Stoke, New Cross or Telford Hospital Experiences

[i83]

I was just wondering if anyone had any experiences of Stoke, New Cross (Wolverhampton) or Telford hospitals, for maternity care and giving birth please?

Good or bad!

These are our choices, as we’re right in the middle of all three so I was hoping for any experiences or opinions!

tia!! xx

Consultant led Telford is quite new and modern but staffing levels were very low admittedly 4 years ago. Registrars that did the actual birth (ventouses which I suspect were mostly due to my anatomy) seemed good.

They definitely have a few birthing pools with fancy mood lighting (had post birth shower there). They were at the centre of a scandal and were in special measures when I was having my 2nd. This meant the Midwife in charge had to show assessors around rather than actually doing her job which made staffing levels even worse. No experience of the other 2, was solidly Telford catchment.

I would avoid stoke…. I didn’t have a good experience there nor did anyone else I know. Which I had gone to New Cross as same distance to them both for me but as im Stafford and Stafford and stoke are linked midwife’s tend to just presume you will go to stoke. Everyone I know who has been New Cross has had good experiences

@randomsabreuse and @Didisquat thank you so much for your replies.

I didn’t think I wanted to go to New Cross (spent so long there between the age of 15 and 19, with my Mum whilst she was having chemo and being given heartbreaking news at every appointment so I’ve not got a great association with it) but I’ve been hearing good things about the maternity unit there so don’t want to discount it.

I would have probably gone to Stafford but I don’t think you can have a baby there anymore.

I think you can still go Stafford but it’s only small and midwife’s only so can only be straight forward births, if you are high risk the can’t have you and if anything went wrong you would have to be transferred to stoke which is quite scary. It’s lovely there though…. I wanted mine there but was classed as high risk as had to be induced

Stafford still has a freestanding midwifery led unit afaik, but there will be restrictions on who can use it so may need to discus with your midwife. Our last baby was due just as the normal maternity was closing at Stafford and we had to choose between Stoke and New Cross if we went overdue. It’s a while ago now but got better vibes from New Cross. As it was baby came so quick we didn’t make it to any maternity ward, Stafford or otherwise :D good luck with your decision OP!

I had my little boy at New Cross in March last year. They were absolutely amazing- I ended up having a crash c section and he ended up on SCBU and the staff were so lovely and helpful

@Didisquat and @FartOutLoudDay thank you. I’m consultant led so that must be why I was told Stafford was a no go.

Oh wow @FartOutLoudDay where did you give birth!? Hope all was ok!

@TeddyBearPicnic2 it’s good to hear some positive reviews, even though things didn’t go to plan for you I’m sorry. Hope you and DS are both ok now.

@i83 in reception 😂

(And yes, all was fine, the 0-60 in an hour Labour was not so fun but delivery straightforward and midwives ran around the corner just in time to catch the baby!)

@FartOutLoudDay Wowzers!!!!!
So glad everything was ok in the end xx

I think the thing I liked about Stoke was that you can give birth on the MLU but all the facilities are there if there are complications.

I personally wouldn't like to do the trip from Stafford to Stoke if you need a procedure.

I've had both of my children at New Cross (2017 and earlier this year) and cannot recommend them enough. I was on the MLU on both occasions though. I did end up in triage twice though and I was treated well. Saw 2 consultants, 1 was a condescending twat but the other was great (surprisingly the one who was horrible was a woman whereas the man was great and actually listened to me).

@PritiPatelsMaker that makes a lot of sense. Yes, I can’t imagine having to travel, when in that position! 😬

@mummyh2016 thank you for sharing your experiences, it’s great to hear how ladies have got on at the various hospitals.

In 2018 I had my eldest at Stoke via EMCS. I was transferred from Stafford to Stoke via ambulance when it was clear an EMCS was necessary. It was a bloody awful journey, utterly traumatic. I was in the throes of excruciating back to back Labour and wish I had just opted to go straight to Stoke MLU so the facilities were on the same site.

The c section itself was fine, my assigned midwife was lovely but not so much the other midwives. We had paid for a private room which was directly opposite the nurses station yet it was really difficult to actually get any assistance from them, and I heard the midwives laughing about me which I found really upsetting (I was fairly young and completely shell shocked by the whole situation).

Oh gosh @BreadmanAndCake that sounds awful and quite terrifying really, I’m sorry you had to go through something so traumatic.