A consultant paediatrician of my acquaintance, trained on the London round, recently had to make the same choice. In the event she plumped for Lewisham and had no complaints. But Kings is a leading teaching hospital with a very diverse focus and she didn't seek to fault that. I think what swayed her was that Lewisham was a slightly more "meat and drink" operation where she was confident that the focus of the medical staff would be on her needs. And it is a well respected teaching hospital in itself.

As for the suggestion of having a first baby at home:should you be unfortunate enough to run into complications (I very much hope not but it is a statistically higher risk with your first) they may well arise quickly and need to be sorted out quickly. I'm friends with a lot of medics but I don't know any that have chosen to have their children at home. I don't mean to say this as some sort of jeremiah. I'm sure whatever you choose and wherever you choose to go you'll enjoy a wonderful experience.