To fear NHS maternity care

[MrsmrsmrsS]

I am pregnant and my local hospital maternity ward has been voted 'unsafe' and 'inadequate'.
I have left 3x messages for them to arrange my first midwife appointment over the last 7 days, and I'm waiting on them getting back to me.
So far I'm not exactly reassured this is going to be OK...
Has anyone paid for a private midwife or pregnancy care? Or is there anyway around this?
I can't really afford it, what with the time off work coming up, but the situation is making me anxious.
P.S. I'm not interested in hearing how understaffed the NHS are, that's obvious, I'm only interested in hearing practical solutions to get the best care for myself and my baby.

Aren’t you supposed to go through your GP surgery for your booking appointment?

Paying for it is definitely a better idea if that will give you confidence.

Did you read the report? Mine had some big safety issues but they weren't actually things I was much concerned about when I looked at the report.

How far away are other hospitals? You're free to choose where you have your care.

The first maternity appointment will be with a community midwife so nothing to do with this hospital so I wouldn't let that colour your experience of the hospital.

Is there another hospital within reasonable travelling distance? You don’t need to book at your local trust you can book anywhere.
if you can’t afford private care then don’t even contemplate it. Unless you live near a private hospital that has a private maternity unit then private midwife companies will only provide some antenatal and postnatal care, you’d need to labour in an NHS hospital with an nhs midwife anyway.
just to reassure you, nhs maternity care is overwhelmingly safe in this country. I don’t blame you for having reservations about your local hospital, but look at the report on its failings. Something it’s things like “safe storage of medicines”- for example, a drug cupboard accidentally unlocked. Obviously not great but unlikely to affect your care. I would consider other trusts if feasible. Good luck.

How pregnant are you? In my area the booking isn’t done until 8-10 weeks and you are advised to expect to wait 2 weeks for any contact once you do the self referral. Community midwifery services and hospital usually work separately.

How pregnant are you ? You have appointments at set times in the pregnancy, unless there’s concern.

My GP midwife is amazing, hospital less so, so I decided to have an ELCS as like fuck was I going to risk piss poor maternal care during labour

I'd look into the hospitals surgery outcomes if I were you, or look to see if you can go to a different hospital

Depends on the trust

Many expect you to self refer to the hospital and get a midwife that way

My trust have midwives at the GP, the town a few miles down the road and in a different trust only has community midwife's as an extension of the local hospital and require self referral

Early stages of pregnancy can be a worrying time, but congrats on your good news! Maternity services work slightly differently in different areas so it can be confusing when you use them for the first time. For example, in my area the midwifery team would look to book an apt with you for when you're around 10-11 weeks. You'd be unlikely to hear from them before 9 - 10 weeks. Can you say which hospital or where it is and then we might be able to help you know what to expect? Private care is available but you're looking at a very minimum of £5k and that's just for midwifery - no scans, bloods, downs testing etc - with an at home delivery.

The GP doesn't have anything to do with pregnant people now, unless you are sick apparently. They just gave me a leaflet with a number to call to get my own midwife.

Good idea to fully read the report, I just read the BBC news article, which was quite damning. 'not enough staff with the right qualifications or skills to keep women and babies safe, or suitable equipment' it said.

I'll look into my other closest hospital, which is also not exactly state of the art either.

The hospital also recently had a nurse accused of murdering 8 babies (Chester). I think subconsciously that's not helping as I was reassuring myself with 'Oh well if that's happened they'll be super safe and super good by now'. But actually that doesn't seem to be the case.

If I could just get a midwife to call me back and make my appointment, I think I'd feel instantly a bit better. Fingers crossed.

I agree with others, it's probably a good idea to read the report and see what the issues are. They may not be applicable to you.

Also as others have pointed out, it may be perfectly normal not to hear back once you've called up about your booking appointment. They can happen as early as 8 weeks and as late as 11 weeks, and they're often arranged in pregnancy date order, not necessarily the exact order the referrals come in.

It's quite common to wait up to 2 weeks to hear back. I would probably just give them a call every few days just to ensure you haven't been missed.

The real test will be how you feel once you're in the system.

