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Childbirth

St Peter's Chertsey - Good Bad or just plain Ugly!

63 replies

Dophus · 22/11/2004 14:50

I am due to give birth to my first in Jan. I have yet to hear a good thing about St Peter's and I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the thought of giving birth there.

Can anyone le me know their expereinces with the hospital?

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charleypops · 25/11/2004 12:54

No pain relief and a ventuose - you are brave!! I'm terrified of having ventuose or forceps after reading some of the posts on MN - some poor ladies are still traumatised 2 years later!

Your midwife sounds great - it must make all the difference

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charleypops · 25/11/2004 12:59

Sorry I double posted it seems to happen if I press my back browser....

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handbagaddiction · 25/11/2004 13:00

Not brave Charleypops - think I would have had something if I'd have had the choice. By the time I didn't think I could cope with the contractions anymore - it was too late anyway as I was fully dilated! Midwife didn't offer gas and air for pushing as she said it would ruin my concentration!! Yelled a bit when they were fixing the ventouse to dd's head - poor consultant got a bit of a shock - had expected me to have had some pain relief so wasn't expecting the reaction he did get !! Don't think I was too rude to him though!!

Ventouse bit was OK though probably because she was very close to being our anyway - worked first time - first push/pull her head was out and then the rest of her came out with the second!

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Dophus · 25/11/2004 14:27

I'm also reassured to here positive thoughts on Royal Surrey. I had my NCT class last night and the teacher was adamant that there was nothing wrong with St Peter's and did seem to positive about Royal Surrey. I spent the night having anxiety attacks that I had made a big fuss about nothing and made the wrong decision.

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charleypops · 25/11/2004 18:10

Hi Dophus - did you mean "didn't" seem too positive about Royal Surrey?

I think what the teacher meant must have been that in HER experience there's nothing wrong with St Peter's.

The facts are there have been serious problems with maternity there for the past few years. They are chronically understaffed, midwives are overworked and there was even an investigation into baby and maternal deaths by the CHI in 2002.

As within every profession there is a degree of loyalty towards fellow professionals and also it's easy (natural) for people working in their field to be defensive. I suppose it's also natural for some to assume that the rest of us don't know what we're talking about.

Don't worry about making a fuss - this is your baby and your health you're worrying about, it's not as if it's some restaurant that might do a dodgy steak diane or something!! Reputations are earned. I'm sure we'd all be overjoyed if St P's suddenly had a massive cash injection, turned around and had glowing reports - and it would be a darned site more convenient to get to than Royal Surrey!

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Uwila · 26/11/2004 09:04

Nice post Charleypops. I definitely agree with your point about professional loyalty. I work for a company that is often in the news because it has a knack for getting caught ou in American politics. And,I know when I hear negative things said about us, I have a tendancy to get up on my soapbox and defend. If you believe in your job/career, naturally you will defend it's worth.

I think the most credible reviews on a maternity unit come from those who have been patients there. Also, I very much believe that on the NHS you should have the right to go wherever you want. Why should you be required to go to SP just because you live next to it? You should, in my view, be able to go to another hospital just because you don't like the colour they painted the front door, if you want. If enough people refuse to go to SP, then perhaps SP will take the not so subtle hint that they should get their act together.

I stood up when I was 5 weeks pregnant and delcared under no uncertain terms that there were no conditions under which I would set foot in SP. That's might right. And, it's your too. I don't feel guilty. I support the NHS with my NI tax contributions. And they remember that it is they who work for me.

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Dophus · 26/11/2004 09:36

Thanks to you both. I know you're right and believe also that we should have the right to choose where we give birth.

As for spending your life defending your career - I work in the Pharmaceutical industry...!!!

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Uwila · 26/11/2004 10:06

Oh... so you work for the big bad drug companies. Don't feel too bad. I work in the oil industry.

Also, as a migraine sufferer, GSK is my friend!!

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Dophus · 26/11/2004 10:41

As a car user I guess the big bad oil companies are also my friend !!!

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mum2b1 · 04/12/2007 20:30

Uwila - you said you had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the Dr to refer you elsewhere away from St peters - - what did you have to do ?
At moment they dont seem to be writing my referal letter either

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anorak · 04/12/2007 20:33

Hi, I gave birth at St Peters over 18 years ago, having given birth to two other children since at other hospitals I can say it was very poor then. I remember being in a ward with 5 other mums and their new babies and no one getting any sleep as there was always one crying.

Also remember being shouted at by the midwife for not staying in the position she told me to when I was involuntarily writhing in agony

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Twowilldo · 04/12/2007 21:51

Congrats to all of you going to Royal Surrey - I've had two deliveries there and I thought the care was good both times. The first one was in 2002 when the investigation was on in the maternity unit at St Ps (where I was due to go) so I swapped to Royal SUrrey. Glad that I did. Saying that, I've got friends who went to St Ps and they say it was fine. I guess it comes down to the personnal experience you have.

Just a couple of points - maternity units seems to know well in advance which months are due to be extra busy over the coming 9 months so it might be useful to ask about this if you've got a choice.

Also, at Royal Surrey they offer to test for Group Strep B infection during all the usual ante-natal testing. This is worth doing as it can be serious in very small number of deliveries. But they don't seem to push this test, it's just a form that you take back in at your 34w (I think) check up if you're interested. I had it done but I never chased up the outcome and it only came apparent it had been a positive test when they looked at my notes after I'd delivered (which was a bit late - you're supposed to take antibiotics pre delivery).

Luckily it didn't cause any problems but just make sure you chase this up with you midwife!

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TheatreMumma · 02/06/2018 20:19

I realise this thread is really dated, but, in the event that anyone is searching for a similar thing and gets nervous, I gave birth there in 2016 and they were amazing. I had to have a tricky procedure whilst pregnant and the team were incredible and the midwife and dr who delivered my little one were outstanding. The birth centre is nigh on impossible to get in to as their criteria for doing so requires text book perfection and the post-natal ward was pretty grim but when it came to the important bits, they absolutely pulled through and I would happily go there again.