The Rosie, Cambridge - has anyone given birth here?

[ALS17081982]

Hi, I'm moving to Cambridge and this is most likely the hospital I would give birth in. Has anyone got any experience of it? I want a water birth if I can - what's the pool availability like? Thanks!

Are you likely to be in the catchment for West Suffolk instead? They've just been awarded outstanding by the CQC and their ME led unit is wonderful. Friends have been to The Rosie and all but one had a less than perfect experience.

ME = MW (midwife)

I had a horrendous birth there,but it was 20 yrs ago,so probably dosnt count

All my Cambridge friends have had good experienced at The Rosie! D's was already born when we moved here. Addenbrooke's is a amazing hospital.

Yes. I’ve given birth there and know lots of other women who have. The MLU is wonderful with amazing rooms (every room is big and has a pool). But you can only give birth there if you don’t need any monitoring or other intervention, and if you don’t want pain relief other than gas and air. The women I know who had straightforward births had lovely experiences in the MLU. That’s where I wanted to give birth... but had to be transferred to the delivery unit. IMO the standards of the DU lag far behind in terms of facilities. There is only one room with a pool. I was unlucky with my first midwife but when the shift changed my second midwife was better. Also needed a doctor at one point and he was great. However after everything was over I was kind of abandoned, left in the room for hours without being offered a clean gown or clean bed sheets (everything was covered in blood obviously) and wasn’t transferred to the postnatal ward until the end of the day (I’d given birth at 10.30am). They must have been busy However I did feel in good hands during the actual birth and immediate aftermath. That wasn’t the case for my SIL, unfortunately. She had a very traumatic birth there, and that was mainly because her care wasn’t good enough.

Oh god, this sounds a bit worrying overall! Seems to be more negative than positive reviews. I've not moved yet but I'm expecting to live within a mile or two of addenbrooks so I guess that means I won't have a choice!

So far I'm low risk but only 23 weeks so things might change. I want to try with gas and air only so if I could get in the MLU that would be my preference, I think!

I’ve had 3 children in 3 different hospitals, the last one two years ago in the Rosie. I had a good experience, the facilities are excellent (I delivered in a pool, no problem with getting one) and the ante natal care was good too (consultant found to do a speedy ultrasound at my 36wk appointment to check baby’s position).

They were however insanely busy and actually shut the unit while I was in. This did result in me labouring largely unsupervised (apart from DH) which didn’t bother me, but I can see might not be ideal if you had any problems. It also took them 19 hours to discharge us after a straightforward birth as there weren’t enough available staff to do all the checks and what-have-you.

I’ve delivered in the Lister and Queens in Romford, the only one I wouldn’t recommend would be Queens, dreadful experience, though it was 8 years ago now.

If you do give birth at the Rosie and could afford a doula I’d strongly recommend one. There are some fantastic doulas in Cambridge and they can advocate for you when you’re at the Rosie to ensure you get good care. That way you and your partner won’t have to stress about it.

I used to think doulas were just for women who don’t have anyone else to be their birth partner, but if I have a second baby I’m definitely getting a doula.

It is a very busy hospital, but I've given birth there twice, both times they were excellent. The MLU is much nicer than the DU, as above, and the post-labour ward is not great - busy and very hot. I think that may be a common thing with postnatal wards, though.
Both DC needed time in NICU and the Rosie NICU staff and facilities are largely superb, so I am incredibly grateful that I was able to have access to those too.