Labour at the QE2 Hospital

[Mumcab]

is there anyone out there that has any experiences of childbirth at the QE2 hospital in Herts. i've heard conflicting stories

My friend delivered both her babies there. Both births where very long. Staff I think where very good

it seems like a very old hospital, the labour ward seems very old anyway, am dreading it as my last labour was three days..

honestly? it was terrible. i had dd1 there. it was an induction as my waters broke and nothing happened. i was left in the delivery room on my own several times as they sent dh away telling him it would be hours. my epidural didnt work, i was left puking afterwards by myself. the midwife was a cow and didnt belvie when i wanted to push, told me the monitor wasnt reading contractions so i couldnt be in labour. she stiched me afterwards with no pain relief.

i had my other 2 at lister in stevenage and they were wonderful and listened to me.

I had all my kids there, with DS they were good, but they were quite nasty to me, when I got out of bed, because there was no buzzer by my bed and I needed painrelief. With DD1 they were good, but SCBU gave a her a blood transfusion without our knowledge. And didn;t tell me that she had Group B strep infection or septanimia (sp??) with DD2 I was left alone for hours on end (was in premature labour) told me that my contractions weren't strong enough to be in labour, wouldn;t examine me to check, forced pethadin (sp??) onto me, even though I didn;t want it because I knew that if I was in labour it can affect the baby breathing. I won;t have another baby there

I had both of mine there, but wouldn't rate it. It's all a bit grubby imo and I don't feel I got particularly good service esp the first time when I had a million stitches, done by an incompetent midwife who kept asking my dh to check them (as she was doing it) to see if it bore any relation to the area he'd once known and loved(it didn't).
Many of my friends have had positive experiences at the Lister in Stevenage and at the Rosie in Cambridge. I certainly wouldn't go back to the QE2.

I have only just found this thread. I had my DD at QEII WGC (by elective C section) in November 2005 and it was a very good experience. The staff were kind (but obviously v busy) and the ward was shabby but basically clean. Who cares that the food is dreadful? I am now pregnant again (due July 2007) and have found the ante natal care at QEII to be rather lacking (that Peartree centre is the most inefficient place ever). I recently went to Luton & Dunstable for a cervical stitch (QEII could not fit me in!) and that was a very postive experience under a consultant called Mr Peter Reid. He was excellent and the staff at Luton & D were excellent too (that hosp also shabby but basically clean). I am returning to QEII for my anomaly scan next week and will thereafter decide whether to switch to Luton & Dunstable or remain at QEII.

Mumcab, I'll make this brief in case you have discounted it, but I had a brilliant homebirth in North Herts as I'm not keen on hospitals.

caroline 1852 - id definately go back to the l&d. i had a fantastic birth experience there despite a 36hr labour ending in c-section. it was so good i didnt want to leave!!im now thinking of moving into hertfordshire but if it means i cant have my next bub at l&d then im going to delay any move until i complete my family.

I had fantastic care at the QE2 with both of my boys, group B strep ws detected in labour with DS1. They looked after me fantastically, food was good with lots of it!!!
Hoping that this pg is successful and have no qualms about going back there again, hopefully in November(am currently 14 weeks pg)
EPU care has also been good (not after my first m/c, but since then they have)
I've had much better experiences than friends have had at the Lister. (my boys are 6 and 4 BTW)