If I could advise women I would tell them to save the tens of thousands they spent on their weddings and use it for private maternity care instead. Every one of my friends - including a doctor - had absolute horror stories during their first pregnancy and deliveries. I would see if you could save for a private midwife or doula for sure, at the very least to advocate for you while in labour. It’s something most people don’t have any experience with and just blindly trust doctors. When you’re at your most vulnerable you’ll ever be you need it the most.

How many weeks are you OP? Are you high risk? What sort of delivery are you anticipating?

Arrowe park is rated highly for maternity care. (Depending which side of Chester you are that could be an option). I have several friends who had babies in Chester recently and none had any issues. Just anecdotal but it may not be as bad as it sounds.

This is really tricky.. I had my first abroad as we aren’t living in the UK but I also share your fear if I have to have no2 in the UK. I’ve not heard many positive stories but remember people tend to over share negative ones! Agree that a doula or private midwife would be a good idea alongside an NHS birth. I would have a look at any other hospital options and don’t be afraid to be pushy if you don’t get answers on the phone etc. Congrats on your bubba! X

I'd strongly consider research and self advocating, as well as joining a large 'birth month club' on Facebook or similar.

Having lots of other mother's who are due around the same time as you is a massive support and will probably act as a good sounding board. Especially if you're ever waiting for call backs etc.

@SnackSizeRaisin Arrow Park looks quite nice yes, thanks.

@DuckTails yes I agree.

Yeah it's the horror stories I've heard from my friends. One they put the epidural into a wrong artery 3x and stopped her heart and resuscitated her. She has PTSD from this.

Another is a bit over weight, and they woke her up at 3am to remind her not to eat anything, which is kind of like bullying she felt. I'd of cried.

One friend was immense pain after birth and they told her basically to suck in up until they realised her bladder was about to explode as they hadn't sorted the catheter.

I get that birth can be a messy process. But Jesus christ, I just want to feel safe, listened to, and looked after at my most vulnerable.

@Curiosity101 yes maybe you're right I'm not a priority right now as it's still early. Still, would you accept that level of service from literally anywhere else? You'd at least expect a phone call.

I never contacted my hospital midwivea. Its all done through community midwivea who then sort out the 2 hospital scans, every other appointment is community based

Oh gosh you're at the Countess, aren't you. I'd go to Arrow Park, OP. You can choose a different hospital, be adamant about this though in case of any difficulties.

And yes, I had awful community midwives too, very slow and sometimes was totally ignored. One was giving me wrong information too. You'd be best of reading NICE guidelines yourself and being a pain if that's going to get you somewhere, needs must. xx

If you can afford it, pay for whatever private support you can.

The epidural and catheter sound like bad care. Was the overweight friend having a c-section? Sometimes there’s medical need to be nil by mouth, I can’t imagine it was bullying.

I do think some first time mums on MN don’t really understand the first trimester and basically how uneventful it is, at least until 8-10 weeks. It’s really a case of notifying your midwife team and taking your prenatal vitamin - that’s it 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m 10w3d and I’m only booked in for my first community midwife appointments this week. It isn’t a sign of neglect, it’s just nothing needs to happen for a while.

@Wouldloveanother

But it's not like that everywhere

With mine I had a phone call with the midwife at the GP at 5 weeks, got my letters for my 12w and 20w scan sent at 7 weeks, my booking in appt at 8 weeks on the dot too

So many women are forced to 'accept' piss poor care, I was shocked when discussing this on other apps for pregnant women that this isn't the norm and many had to continually call and fight for even their booking in appointment then had to remind and chase for scan letters etc.

The NHS can do better, it should do better, we deserve better

Hmmmm, interesting.

Your post has made me think about this. I had a wonderful, inexpensive wedding at home (still cost more than I wanted to pay because my mum insisted on a few things I hadn’t considered necessary) and I have paid significantly more for good quality, private maternity care.

I’m very happy with both.

You are 100% right. Women should be advised to prioritize in this way (unfortunately).

The community midwives associated with arrowe are really good. They work in small teams and you are 95% sure to get someone from that team with you throughout your labour or c section. And they also visit you at home afterwards. It's an excellent service.
It's different midwives providing postnatal care on the ward at arrowe. My experience of that wasn't so great. Seemed to be all agency staff, understaffed and poor care. Food execrable. You do get a private en suite room and your partner can stay with you after the birth including over night. And they have nice labour rooms with water baths etc (although I didn't get to use those). So overall I would recommend AP.