Recent experiences of Labour Ward at Simpson Center, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

[KatraAllandra]

I was really hoping to use the birth centre at Edinburgh but as I'm going to be induced on Monday at 42 weeks I'll be on the labour ward instead. I'm booked into ward 119 to begin the process, which is scaring the hell out of me.

I did spend a few days on ward 119 a few weeks ago and it was horrendous, my worst hospital nightmare with a dirty room, broken air-con, toilets that don't flush properly, bidets that don't work, and only baths without any shower head so I ended up having to use a drinking water jug to rinse my hair. The staff were mostly lovely but really overworked so it took > 10 minutes for anyone to respond to call buttons which was quite scary. Overall it was horrific and I'm now genuinely terrified of going back to have my baby there.

I'm really hoping the actual labour rooms will be better, but I don't even know what facilities they have in them. I asked my community midwife but she was pretty vague and could only tell me that 2 of them have pools but the others don't. What do they have in them to help if not a pool? Is it just a hospital bed? Are they all ensuite? Do you get the same midwife throughout or will it change all the time? If I have a drip for the induction will I still be able to move around? Apparently they'll talk me through all this on Monday but I'd really have liked some more information up front so I can prepare mentally.

Hi, congratulations, you get to meet your baby soon

I had my DS in Simpson's 4 weeks ago, I was also induced, and I can reassure you that we received excellent care.

I wasn't on the ward to begin with, I was already dilated so was induced in a labour room, then moved up to the ward after ds was born and we were delighted with how well we were looked after in both places.

The labour rooms are functional, not beautiful, but if you need a birthing ball, floor mats etc then you just need to let them know. We had a pool room but those without have a big wet room. I took some electric candles, iPad loaded with films/music , my own pillow etc which helped make it more comfortable.

We had one change of midwife during labour, but both were lovely.

You'll still be able to move around if you have the drip, it's just a bit more awkward.

Basically I would say that it sounds like you were feeling how I was feeling just a few Saturdays ago (I also went in on Monday) and I can reassure you that the staff are great, the ward and rooms were clean, and the care was excellent.

If you haven't done it already, I would recommend writing out your birth preferences and any specific questions you might have so that you can talk everything through on Monday - I had tons of questions, apparently no question is too daft to be asked!!

Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions I can help with and good luck!

I had a baby there about a fortnight ago

I posted on this thread the other day www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/2124927-Caesarean-at-Edinburgh-Royal-any-info-appreciated which was about C Sections but still some useful info in there.

My first baby was EMCS, my second a VBAC so I laboured on the labour ward. I got the last room going as they were on redirect to St John's so couldn't get a room with a pool, nor could I get mobile monitors (telemetry) that I'd wanted so I laboured on the bed, BUT it was totally fine!!

Yes, rooms are ensuite. We took an iPod and speaker, I'd do the same.

Staff change over is 0800-0830 and 2000-2030 so yes, you may have a change over of staff. Staff were all absolutely lovely.

I had DS there almost a year ago. I was admitted to 119 for induction but already 4cm so sent to labour ward straight away.

Ask for wireless monitoring if you want to be able to move around, then you're only tied by the battery life of the drip machine and can walk as much as you want. They can do it, no matter what they say!

Room was en-suite, but just had practical stuff in it. Like McFox says, just ask and they can bring things in. I hardly moved off the birthing ball.

I had the same midwife for the whole time but I was only in labour for 1.5 hrs. You may get shift change unfortunately.

They are busy and overworked but they are great and will look after you. On the ward afterwards, just remember to buzz for everything, don't wait for them to come and offer. Oh and get them to check babies latch every time if you are breast feeding!

Good Luck

Sorry to hear you had such a bad first experience. I had my twins there 7 1/2 wks ago. I had 2 stays on 119. The first was a 1 night for monitoring and although I was left pretty much alone it was perfectly fine for what I needed. When I had my twins we had to stay in for a wk. I was lucky having had twins I got my own room. I think it's safe to say I saw a lot of their staff because of the wk stay but also because everyone came to see the twins. During the wk although they were very busy the care we got was fantastic all the staff were really nice. They really helped with getting feeding established especially during the night. They were happy to take the naughty twin to the naughty baby corner (aka an excuse to have a cuddle and a cup of tea for them) during night so I could sleep. One night they had 8 in the naughty corner, quite an amusing sight.

Hopefully you will have no reason to see them but the baby drs (they call themselves that) are also fantastic, both with the babies and the stressed parents. I can't praise them enough.

The facilities are basic but what I saw they were adequate and clean. I can't really comment on labour rooms, all I remember was that mine was huge in order to accommodate all the extra bodies I may have needed if something went wrong with the twins. The delivery staff were also very good as was the obstetrician and the anesthetic man.

Try not to let your past experience worry you, put it down to a bad day. I've never had/seen anything that would concern me and highly recommend the eri.