For anyone thinking about giving birth at The Royal London, I've just had a really positive experience there, and thought worth writing about, as I found it hard to find recent experiences of birth there, when I was looking for reassurance a couple of months ago.
I had my daughter last week, and found the midwives (bar one, but there's always one I guess) to be caring and attentive in all the wards - Talbot, Mary Northcliffe and Marie Celeste, from my early labour, through my two day stay. (My labour was noted as 1240hr, although if I had my say and included early labour at home, it was more like 30hrs.)
They were good at helping me keep my birth plan in mind, and encouraging me to try simple things, like a long bath (really, really helped - more than gas and air, which I found to be pretty useless as a painkiller, but OK for the distraction).
I had pethidine around 4-6cm, in two smaller, separate doses, to see how I got on with it.
I managed to get fully dilated on gas and air and the small doses of pethidine, but didn't want to do it any more, and asked for an epidural - which I think happened within about 30 minutes (bit out of it by then), and was performed by an anaesthetist in the labour room. (Relief!)
I hadn't really imagined I'd need / want an epidural, but it was a good job I did, as it turned out that, when I tried to push, my daughter's heartrate was dropping for over a minute at a time - her cord was quite tightly round her neck.
So, I was whipped into a theatre to have her delivered by forceps - which thankfully worked on first attempt. I can't commend the teamwork and calmness of the staff enough, at a scary time, when I was very worried about the outcome. (Especial thanks to the one who told me to push like I had 20 years worth of constipation - it made me laugh, and it worked.)
Immediately after, I was quite shocked (threw up, nice) and a bit bonkers with adrenalin, but again, very caring midwives were on hand to support me, and help me breastfeed within about 30 mins of her birth.
I stayed an extra night, which was pretty hardcore as both DD and I were under four-hourly observation, so I was constantly disturbed through the night - to the point of hallucination it felt like, but, all necessary in the circumstances.
I've read a lot on here about the state of the common facilities like the toilets and showers - but found them to be mmmmOK on balance, bar the bloody sanitary pad that someone had left behind a door in a corner, that wasn't cleared up a day later. The food, meh, but there's a Sainsbury's up the road for OH / friends / family to get supplies in.
So, a big thank you to everyone there.
Any questions, do feel free to ask =)