EDINBURGH ROYAL INFIRMARY

[ara]

Does anyone have any feedback about having babies at ERI?

[expatinscotland]

I had two babies there and it was fine for the birth bit. Not much support afterwards as they are understaffed and the food is TERRIBLE!

I was discharged 6 hours after giving birth to DD2 because I didn't want to stay there.

It's mega hot and they charge an arm and a leg for TV.

I had a private room w/DD1 - luck of the draw there! - because I had a forceps delivery and then spiked a fever.

[madamenoir]

very very very busy
they dont have enough beds for everyone who needs them and a lot of people have moved to edinburgh(built the new hospital too small)
staff are run off their feet (although try not to get the room opposite the nurses station if you can as they do chat all night!)
if you need something (and I needed to go home early) then be very polite but VERY firm if needs be.
And be insistant if you need something...you do know best and sometimes you have to shout to get noticed!
You will be pestered by lots of teaching students with questionnaires but they were very nice IMO.
Take plenty of money, always choose the veggie option - this was edible.
Take shower shoes...
They do have a fab breastfeeding workshop and a dedicated staff member to help with this to get you off on the right foot!
St Johns in Livingston is supposed to be much less hectic if you have that option!

[madamenoir]

St johns offers water birthing
Also car park only £1 a day rather than best part of a tenner at the ERI!

[liath]

No complaints about the care in labour, the midwife probably saved me from a forceps by getting me pushing when I was refusing to as it was so bloody sore .

Afterwards everyone was nice enough but rushed and the breast-feeding support was sh*t frankly - various folk shoving my boob into dd's mouth then out came the breastpump and I was discharged expressing & syringe-feeding.

It's a busy unit but generally considered a safe place to have a baby.

I had my second baby at home, which was a better experience on the whole!!

[madamenoir]

yes I agree about the boob thing! The workshop is separate from the ward. Its on twice a week on the ground floor....I had to go as my baby lost too much weight and I was having problems feeding...fed for a year though!

[ara]

thank you ladies! i hear from a heavily pregnant friend who is going to do a home birth that the CS rate there is nearly 30% (almost double the national average - eek)! So just wondering what do do whenthe time comes for my LO to arrive!

[liath]

My HB was a really positive experience - the midwives were very good and the BF support afterwards was excellent - although i's a bit luck of the draw. The MW who visited me happened to be very very good at BF advice.

I live 5 minutes from the hospital so felt that if things did start to go wrong at least I would be able to transfer quickly. My consultant was quite pro-home birth which was a help.

[nailpolish]

i work in RIE

ara, which side of Edinburgh do you live ? have you considered St Johns?

[expatinscotland]

Wow, have they got that high a csection rate?

[nailpolish]

yes i wondered about that too expat. are you sure your friend has her facts right, ara?

[expatinscotland]

I wanted a csection. They gave me a forceps delivery instead.

[bumble75]

I had my lo here 9 weeks ago and I don't have a bad word to say about the experience (except maybe the food!).

The midwives with me during labour were fab - I had 2 and 2 students as I was in labour over a shift change. I was lucky enough to get one of the rooms with the birthing pool and if all had gone well I would have delivered in the water so you can do this here, although it depends on if there is a room free when you are in labour.

I ended up with an emergency c-section and then in the high dependency ward for a few hours & the staff were great in getting me started with bf.

Once up on the ward (lucky enough to get my own room) the mw's were great as well, as were all the staff, felt very well looked after. The Dr who did my c-section came to see me the following day to talk through what had happened and to encourage me to try for natual birth if/when I have any more children.

Sorry - that ended up quite long! HTH.

[nailpolish]

bumble thats great

[chevre]

the cs rate is WAY too high. there is definitely some sort of formula re. when you water broke + time in labour = cs. midwife were fab for acute care but anything none emergency you have to wait. i found breastfeed support good from midwives but then i was pretty clued up already.

definitely look into st john's as they need the numbers to keep the unit.

good luck.

[chevre]

definitely have a practise run as it is not the easiest part of the hospital to find.

[expatinscotland]

I was a bit of an emergency when I had dd2.

I didn't realise how advanced my labour was, so by the time I got to there I was 9cm dilated and dd2 was born about half an hour after I arrived.

I couldn't really stand anymore and just rang a bell in the reception as it was early morning.

Got seen right away once I told midwife I felt like I needed the toilet. BAD.

[Mintpurple]

With respect to the c/section rate, RIE is not nearly double the national average, but a few percent above the national average.

In part this can be explained by the fact that a hospital like this does deal with a lot of high risk cases refered from other hospitals, and this will bump up their c/section rate.

Have a look at this link for national stats.
www.birthchoiceuk.com/Frame.htm

[Mintpurple]

More worrying is the stat of 'normal birth rates' of 22.1%

Only 1 in 5 having a normal birth??? WTF

[madamenoir]

a private room really seems to make a difference to how you experience the ERI

good luck ara with whatever you decide!

[Scrambledeggs]

We live in Edinburgh by Botanics and I had my 1st baby last year and chose St Johns ahead of ERI. I just had a feeling that I would receive the kind of care I wanted to aid my choice of a totally natural birthing experience. We got to tour St John's too. In the end My son came 3.5 weeks early and we had the most wonderful experience that I remember and smile at everyday and he's just turned 1. The ratio of midwives to women is the same apparently at both hospitals but St John's place the staff emphasis on the labour and ERI post natal so you really should expect 1:1 at St John's as I received. I chose St John's as I believed that if the labour was uncomplicated I would be out pretty quick so the empahsis was labour and not the after care. In the end I was able to have an unmedicated birth with a natural delivery of the placenta and we all just sat/lay about chatting and getting to know baby whilst the placenta came out. My 4 other NCT group members at ERI had awful times with one having 1 midwife with 6 woman all at the pushing stage together!! No c/s but 2 forceps and the other 2 long drawn out and not really wanting to remember the whole experience. I say decide what type of birth you want and then match up how your needs will be best met by which hospital .

[ara]

Thanks Mintpurple - that link was really interesting!

And thanks everyone else for your experiences!

I am thinking about a home birth although it's my first and will have to wait for advice on that. Most people I have spoken to have recommended St Johns over ERI for a hosp birth.

I did spend a day in the labour suite at ERI recently and the midwife and consultant I saw were both absolutely lovely which made me feel a bit more confident about going there.

It's v hard to decide what to do!

[Scrambledeggs]

Era, good luck on whatever you decide. I did also want a home birth for my first but I was put off by the fact we had to have an expensive structural survey to see if birthing pool was ok to use in a flat. Planning a homebirth for baby 2 (yet to be conceived!!)

[nappyaddict]

hijack

[Scrambledeggs]

Era, I remembered this site from a Sunday Times article on birth units in the UK it's apparently the definitive guide.www.drfoster.co.uk/localServices/birth/

[Scrambledeggs]

Sorry ara- typo