any experience of Royal Berks Reading Maternity

[elizaregina]

Hi, anyone had any experiences recently of royal berks in reading> thanks

eliza I am privately hoping that they'll keep me in for 3 days again (had surgery+baby jaundice+feeding issues last time) so I have a chance to spend some 1 on 1 time with DS2. I'll be coming home to a fairly active 13mo DS1 and so I will relish any time I get to spend alone with the new arrival!!

You'll be a total pro with this new one, don't worry - you now know what needs doing (so that worry is gone) and nappies and the mechanics of feeding haven't changed much :)

Hi, Am currently holding my snoozing DS who was born 4 weeks ago at RBH. I had a pretty horrendous birth, 48 hour labour culminating in an emergency section, but the midwives, drs etc were fantastic. I had quite a lot of postnatal complications, including high blood pressure, anaemia and pneumonia and was kept in for a week on Iffley ward. The room on the ward that I was in was hideous, far far too hot and noisy, so ended up paying for a private room for the last 4 nights of my stay, was £115 per night and worth every penny. You have to ask the chief midwife on duty to put you down for a private room and they sorted it out very quickly. The midwives and health care assistants were so so lovely, really supportive with the feeding etc, my DS lost 11% of his birth weight in the first few days as I couldn't get feeding established and one of the nursery nurses sat up with me literally all night to get the feeding up and running. Overall a hideous birth, but that wasn't their fault! Hope that helps!

surley if DH can stay then it would also help them with thier staffing issues!

I gave birth at Wexham 7 months ago today...and have just about got over the trauma! They were insanely busy, it was actually frightening. Fortunately we've moved so if I ever have a second child, I won't be going back there.

All the women I work with gave birth at the RBH and I haven't heard one horror story from them. Fingers crossed it all goes well for you.

Hi Over,

So sorry to hear of your trauma, I have to say I have heard such dire dire things about wexham I try and steer people away from it, Only two women I know had a good experience and they were booked in with breech sections.

I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole.

i think wexham is dangerous, but alot of women I have spoken too are reluctant to complain or even register what happened to them, which is a shame as more lives will be put at risk there.

I just hear a constant stream of unbelievable stuff coming from there, most recently a firends little boy had a small op there and they sent him home with the needle in his arm!!!!

You're right about complaining - the reason I didn't, is because the staff were all amazing and lovely...they were just dangerously undermanned. And what can a hospital do about that when budgets are being slashed everywhere? It's scary stuff, especially as the maternity unit at Heatherwood is now shut as well :(

You've made me think this might be something worth bringing up with Slough's MP though - it sounds overdramatic but my experience marred the first 6 months of my son's life as I was suffering from post traumatic stress and was seriously depressed..and I honestly don't know if I'll ever choose to have a second child for fear of going through that again.

But enough from me! Stick to Royal Berks, be vocal about what you want and hopefully you'll have a straight forward birth

over - the ladies I spoke to had probs on ward, one was injected with wrong thing, her heart condition she was in for, never monitered then went into labour with no one beliveing her, she ended up by herlsefl on all fours, and baby came out with cord round neck, others have had just as horrendous, and lots of placentas left in and then septasemia....life support, one lady had hernia from birth, put on nil by mouth, then forgotton about - then severaly dehydrated, then too much morphine, then scanned and told she had no hernia....in the end luckliy she was whisked off privatly where they said biggest hernia they had seen....lots of things like that, it is frightening....had appalling birth there...

did you know QCC has just given it a really good rating....someone had an artile in maidenhead advertiser about it - and my goondess the stories on that....I sent a link to the lady at QCC to read abot the horrors and never heard back.

Have you heard of PALS? Patentient advisory liason service? I have dealt with them in past and they were really good, if you havant already it may be worth calling them ( through wexham switchboard) you can register what happened to you but ask them not to take it further with you....

I wrote to therea may a while ago about maternity services too.

reading however has gone down hill even though seems alot better run than wexham this is one reason I will be pushing for ELC altough after care scares me...

also re being over dramatic, i dont think it is over dramatic, birth is traumatic, and I had a really good one supposdely i was in proper labour for 6 hours which for first time is supposed to be great, i had one small tear but i was traumatised the pain, the not knowing when it would end, no epidural that i wanted.....

i just cant cope with all that again, it put me off sex for a good year etc etc....

have you also heard of birth trauma association? i havant had any dealings with them yet - but the consultant at reading is part of them, and they sound very good....recognising that whatever th e birth or outcome was like...if a woman was traumatised...she was traumatised....