Kingston Hospital wanting to change my c section date due to being too busy...

[IAteTheCake]

Not sure anyone can help...

I am v anxious after a call from Kingston Hospital wanting to change my c section date. It is booked in for 10 days time. I had a traumatic birth there the first time around in May 2011 when I had dd by cat1 emergency c section and had ptsd afterwards. Really wanted a calmer 2nd birth, and what with one thing and another (placenta previa - placenta has just moved enough so they are not worried now + breech baby and mainly the request for us to have something more planned this time around) went for elcs option.

We have arranged childcare, don't have family nearby who can help with anything last minute, and got our heads around the elcs etc and now this call has really thrown me and I feel v teary. They said they are overbooked and very busy. That did not fill me with confidence :-(
.....I will speak to the person again tomorrow to see what the plan is as they have contacted others booked on the same day too, I feel selfish making a fuss but feel v upset.....

Not sure anyone can suggest anything but just wanted to vent I guess....:-(

Sorry to hear this has happened.

I had an emcs at Kingston 8 days ago and just wanted to tell you that I couldnt fault the care I received. It was very busy but everyone was lovely.

I hope you get a firm date soon

That is a frustrating situation, but try and look at the positive- they would rather rearrange your LSCS than risk you receiving substandard care because of lack of midwives/doctors to care for you. Lots of units would just push on and pretend it was the norm for you to share one midwife between 4-5 LSCS that morning. I know that doesn't help with childcare etc but sending you warm wishes for a lovely birth and baby

just recovering from my elcs, which was also delayed with 1 day notice, as a poster said I would prefer a realistic assesment of staffing etc, and if planned it is usually slightly earlier than due date and there is some slack in there

i decided not to get stressed about the delay (even with Dsis flying in to look after DC1), and understand that emergencies have to take priority, and on the plus side i did feel quite guilty that because I wanted a planned section DC2 would be born 3 weeks earlier than DC1 who was late and so possibly dc2 could possibly be quite úndercooked´ so any delay could be good for her (in the event a beast :) and not undercooked at all ! )

I am very grateful to get medical care and do think the NHS is fab whatever people might think at the mo. After discussion with the hospital my date will now stick but have been warned I may not get a section due to how busy the unit is!! Though this is the birth plan we have been working on and prepared for! If I go into labour before the date they will have to wait and see, the advice I was given on booking the date was to go in at the first sign of labour and they would do a section anyway. So the plans and expectations that have been put in place no longer stand, which is rather upsetting when having experienced a traumatic birth before. I am fully aware emergencies come first (I was one of those last time) and would certainly hope that was policy. What I object to, is that if they know they are that busy they should warn and put in real timelines and expectations for women having an elcs so they are fully prepared and this is not sprung on them at the last minute..

I also have a friend who has a section scheduled for Weds and lost her plug and waters on Sat (but labour hasn't started yet), who has been told to stay home after being checked out, and if her labour starts before the section date she is not likely to get a section either due to how busy they are, though this is what has been recommended to her! Firstly we know there is a risk of infection waiting that long, and she has been told to make a complaint about the advice she has been given by the hospital itself!

Neither of these scenarios give me much confidence if the unit is so busy.... I do know from past experience that they are great in an emergency and I just don't want this to end up one either, it took me a year to get over ptsd the first time, hence my angst....

Sorry for the emotional outburst, I am now busy preparing myself for a natural breech birth should the need arise... gulp!

Saturday to Wednesday shouldn't be too much time, I knew a lady who went two weeks - she was still preterm so they weren't in a rush to take baby out whilst they were both happy - the water replenishes itself all the time.

As far as your breech goes, babies will often turn in labour so try not to worry about the possibility of a breech VB.

From my own experience of VBAC (planned VBAC but a very high risk one and the team on the day decided it wasn't happening) sometimes a busy ward can be a good thing if everything is OK, they were too busy with emergencies to mess with me and I got on with it quietly with a midwife, in the end the doctor got in with time to catch. If they'd been there sooner I would have been fighting them to stop a CS or an assisted birth which obviously wasn't needed.

I tried to move from George's to Kingston last week (in due next month) and they said they weren't sure they'd have a spare bed until December! I did point out I couldn't wait that long...

They are exceptionally busy at the moment, unfortunately.