to the one who helped deliver Prince George in 2013.
Conspicuously absent was Sir Marcus Setchell, former surgeon-gynaecologist to the Royal Household, who delayed his retirement to deliver the Duchess’s first baby and has since left the profession.
Guy Thorpe-Beeston, Sir Marcus’s successor and a doctor with almost 20 years’ experience, headed up the team this time round. He specialises in high-risk pregnancies and is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, as well as having his own practice in Harley Street.
‘I try to keep things simple, offering honest advice,’ he says of his approach. A mother who recently gave birth with Mr Thorpe-Beeston as her consultant says: ‘He’s not exactly chatty, but very thoughtful and kind. He is straightforward, low-key, a stand-up kind of guy.’
Mr Thorpe-Beeston was joined by Alan Farthing, the Queen’s surgeon-gynaecologist, who has worked with the Royal Family since 2008; Dr Sunit Godambe, consultant neonatologist at Imperial College NHS Trust, who was also at Prince George’s birth; and Professor Huw Thomas, physician to the Queen.
Having such experience on hand won’t have come cheap — a suite of two rooms at the Lindo Wing costs £6,570 for a normal delivery, though Kate, giving birth there for the second time, will have got a 10 per cent discount. Consultants’ fees can come to £6,000 each on top of this.
Two unsung heroines of the royal birth were unflappable midwives Arona Ahmed and her boss Professor Jacqui Dunkley-Bent, director of midwifery at Imperial College, who struck up a close rapport with the Duchess and together delivered the Princess.
Jacqui was on hand for Prince George’s birth, too, but Arona missed the occasion because her shift had come to an end.
Kate’s meticulous birth plan involved being seen first by the red-uniformed midwives, who monitored her contractions and advised William on how he could help.
It is likely that the Duchess went into labour at home before travelling to the hospital, so she may have been in phone contact with the midwives from Kensington Palace. Both had been on standby for a month, and Jacqui visited the palace yesterday to check on mother and baby.