lewisham hospital Jan 2011

[splodge77]

hi there, I just wanted to post about my very positive recent experience of Lewisham hospital as I read a lot of negative things online about the place before having my little boy there and was quite apprehensive about it. Things must have changed in recent years because the care we received at the hospital was really excellent.
We were lucky enough to birth our baby in the new birthing centre. We had no medical intervention and the midwife (Tracey) who delivered our baby was absolutely fantastic. the atmosphere was really calm throughout the delivery and me and my partner were left alone for an hour after birth with our baby for skin-to-skin.
Unfortunately i did have some complications after the birth and spent a week on the postnatal ward in the main hospital. The staff there were brilliant and, though they were very busy, we always felt cared for and well informed about what was going on with our baby's treatment. The rooms were clean, the food was good. the only bad things were noise from the other patients (!) and the visiting hours which seemed rather harsh - partners had to leave at 8pm and were also chucked out between 1.30 and 3.30 every day.
It was tough being in hospital for 8 days but I couldn't have wished for better care. Really glad we chose to have our baby there.

Thank-you so much for posting this!!!

I am due to give birth to DS2 next week and am booked into the new birthing centre at Lewisham Hospital. I have been in to the birthing centre a couple of times now just to visit and have thus far found all the midwives I encountered to be really friendly and helpful [particularly the midwifery manager there - Lynne?] I am so hoping to have a supportive and relatively pleasant experience of birth there [with water birth, fingers crossed].

I gave birth to my first son at Queen Elizabeth Woolwich and wasn't very impressed with the midwife we had there to be honest... I was in the labour ward and the care I received during labour wasn't very supportive or enthusiastic although I think it was clinically competent...
However the after care at QE was fantastic, particularly the lovely breastfeeding support workers.

Anyway, I so hope I have a lovely experience of birth at Lewisham Birth Unit.
Congratulations on the birth of your little boy!

good luck! Really hope it all goes to plan for you. i tried to deliver my son in the pool but he wouldnt come out so the midwife suggested i get out and use gravity - gave birth on a birthing stool sat between my partners legs. It was incredibly hard work but pretty amazing too! All the best xx

Thanks for this. I am hoping to give birth in the maternity led clinic at the end of March (still to early for a referral). It is re-assuring to know that your care on the post-natal ward was good.

Ah this is great news. I'm hoping to have our first baby there at the beginning of May and have been hoping someone would post with news about the Birthing Centre. I find my midwife at the doctors who does all my antenatal to be a bit funny (not rude at all or anything like that, just rushes me through a bit. I have no complications so no reason to hang around I know, but all tends to feel a bit routine) so it's good to know the midwives on the unit are friendly and approachable. Thanks so much :)

I had my beautiful dd at Lewisham in the birth centre in December. She was delivered by Lynne the centre manager and it was a wonderful experience. Lynne and all the other staff we met on the day treated us with the utmost respect and kindness. We couldn't have hoped for a better experience.

I had my ds at St Thomas' and was really upset at the beginning of this pregnancy when they wouldn't let me go back but I'm so so glad that it worked out this way now as my experience at Lewisham was much better than at St Thomas'(although I was v happy with that at the time).

Good luck to everyone about to have their babies at Lewisham.

Hi again splodge!
Just wanted to let you know [and anyone else who is planning to give birth at Lewisham Birth Unit] that I had my baby boy [DS2] there last week and it was a fantastic experience. Just as I had hoped.
My lovely midwife Christine spoke with me on the phone prior to me coming in and gave lots of helpful advice re coping with early labour. Then when I arrived at the unit [contractions 5 mins apart] I was discovered to be 5 cm dilated. Was using tens from early labour and found this to be very effective in managing the discomfort. Christine then began filling the birthing pool and I got in about 30 minutes later and started using gas and air. Began pushing about 30 mins after that and baby born very quickly and relatively painlessly. The warm water was fantastic in managing pain of contractions. Also crowning much less uncomfortable and only had minimal vaginal graze.
All in all my birth experience at Lewisham was wonderful [was more like a private hospital or fancy spa than an NHS maternity unit]. Most of all though I appreciated the caring and enthusiastic midwifery staff. Cannot recommend it highly enough!

