Barnet Hospital Experiences?

[Sarah2506]

Hello I am booked to have my first DC by ELCS at Barnet in June. Almost everything I read is negative and I haven't been hugely impressed by my ante natal care. I'm worried that I might go into labour early and then have to hang around in labour waiting for my section which is needed because I have fistulas that will tear through if I had baby naturally. However I'm mainly worried by what happens after. Has anyone been on Victoria ward recently? I hear of women being left in pools of blood, not being helped with getting up to the loo, getting no help with feeding etc. post ELCS I'm not going to be able to move unaided and am worried they will send DH home at 8pm and I will be alone. Because of my bowel disease I will have issues getting to the loo in time anyway. I'd love to hear some positive experiences. I'm aware that people tend to post more about negative experiences but help appease my fears if you possibly can! X

Hi,no experience here but please do not worry in advance.
My friend had a baby there in Feb and was rather pleased with care,compare to previous one in Whittington in 2008.
I have only experience with Whitt but what I have observed is that after CS you are in recovery room and care usually is one-to one(2MW -3beds) so there is no chance they won't notice you need help or hear baby crying.
The postnatal ward is a diffrent story,as it all depends how well staffed they are(it is around 1staff per 5 beds) so you have to be patient,but do not hesitate to use your buzzer/call them if you need help.
From what I've heard,the Whittington allows dads to stay overnight,hopefully same applies to Barnet.Even if not I don't think they can force your DH if there is a good reason for his stay(understaffing,lack of help etc).You can always tell them you will compain to their supervisor.
Good luck

I had ds at barnet via emcs...the surgeon was brilliant, really good job, neat scar and the midwives really looked after me during labour (failure to progress).

However, the postnatal ward was very different - they simply did not have enough staff to cope with patients. There was 6 of us on the ward and night and day there was just one member of staff on, that member of staff was very stretched to just get round and give us our medication let alone help with breastfeeding etc...didn't get any help and was encouraged to bottle feed which I did.

I would change hospitals if you are really concerned about postnatal care as they didn't have the resources to cope. I buzzed constantly and it made little difference, I felt sorry for the staff but also was in a lot of pain and very upset at how long we were all left. My dressing was left on for longer than should have (but was fine) the showers were not particularly clean and no partner was allowed to stay overnight.

Good luck with whatever you decide....