Hello all

I'm currently 19+4 and will be moving 200 miles north (probably Cheshire-ish) in July - so I currently have absolutely no idea where I will be giving birth. Any advice or feedback on any of the above (or nearby alternatives) would be very welcome.

Chester will probably be the furthest away, but I have a soft spot for it, having been born there myself - don't remember much about it though

I know nothing about Wythenshawe and all I know about Warrington is that my parents thing it is horrible (I think coloured by my brother spending far too much time there, for a fractured spine and shredded spleen on two separate occasions). My cousin gave birth there and said it was okay but they are not big on BF.

Ideally I'd like to spend some time in a birthing pool (though not necessarily give birth in it), I like the idea of midwife centres and I would like some BF support. Really though I just want me and LO to make it through okay.

Thanks in advance

RW x

Don't forget Leighton Hospital in Crewe - covers quite a large part of Cheshire. I gave birth there and had no complaints at all. I could have used a pool if I wanted one.

Also very keen to get baby BFing as soon as possible after birth (while we were still in the delivery suite)

Wythenshawe is very nice, but I haven't had a normal delivery there,only ecs. The wards are clean, and the staff friendly. Had great, consistent support with bf.
My friend has had very successful births at the new stepping hill birthing centre- her second was born in his bubble!

I had dd1 in Stepping Hill in Stockport (if you're close enough to Wythenshawe, you're probably not that far away from Stockport)

And apart from them having the same curtains as then, I believe it's still ok.

They have a new midwife led birthing unit, I think.

sounds lovely.

Thanks, this is all useful! I have no idea where we'll end up living, as it will depend largely on where DH finds work, but all info is useful

wythenshawe ok. Trafford gerenal ok. I have heard many horrendous stories about stepping hill, I personally would rather travel than go there

I was in Warrington & frankly was not amused & couldn't wait to leave. I found it to have dirty toilets, I was left alone for ages & i just felt that they were very understaffed. I wasn't given any BF advice. That was almost 8 years ago though. It may have improved.

I've had all 5 DC's at Chester and all has been fine. Three of them were born by c/s and found care excellent and wards clean.

My friend is a trainee midwife at Warrington and she is fab (no guarantee you'd get her of course )

Stepping Hill used to be the last place on the planet to have babies, nearly got shut down, but as I say, I think it has this new set up.

will you be anywhere near Macclesfield?
I had dd there and it was fine. I haven't heard any bad reports about it.

I had both DSs at Chester and was very pleased with my care, especially as it wasn't straightforward 2nd time. (Veggie food wasn't brilliant though).

Had DS2 at wythenshawe and was really impressed with the care I received - endless support with breastfeeding, and nt just for me, but everyone on the ward; skin to skin straight after CSection, jolly staff, very nice cups of tea. Plus made a friend for life in the bed opposite (nursing a hangover from a night out with her last night!) It's a teaching hospital, which as an ex-NHS employee I would always go for.

i had mine at stepping hill and during labour was fab, altho the aftercare not great

have friends who have had babies at wythenshawe and not heard any bad stories about it!

Had DD1 at Chester - was fine.

ITS- I really liked wythenshawe, eps. after St Mary's. They brought me cups of tea and toast in the middle of the night when DD was feeding. I'm going for VBA2C there with this pg.

I had DS at Warrington - was not impressed. carpets on the floors - yuk! nobody i know got to use the pool whereas I know loads of people who used the pool at stepping hill. have heard positive stuff about wythenshawe too.

warrington hospital is generally awful and we wouldn't go back there if our lives depended on it

Care at Countess of Chester is very hit and miss depending on midwife, would not particularly reccomend, particularly if you're after good breastfeeding support. Haven't been able to wait to get out after having all mine.

Good to see my parents' views on Warrington aren't too far off the mark!

Bizarrely, I've remembered that I worked at Stepping Hill (very briefly, typing). They do seem to have a snazzy new birth centre according to their website, so maybe that's worth looking into.

paddingtonbear1 I don't think we'll be near Macclesfield, but you never know!

bramblebooks veggie food isn't an issue for me (though I'm kind of expecting all hospital food everywhere to be horrible!)

Wythenshawe is sounding good (I'm a sucker for a good cup of tea).

Many thanks everyone x

How much choice do GPs normally give, can you choose any hospital or do they have to be within a certain distance?

Hope Hospital in Salford comes highly recommended as they have a fab midwife led birthing suite there seperate from the actual hospital. It has a pool and is great for a drug free labour. I had both mine at St Marys and would recommend there too.

