Giving birth in South Bucks

[PinkHydrangeas]

I've just found out I'm pregnant with DC2. I live in South Bucks but am new to the area. There are no maternity hospitals especially close to me. Stoke Mandeville or Wexham are the options the midwife suggested to me. I was wondering if anyone had any experience of either?

Both hospitals are about 40 minutes away from me which is really stressing me out. I sadly cannot go to a midwife led unit as DS was a complicated birth and recovery.

I had DD2 at Stoke Mandeville. Antenatal was mildly chaotic but no worse than the hospital where DD1 was born. I was induced and once I was on the ward staff were great. Despite monitoring etc they were very supportive about birthing positions and staying mobile.

The hospital is hotter than Hades, though. They turn the heating on in September and it stays on til May. Take a fan

I had both my DDs in Stoke Mandeville and had mixed experiences.
DD1 on the labour ward and close to a shift change so the first MW wasn't too interested but the one that took over was lovely.

DD2 5 yrs later I had on the midwife led unit (actually in the same place as the labour ward but different rooms and seperate staff), this was a great experience as we used the birthing pool and had a midwife with us the whole time.
So if you choose SM and are a low risk birth then I would recommend going to the MW led unit.

I have also heard good things about the MW led unit at High Wycombe from friends, the down side is they have no actual maternity/labour unit so if things don't go to plan and you need extra help during the birth it's an ambulance job to SM.

I'm in the middle of the 2 so went with SM just because if it was needed the labour ward with the additional support and consultants were right there.

All my scans and consultant appointments were at High Wycombe and they were fine, generally running on time.

Not had any experience of Wexham.

Stoke - v busy. V hot. Had 2 mws over a shift change and didn't feel confident with either. Didn't like the experience but both DS and I came out of it ok.
Wycombe - blissful. Best experience ever. Was 2nd birth though so straightforward. Lovely mw (think they only rotate experienced ones to Wycombe as there is only one mw there at a time), lovely assistant, pool, DH could stay with me all night in the room (no busy ward, room with en suite bathroom). Had DD at 2pm, home at 9am to my own bed.

Oops had DD at 2am not pm - phone changed it!!

I don't have personal experience of Wexham for delivery (I've only been there with a mc), but generally, the hospital has really improved since the merger of the trust with Frimley Park. They do have a low risk unit alongside the delivery unit.

Have had two DC at Wexham and have had excellent care both times. I honestly have no complaints at all.

I had DS1 at Wexham and DS2 at Stoke Mandeville.

Wexham was very good & the care was excellent. Midwives were fantastic both during the birth & on the postnatal ward.

I had DS2 at Stoke because we had moved house closer to Aylesbury. I didn't enjoy the experience, I just didn't feel comfortable there. They were very stretched at the time, I had to wait two hours for stitches because of an emergency on the ward, and I found the midwives on the postnatal ward bossy & unhelpful.

My experience may not be relevant to you as it was 20 years ago and things have probably changed, but I thought I'd post as so far I'm the only one on the thread who's had a baby at both.

I had both mine at Stoke Mandeville. Ds1 was emergency section and DS 2 planned section. Both times the care during birth was excellent . First time round post natal ward was awful. This time in July last year there had been big changes and ward staff were lovely with a much more caring attitude. I saw Miss Iengar (cons) for antenatal appointments and also the obstetric anaesthetic team who were fantastic . I understand that there has been a lot of work to improve the service over the last 2 years.

I Had my daughter at stoke in 2012 in the midwife led centre. I went in around 3pm initially & it was a nightmare to park (usually is during the day) & I found the mw I saw very brisk & dismissive of my contractions so was sent home. Returned at 11pm to an empty car park. As I was low risk we assigned a student mw who was frankly annoying but the main mw seemed nice enough. I guess it comes down to the luck of the draw of the staff on the day & what kind of labour you want (different bedside manner would appeal to different women), although as the main ward was busy it took about an hour to track someone down to discharge us. Baby born at 4am, home by 10am. They do tours of the wards so if you haven't already done so definitely go & look round both to hopefully help you make a decision

I feel for you OP. I live in London but we are moving to South Bucks very soon and planning to have another DC there in a year or two.

Being 40 mins away from hospital is a bit scary but in an emergency an ambulance would get you there quickly! Might be worth chatting to your GP about where they would recommend and or local NCT group because mums there will have experienced local maternity care recently.

I had DD1 at Wexham 3 months ago, I went to the birth centre but have lots of mummy friends that went to the labour ward. Across nearly all of us we found the care in the labour ward and birth centre really good but the post natal care pretty rubbish, in particular those who stayed in the Astor Suite (inc myself) after birth had bad experiences.
For myself, there was no breastfeeding support, food was terrible and trays not taken away for many hours and didn't get breakfast one day, no offer of fresh towels or bedsheets in 3 days for me or DD, painkillers didn't turn up and no prescription to go home with despite the doctor saying she would be giving me one and generally rude/unhelpful staff.
Luckily I was fairly mobile and so could pick DD up when I needed to. I have a friend who also have birth in November and couldn't get out of bed following an EMCS, she had very little help during the nights with her DS.
If you choose Wexham I would say:

1. be assertive with the staff in the postnatal ward if you really need something, particularly at night time.
2. if you think you will need breastfeeding support then look up the details of some local lactation consultants before you go in, just in case you are having difficulties and feel you need some extra help. There are LCs in the area who will come to the hospital if you are in a few days and aren't too expensive (£60ish). You might not need it but better to be prepared in advance.
3. take lots of food with you, be prepared for hospital food not turning up or being late and generally disgusting
4. take a towel for yourself and have spares ready at home for DH to bring in if you are in a few days
5. have blankets for baby in the car, be prepared for them not offering you a fresh set of blankets/sheets which you might need if there is a nappy leak or dribble! Basically, be ready to provide things you need to be comfortable yourself and Wexham will then probably be ok! Good luck with whichever you choose.