Birth options in West Yorkshire - advice please!

[jellybelly85]

I've recently moved to West Yorkshire (based in Horsforth) and first baby due in June (low risk - so far!). My midwife said local options are: Leeds GI, St James, Harrogate and Bradford RI. Does anyone have any recent experiences or advice or how to choose between these?

I'm not overly tempted by LGI or St James, mostly because driving into central Leeds can be a nightmare and neither hospital allow partners to stay overnight.

At BRI they have a midwife-led-unit attached to the hospital (so if things get hairy I would be next door to a labour ward). From what I understand partners are allowed to stay overnight, and generally outcomes for mums going to MLU tend to be better.

Harrogate is a small hospital, seems to have lots of postnatal support incl breastfeeding, and don't rush to kick you out.

Does anyone have recent experiences of these options? What about postnatal breastfeeding support?

Thanks in advance!

[gubbinsy]

I had DS in Jimmy's in 2013 and going back soon for second. Can't fault the delivery element - they were great and I felt listened to and respected the whole time. They have 2 pools and it's pretty much midwife led unless a dr is needed - I had one check me out before they'd let me in the pool as blood pressure was raised and the the same dr at the as I didn't part with placenta but in between only saw midwives. Post natal was pretty awful - under staffed and noisy but I've heard that can be similar everywhere.
I know people who have gone to Harrogate but bear in mind that's quite a long way to go in labour! Not sure about Bradford and I guess in Horsforth it's not so far.

[PixieMiss]

Harrogate has recently refurbished their facilities and it is lovely! A lady from my NCT group recently gave birth there and had nothing but praise for it.

I gave birth in the LGI a couple of weeks ago. I cannot fault the care of the postnatal team or those in the delivery suite but I had an awful time on the antenatal ward which nearly resulted in an horrific ending, one of the midwives acted negligently.

Others from my NCT all gave birth at Jimmys and, again, had nothing but praise for the teams there.

[SingingSands]

Hi, welcome to Horsforth

Although not recent, my births were both at LGI. Can't fault anything and the traffic wasn't as issue. DH stayed with me all day through labour and from birth at 10:45pm until I was taken to ward at 3am - he came up to ward with me and then left. He needed to go home and sleep, he was exhausted and he was back in the morning.

Harrogate is a good hospital (friends have delivered there and DH used to work there) but consider the journey time to get there from Horsforth - Leeds would probably be quicker.

Is Airedale still an option? One of my neighbours delivered there and had very high praise for it.

As for breastfeeding support - it was very much in place at LGI, but mostly it was the community midwives who were my support. I didn't need it for DD who was a natural, but I did need quite a bit for DS. Despite him being my 2nd I still got loads of support and the Horsforth health visitor team were very good with us.

[jellybelly85]

gubbinsy I'm picking that up about postnatal care - especially likely to be busy within a busy hospital. It's then that you'ld want good access to BF support if you're having early difficulties, which is another reason slightly putting me off St J and LGI. From Horsforth it's pretty much the same distance to Central Leeds vs Bradford (15-20mins ish) and 30 mins to Harrogate - so all are reasonable distances I think.

PixieMiss thanks for sharing, in a way I'm very lucky to have so many options locally

SingingSands it's only been a week, but Horsforth is lovely so far! Good to know traffic wasn't an issue - I guess this would depend on the time you need to go in, which is impossible to predict. Leeds would be quicker than Harrogate, but there would only be 10-15 mins difference I reckon (again, depending on time of day). We're heading to Harrogate tomorrow by car, so can test out the journey then. Is 30mins too long when in labour? (Very conscious that I've never done this before!!) great to know local HVs are very supportive. Hoping to pop by one of the BF cafes to introduce myself (lots of spare time as started mat leave early). Not considered Airedale... Google is suggesting 40-50mjns drive which might be a bit far...

Has anyone got any recent experience of the Midwife Led Unit at Bradford?

[jellybelly85]

Bump - anyone been to Bradford Midwife Led Unit? (I have to choose somewhere to book in with midwife on Thursday so any advice before then would be very gratefully appreciated!)

[WeAreWhatWeRepeatedlyDo]

I gave birth at LGI I don't live in Leeds but high risk so sent there. To be honest pretty bad experience mainly in antenatal. Found delivery suite and post natal ok.
I had some breast feeding support in Bradford and it was fantastic. Don't know about delivery there though as I was in Leeds.

[jellybelly85]

Thanks WeAreWhatWeRepeatedlyDo and everyone else!

I've not heard from anyone who has given birth at Bradford and recently discovered Bradford is the busiest maternity unit in the country (!) which was a little off-putting. So I decided to book into Harrogate as I've heard many positive accounts of this smaller less busy unit.