I didn't like St Mary's. I had a bad birth experience, but aside from that,though the breastfeeding straight after my emcs went well, the help on the ward was very conflicting and many were very unhelpful. I was bedridden for two days and nobody brought me anything to eat or drink (except my family). The beds on the regular wards after I was moved from the recovery room were just the oldest basic beds and were agony. Everyone kept their curtains closed and it was very dark and dreary. I wasn't given a draw sheet when stuck in bed and was huffed at when I asked for my sheets to be changed. I found it very depressing.The cleaners would wake everyone up at 7am regardless of how long you had been asleep. I think if you have a good delivery and are in and out you would be ok. MY mum had my brother at st mary's and thought the building may have changed but it was still as grim as it was in the 1960's. Sorry, bit of a rant there.

sil had her babies in warrington in the last three years and it wasn't that bad - but then again she didn't want to bf so didn't need support, but she was looked after really well in the latter stages of pregnancy(due to previous worries)

would definetly NOT reccomend Leighton (in fact i drove for over one hour (whilst bleeding at 31 weeks ) to get away from that hospital area(due to previous birth there...

I'm talking of st mary's manchester, BTW

Had both mine in Wythenshawe - not vaginal births (1 crash section, 1 emerg section) but fab both times, really couldn't fault anything (apart from the usual crappy NHS food, cups of tea were great and plentiful) They did their best to encourage VBAC, it just wasn't meant to be.

Delivery suite midwives were lovely, anaesthesia team were hilarious nutters, ward midwives were great and very pro-BF, esp a regular called Angela (aka the Angel of the Night, by me at least) who worked nights and was soooo patient with my very windy fractious screaming babies.

Haven't heard many positive reports about St Mary's. Stepping Hill's newish birth centre is meant to be good, but I didn't rate the community midwives attached to Stepping Hill (I saw them throughout 2nd pregnancy as GP surgery is linked to Stockport/Stepping Hill - all very blase/indifferent imo) The Wythenshawe community midwifery team are brilliant, pro active birthing etc.

St Mary's was still grim when my friend was there 4yrs ago!

Just thinking, I'm not sure if there's a birthing pool in Wythenshawe yet? There is one at Stepping Hill.

Still, I'd definitely still chose Wyth over Stepp Hill, the consultants seem to be more highly rated (although hopefully everything will go swimmingly for you and you won't need to see one )

Yep, still grim, DS is just under three.
No mention of a pool on wythenshawe website.

Thank you all for this - it's fab (and I couldn't even find a website for Wythenshawe!).

I'm not sure how much choice I get (do they have catchment areas?) but my dad is a retired GP so could ask him I suppose.

had both mine at Trafford General and very happy with it both times. But a long time ago now so perhaps not relevant to you

I don't know about catchment areas. I was offered pretty much anywhere that was open when my first choice was full, so it could possibly be that you can choose. I think you probably don't want to be too far away from home.

One of my friends was about 13 miles from Wythenshawe but got in there no problem - she was much closer to Warrington.

Hi

Wythenshawe don't have a pool, just asked my midwife this week.

Can we take our own paddling pool? I really fancied a water birth. Not brave enough for a home VBA2C!

Hey Paddington when were you in Macc ?

I thought Macclesfield was great, and the food was fab.

I've heard good things about Chester too.

kat, it was July 2003. I went into labour on the hottest day of the year! The hospital was soo busy but they dealt with it pretty well. I had a fab trainee midwife with me for a lot of the time too. I've heard mixed views of Stepping Hill, but a few of my friends gave birth there and said it was ok.

Wythenshawe is b. awful for parking.

V true, but then most hospitals are - Stepping Hill is too.

<<speaking as a former national Sales Manager who spent the whole working week trying to get a parking space in UK hospital car parks...>>

Don't know anything about Wythenshawe but friend just had hers at Warrington and thought it was fine (although ended up with forceps).

I'm originally from Chester, and both my sisters and a number of friends have had their babies at the Countess. One sister and friend have had positive experiences (my sister's first was a water birth, the second too speedy a delivery for it to be considered). My other sister had a rather different experience of the Countess, but she had that baby eight years ago and I'm sure things have changed since then. I've also had friends who have had their children at Arrowe Park and rate it highly.

Good luck!

IKWYM about the parking at Wythenshawe. Spent a lot of time there as had HG, but it is doable. I think lots of hosp. have the same problem.

The Countess was great, I had DS1 there but am hoping for a homebirth this time. Staff were all very nice - only complaint was food wasn't great but I think most hospitals are like that aren't they?

I was born at Warrington (as were both my brothers) but have no idea what it's like now.