Manchester hospitals and birth centres

[missduff]

I'm due to have my second baby in August and was wondering if anybody can recommend a good birth centre in/around Manchester?
I had DS at Hope Hospital in the midwife led birth centre which was fantastic but since having him they have closed the maternity ward, I can still have this baby on the same birth centre but there's no medical back up, if there was any problem in the birth or with baby when it's born we'd be put in an ambulance to St Mary's.
I did have the dream birth last time, was active all the way through, nice and relaxed, no medical intervention, pool birth etc. That's what I want again but I'd also like to know that if something went wrong that there were doctors and a theatre not far away.
I really don't like the idea of being on a normal delivery ward with doctors interfering or being plonked on a communal ward as soon as I've had baby.
So, can anyone recommend where would be best? I have heard that St Mary's has a midwife led ward but not managed to find out much about it.

Im so sad Hope maternity ward has closed , I was born there! But good that the birth centre is still open (I didn't know that, gets round the whole "no babies born on salford" thing I guess!)

I had a home birth with my first, and planning another with this dc (another option for you maybe?) so can't really vouch for hospitals but we did go on the tour of the new maternity unit at North Manchester (where we were/are booked in) in late 2010 when it opened and it's lovely. They do a tour the last Sunday of every month so maybe go have a look around and speak to the midwives?

In fact, I think all units do tours so have a look round all of the (bury, st Mary's, Oldham....can't think of any other local) Think of it like viewing a house

HTH

Wythenshawe has a midwife led birth centre attached to the hospital with lovely delivery rooms with pools. I had my first baby there in January and the labour care was excellent - don't know if south Manchester is a bit far for you though?

I can't recommend St Mary's highly enough. I was in the consultant led bit but they do have a midwife-led unit as well.

I have never seen anyone work as hard as the midwives there (although I'm sure that's the case in most places). It was also immaculately clean and tidy, which made me feel much more comfortable.

My only negative about the place was that I couldn't have a private room on the postnatal ward because the rooms that weren't being used for medical priorities (fair enough) were taken by women with "cultural privacy requirements". Yeah? People from my "culture" (suburbia) are quite fond of privacy too.

Defo go for a tour. My local hospital (not in Manchester) had a disappointingly grubby labour ward which put me off booking in there.

Dh says that from a bloke's point of view, should you be there for some time, the restaurant downstairs does an excellent cooked breakfast

Thanks for the replies.
newton I have considered a homebirth and i would be tempted but last time I struggled to breastfeed (I've got inverted/flat nipples and DS is tongue tied) and there's a good chance I'll encounter the same problems this time so i'd really like the midwives and the support staff to be on hand to help me again. I ended up giving up after a couple of days despite their help which I regret so this time I really want to try again.
Also my partner has 2 kids with his ex wife and their births were quite traumatic so he's nervous of the idea of me giving birth without having the medical backup if I need it. I know if he's anxious I'll pick up on it.
I'm going to go for the tours of St Mary's and north Manchester and see what I make of those.
Really detest the idea of being on a communal ward, I think I might lie about my religion and say for religious reasons I want a private room. Sorry to sound like a snob but theres no way on earth I'm sleeping on a ward with several other mum's and their babies, you must hardly sleep with all those babies constantly waking. Plus then there's all the visitors, you'd just never get a minutes peace. I know I'd just go home and in which case I might as well just have a homebirth.

I wouldn't try to "convince" anybody to have a homebirth, but it is fab! The real benefit for me was being able to labour at home for as long as possible and there was alway always the option to go to hospital. In the end, it didn't come to that (6 hours from first contraction to baby being born) The midwife was with us for 4 hours 1 to 1 care, which you wouldn't get in a hospital setting and my DP got to play an active role which helped him feel useful...it would maybe help your DP be calmer about it all?

The community midwives that run the birth centre at NM are lovely and there is a just a door that separates it from the proper ward.

Re breastfeeding, I agree that maybe the support from the midwives wouldn't be there if you had a homebirth (although I'm not sure-I didn't ask for help but also wasn't offered it) There are always the helplines etc you could contact for additional support and once you've left hospital you'd be under the care of your own community midwife anyway.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Talk to community and ask them how they could support your breastfeeding if you had home birth. There may be a peer support network or drop in clinic you could access.

Congratulations!

I had my baby at St Mary's in Sept 11 and can't say enough good things about the people and place. I ended up being in for a week with a long induction and eventually a cs, and everyone without exception was fantastic. I ended up with a few complications etc but always felt 100% I was in the best hands. I asked for a private room and was told I might have to pay £100 a night, but due to having the loudest baby ever they decided there was a need for it (so the other mothers didnt kill me!) and I didn't have to pay.

I saw the post natal bays and they seemed ok, 4 to a bay from what I could see. I'm pregnant again and will be going back to st Mary's, I wouldn't be too distraught if there wasn't a private room available next time round.

Ps - st Mary's are also very pro breastfeeding, the first night any wouldnt feed, so had one hca helping me express whilst another tried to calmtry screaming baby and a breastfeeding counsellor visited me the first day I was on the post natal ward and gave me tonnes of advice etc. St Mary's has UNICEF / similar breastfeed

DP isn't exactly uncalm but I'm just trying to take his opinion in to consideration, after all it is his baby too.
I found last time with breastfeeding the support lines and support groups weren't really much use, my best friend was actually a breast feeding support person and the problems I had were way over her head, I actually needed somebody with me trying to pull my nipple out and kind of ram it down his throat lol, and even that didn't work, he just wouldn't latch on at all.
After 24 hours of him hardly having any milk at all I had to give in and give him a bottle and after that the midwives didn't really help me try to breastfeeding. Me being a first time mum just accepted it but this time I will speak up and ask for more help.
What do u do about your existing kids when u have a home birth? My mum will look after DS when I'm in labour but I would like him to not be there on the first night with baby but I'd worry he'd come and see baby and then feel pushed out or unwanted if Grandma takes him away again.

I used the MLC ward at St Mary's and couldn't fault it. Have moved now and will be sad not to use St Mary's for any future dc!

Op if I were you (and I'm not so you must do exactly what pleases you) I would start arming myself with some pretty detailed breastfeeding knowledge.

Also be aware that feeding can be really baby specific - maybe your ds1 wasn't a terribly motivated feeder. Dc2 may be like a little sparrow in a nest and prepared to latch on to a brick wall! Search for Kellymom in the first instance. Also practice nipple rolling and hand expressing when you are nearer term. These are your tricks of the trade!