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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Borders General Hospital?

14 replies

valsmey · 04/10/2018 16:00

Hi ladies.
I'm due to give birth to my 2nd in mid-February, this one will be a planned cesarean due to a terrible experience with my first/medical advice. To make matters more complicated we've just moved with DH's work (he was on a fixed term contract that just ended in the summer) from Surrey. I have my first scan with my new obstetrician next week and i'm not sure what to expect - i gave plenty of notice so that all my medical records etc transferred when we registered at the GP & midwife last month but apart from this hospital scan haven't heard much.

can anyone share their experiences of cesaerans at Borders Hospital? the other one that's close by in terms of distance is the Edinburgh Infirmary but it's a LOT busier and so i told them i preferred the borders option. not sure if i'm going to regret that because i didn't really do much more than a 5 minute google beforehand, i wasn't expecting to get appointments set up so quickly.

OP posts:
Tilliebean · 04/10/2018 17:18

I’m not sure if you’ll get many responses as the hospital isn’t big. I do know some people who delivered at Borders General, one had a c-section with no issues!
I know a lot more who delivered in Edinburgh, including myself. Although I didn’t have a c-section.
Have a look at Borders General and see if you like it!

Original poster
valsmey · 04/10/2018 17:22

thank you Tilliebean - you're right, it's tiny compared to Edinburgh - i looked at the Which website on my phone beforehand and it said they do about a thousand births there a year, which is miniscule compared to Edinburgh - i was hoping that since they're about the same distance away that a smaller, less busy hospital might be a better choice after last time (delivered in a stupidly busy maternity ward, very little support, medical complications galore, put us off trying again for years).
i'm hoping this time it would be different so looking for more of a hand hold than anything Smile

OP posts:
Mokepon · 04/10/2018 17:26

My knowledge is a bit out of date and anecdotal but...
I moved to a rural location just after having my 11 yo at edinburgh royal. Most of the women I went to toddler groups with gave birth at the Borders gen and none had a bad word to say about it. Home cooked food and lovely staff seemed to be the main pluses!

Tilliebean · 04/10/2018 17:53

I think it will be much different! Even though Edinburgh is big I have to say after DD was born I was the only mum in my 4 bed post natal ward for the first night. It was busier the second night but still felt sufficiently staffed to me.
I have no doubt BGH will be relatively quiet.

Original poster
valsmey · 05/10/2018 14:59

thank you - this has reassured me a little bit before next week. i was worrying that i should have just opted to go to the Edinburgh Infirmary as i'd assumed we would when we were planning the move. second-guessing myself. hopefully all will be ok!

OP posts:
melmo26 · 05/10/2018 17:02

I’ve given birth twice at the BGH.

Both very different, one vaginal birth and one EMCS.

The registrar who done my CS was amazing. As soon as I went in in labour they knew something was wrong and was on the table within 20 mins of arriving.
Baby was then really sick and was transferred to Edinburgh as they had the specialists to treat sick babies.

Is there anything specific you want to know about the BGH

Original poster
valsmey · 05/10/2018 19:00

Thanks, that's interesting - if you don't mind me asking, why don't the facilities at Borders offer the services your little one needed? was it something that was very special or was it something that could be part of a Normal Risk pregnancy?
You've just hit on one of my great fears - we travel to BGH then have to be transferred all the way back past home up to Edinburgh due to it being too small to cope with complications..

OP posts:
melmo26 · 05/10/2018 19:47

I’m sorry I didn’t mean to worry you.

It’s not that the hospital didn’t have paediatric doctors there, they did.
It was more a case of she had so many problems, they thought she had meningitis, she kept stopping breathing and needing resuscitated. The paediatric doctor said that he could do the tests but would feel it better for baby to go to the specialists in Edinburgh sick kids.

Turned out she had a stroke. Once she had got better in Edinburgh she was transferred back to the BGH who cared for her in SCBU.

So BGH does have the facilities for even high risk pregnancies, was just my baby was so severely sick they transferred her to Edinburgh.

I even had my appendix out at 25 weeks pregnant with my first one at that hospital and the ward cared for me amazingly.

I hope this helps a little

Original poster
valsmey · 05/10/2018 20:07

Oh that helps, I thought maybe they did too few births that they didn't have much beyond basic maternity care i.e. no scbu, and that it all involved travel up to Edinburgh.

Sorry to hear about your little one too, sounds like she got excellent care across all the hospitals and is on the mend Flowers

OP posts:
TakeAChanseyOnMe · 05/10/2018 20:14

I know people that have worked in the Borders in obstetrics and said the staff are fantastic and a close team.

Someone who worked there as a junior doctor said that at midday he’d find the juniors (who were usually holed in an office doing paperwork) and say “what are you doing? Is it more important than lunch? No, we’re all going for lunch.” They had a team lunch every day. Nice to be part of a team where the bosses care about the juniors! (This was not me btw, I’ve avoided anything O&G related. Grin)

december212 · 05/10/2018 20:15

I had had my little girl at the BGH. Not a cesarean, but I was induced and had a few problems subsequently. The staff were fantastic and were so attentive to me & my Daughter. The registrar that met me when I initially went in was still there with me 48 hours later (coming and going obviously) and was so reassuring when things were going pear shaped. Midwives that had been with me when I was initially induced came to see on the ward after my Daughter had been born, it was very friendly.

Parking isn't great, but which hospital is!

weebarra · 05/10/2018 20:28

My next door neighbour was an obstetrician at BGH and speaks highly of it. I had three EMCS at Edinburgh and it is big and crowded and hot and noisy!

mussie · 05/10/2018 20:31

I worked at the BGH in maternity for a bit a few years ago. Lovely place, very friendly, much quieter than RIE, and the food is really good! With an ELCS, I do think the BGH is the better choice - at RIE they book in so many, and then you can be kept waiting for ages if the doctors get caught up with more urgent things. At the BGH they only do ELCSs on one day of the week, there's almost never any waiting around, and they sometimes had an extra midwife on those days purely to care for the ladies who'd had the ELCSs, so there really was great care. Congratulations on your pregnancy and all the best for February 😊

december212 · 05/10/2018 20:39

Pp is correct - thursday is section day at the BGH.

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