It's nice to read some postive comments about Lewisham as I too struggled to find some before I gave birth there in November. I have posted on a few other threads about my experience but didn't think to start a new one!!!

Anyway I also had a good experience although I was not allowed in the Birth Centre due to complications. So just to say that even if you end up on the labour ward, the care is very good there. I also experienced the neonatal department as my son was there for 5 days and the staff there were excellent. My only gripe would be having to constantly ask for painkillers on the post natal ward and the night staff were not as responsive as the day staff (one actually fell asleep while I was talking to her, and I don't think I'm that boring :-)). I was there for 10 nights in total so got to know the place quite well!

Congrats on the recent arrivals and good luck to those about to give birth!

HI I am 34 weeks pregnant and I suppose to give birth at the lewisham hospital. well, that is where I was referred to however nobody has really asked me about my choice or give me any choice. My midwife so far has been really unhelpful. She has not asked me much , also forgot to inform me about various things.All my information comes from books and internet and friends.
When I said I might have an infection she send me to a doctor for a swap test as she was too lazy to get her things from the next room. The same happened when i needed a letter for travel on 2 occasions. She send me to my GP and told me its not her job to do that.Now 5 months later I realized she doesn't even know my name. That makes me feel no very confident.
Nobody has told me either about birth center or the ward, or explained to me the form of pain relief , or any other things i need to know.
I am due to see another midwife next week and hoping she will be better!
Could someone give me their recent feedback on lewisham ?
my baby is due on 7th of July but theoretically anytime form mid june I suppose.
Any advice from anyone. ?
some friends suggested I move to Kings but I am not sure I would be able to at this stage, plus will it be better?
I am generally not a panic woman so I am just being positive and hoping for the best as I have been feeling well throughout all the pregnancy so far, but one never know what comes next and I really want good care for my baby and me.
Dasza

I'm 16 weeks pregnant and not impressed with the care I've received so far from Lewisham.

I had cells removed from my cervix some time ago which could make it more likely I miscarry - when I had my booking-in appointment I told the midwife, who mentioned I might need a cervical stitch. The booking-in appointment was at Lewisham Hospital in a room without a computer, so she didn't check my medical records and only noted down what I could remember in my green book.

Today I met the midwife at my GP surgery who said she'd make a referral to see the obstetrician at 24 weeks; however if I do need a cervical stitch, it's usual to have them at 12-14 weeks. She didn't check my medical records either (however she did take a personal call from her husband while I was meeting with her). It's only because I've made a fuss that I've managed to get her to agree to check my records at Lewisham Hospital to see if there's a potential problem (as she says she can't check my medical records), and to try to get an earlier appointment with the obstetrician.

The likelihood is that there's nothing wrong but I find it worrying this issue wasn't picked up and strange that no one has checked (or can check??) my medical records. I'm hoping that the GP would have flagged it up in the first referral letter for the booking-in appointment if there was a problem but I don't feel 100% confident I can trust that would have happened. I should add that the two midwives seem lovely but both have mentioned they are working extra hours overtime.

Other than that Junior and I both seem really well so far . I'm new to mumsnet so sorry to kick off with a rant!

Really glad the place has improved, most of the midwives there bar about 2 in 2001 were dire. Glad you had a good experience because it used to be truly shocking.

hithergreenie I'm sorry that you haven't had a good experience so far. I can't say I've been that impressed either, though I haven't had any specific worries. I'm hoping they put more effort into the actual labour... Having said that I did see a lovely midwife today

I'm guessing we must live close by as I'm in Hither Green and also around 16 weeks.

There was a fantastic MW there called Pat 11 years ago - she's amazing, also a lovely blonde woman whose name I can't recall, but that was about it and I was in there for nearly a month so I met them all at one time or another. Pretty sorry state of affairs.