Give birth in Dundee or Stirling?

[winniewoo]

Please help..my friend is in a real pickle..she is french and lives outside Perth and is pregnant with her first child. When she went to see her Doctor she was told that she must choose her hospital and she is halfway between each one. She has no idea and was given no advice. Because she has just moved to the area she doesn't really know anyone yet and wants to keep her happy secret to herself for a while. Any advice for her...??

Dundee might be Ninewells hospital which is a massive teaching hospital, new buildings with a good rep. Stirling Royal is an older hospital with a "cosier" atmosphere, but the buildings are a bit crumbly apparently. Most mums where I live go to Stirling and are very happy with their experiences. Have been for post-natal stuff there and it seems ok. A lot of appointments are in portacabins though which is a bit odd!

She lives near Crieff..

ninewell IS massive - a lot of pg women complain about the long long walk from the carparks to the maternity dept.

but my SIL, cousin, friends have all given birth there and they say the mw's are great, really down to earth and on your side. the wards are friendly, clean, bright, and the doctors seem to be very good too.

hth

Ninewells is better funded i think and may have better facilities

her GP really should have given her more info. does she have to choose a hospital first then get assigned a community mw? or has she a mw already? the mw may be of more help

Big vote here for Stirling.
It is a bit older but it doesn't feel like a factory and IMHO the staff are all very good, attentive and helpful.
I could answer more specific q's if your friend had them. My dd (3) was born at SRI, my early m/c was looked after there last June and my next baby (July) will also be born there!

I gave birth in Ninewells 9 years ago. It is very big, but the facilities were very good. The labour ward rooms were decorated like hotel rooms.....even had their own TVs in them!

I found the staff to be very freindly and supportive.....there was a massive amount of support for those of us who were BF.....any probelms with the latch on, night or day and we were to ring the bell and got help immediatly.

They were great!

I had ds now 2.5 and dd now 1 both at SRI. No real complaints...have also got friends who have delivered at Ninewells and been happy. (I used to live in Dundee...now in Stirling) . I guess everyone's experience is quite individual and there are horror stories for any maternity unit if you ask enough people... but the rep of both these hospitals seems good from what I know. If your friend has specific questions I'm happy to try and answer them.

I have friends who've had babies within the last year at both Ninewells and Stirling. Their views are:

Ninewells friend- didn't like it, didn't feel she got much attention and when she was in with her first (3 years ago) she never saw the ward get cleaned once. (With her 2nd she wasn't in long enough to see cleaners) She has also told me that apparantly ninewells is quite bad for MRSA.

Stirling friend- said she got lots of help and support and midwifes were very friendly. She definatly seemed to have had a much more pleasant expereince than my other friend did.

I guess it'd also be helpful to look into things like if they have birthing pools or hire out tens machines etc, depending on what sort of things she wants. (Ninewells doesn't have either)

Love love love Ninewells. Our experience may be a bit different, as we lost a baby there first (not hosp fault - she had anencephaly), but we were treated wonderfully both then, and when my second daughter was born - relaxed, friendly, great ultrasound dept, and the best consultant ever. Cannot praise them highly enough. Yes, it's big and busy, but they know what they're doing.