John Radcliffe Oxford - Midwife Led Unit - anyone got any advice?

[Lillibet77]

We are expecting at the beginning of Nov and originally were going to go to the Wallingford. We've since heard that the JR has a maternity led unit. Has anyone had any experiences there yet - good or bad?

I had 2 babies at the J R, 14 and 12 years ago respectively. Did not see a doctor either time, except paediatrician afterwards to check baby over.

Have also given birth at the Wallingford - again no doctor. Very happy experience, hence my nickname.

Main difference was that I didn't have to be strapped to a monitor, lying on my back for half an hour "to get a trace" at the W. The JR, like many large hospitals, was very eager to "get a trace" and when I questioned it (because it was a horrible, uncomfortable experience) they more or less said, if you don't want that sort of birth you shouldn't come here.

But it could all have changed of course.

Lillibet, are you thinking of the new Spires unit? Midwife led and supposed to be lovely. The idea behind it is that it is similar to Wallingford and Chipping Norton, but has the medical resources of the (I have to say absolutely fantastic) maternity unit in case you need them.

I was talking to a woman who gave birth there yesterday. (I was talking to her yesterday ... she gave birth ten days ago!) She said that since it's only been open a few weeks it's all lovely and new and the midwives are brilliant. She had had a difficult first labour and the Spires unit was brilliant for her - it was as non-medical as it could be, but if she needed it she could be moved down to the ordinary maternity suite for an epidural or whatever.

I had both my previous children at the JR and was very impressed, generally, with the maternity hospital anyway but as I'm expecting my third in early November, I'm hoping to give birth in the new unit. From what I hear, the only problem is whether or not they have enough rooms (just three).

There's more information on the JR web site (search on Spires, there's a PDF to download).

Maybe I'll see you in there?!

Sorry, forgot to say, the bit about having to get a trace on admission at the JR mentioned by Elasticwoman is something I remember from my previous two JR deliveries. I hated it too (as did the babies, who didn't seem to want to cooperate as it was very hard to get a continuous reading for the required amount of time) and I'm going to ask my midwife about this tomorrow. As I understand it, this is the sort of thing the Spires doesn't insist on. But I'll let you know what I find out.

The link for the PDF is:

www.oxfordradcliffe.nhs.uk/forpatients/patientinfoleaflets_updatedOct07/mlu_midwifery.pdf

PS: No, definitely no continuous reading taken on admission at the Spires. And my midwife didn't think they do that in the ordinary part of the JR maternity hospital anymore either as it's not been shown to be particularly useful. Good news!

This is really great advice about MLU - thanks! Let me know how you get on with your midwife. I'm going to speak to mine too (Thame) so will let you know if there's anything of interest. Hey you never know we may see each other! Cheers Lillibet

Playdough - I could have told them that in 1994. The research evidence was available then. Anyway, all water under the bridge for me now.

Elasticwoman - well, these protocols must be observed, until the very obvious becomes very obvious to the medical people I agree tho. By the time I had my first actual labour I had developed a heathly hatred for those silly brown bands which were supremely ill designed for pregnant women's bodies. (I had bleeding at 34 weeks and they kept me in for two nights because in all that time they couldn't get a consecutive half hour reading. Six years later, I don't think DD has kept still for that length of time while awake!)

Let me know how it goes; I am due early Dec and hope to deliver at MLU at JR; it sounds just what I want!

Hi there,

I have visited the Spires after attending a conference at the JR in acknowledgment of its opening. I am a Doula and Yoga teacher for the childbearing year.

There are three rooms available, two of which have beds, one is a 'sensory room' i.e. it is designed to promote active labour and birth. There is a large birthing 'bath' in one of the rooms and en suite bathrooms too.
The midwives themselves have run the project, so they really have their hearts in it. They have gone to great lengths to make it look and feel comfortable. It has a lovely homely feel, as compared to the rest of the hospital.
The midwives are really trying to promote natural methods for labour and birth and they seem to take a real pride in their craft - an important aspect of the support that we need as birthing mothers.

They intend to cover approx 1000 births per year.

My only question to the set-up is that with such close contact with the JR, any midwife that lacked confidence, would be more likely transfer a 'slow' labouring woman over, rather than sitting on her hands and trusting in the process of birth. Remember that as time goes on, protocols get tighter with such a litigious society and many midwives like to play it safe, as a result.

I hope this information helps. Please feel free to email me for further information.

I was born there - but that was in 1974

they saved my nephew's life as my sister had a bad labour, then had a very good caesarian there.

She had nothing but praise and she has high standards

Zammara, thanks for that detailed posting: very useful and encouraging. Yesterday I spoke to another woman who gave birth at the JR about ten days ago. Unfortunately, the three rooms at the Spires were all already occupied when she arrived and so she gave birth in the normal delivery rooms. (Which she still found a positive experience.) Fingers crossed that one of the rooms is available when my baby decides it's time to be born. It certainly sounds ideal from my point of view.

I gave birth at the JR last year and they were incredible. It was before the MLU opened but my midwife was absolutely incredible. She's hopefully transferring to the MLU next year.

In contrast, my sister intented to have a natural birth at Wantage, but all went wrong and she had to be transferred to the JR where she almost had an emergency C-section but got him out at the last minute by forceps.

one thing I would say is that I HATED the ward at the JR and ended up demanding a private room, but I'm a bit of a madam like that :-D

Lillibet, this is probably too late ... but I gave birth in the Spires unit on Saturday night so I can now report back! It was absolutely lovely. The atmosphere up there is relaxing, calm and friendly and I really cannot praise the staff enough.

On admission, there was no electronic monitoring, the brief internal (which I requested) only happened after I'd been there for a while. I was able to use the birthing pool in a beautifully equipped, clean and lovely room. The midwife was helpful, calm, kind ... it was a fantastic birth experience.

I then had a tricky third stage. My placenta was stuck and it was nice, at that point, to be close to the main delivery suite as there was some worry about bleeding. They wheeled me down for consultation and, thanks to a very experienced midwife, I managed to avoid the threatened spinal block and 'theatre'.

I was taken back up to the midwife led unit, to a private room with en suite shower and toilet and was able to spend a happy night feeding my lovely new baby and sleeping soundly. (Well, maybe not that last bit!)

In all, a really fantastic experience with the perfect mixture of letting nature do its work and medical back up when needed.

Hope that helps, if not you then maybe someone else!

Hi, I'm a student midwife at the JR...it's lovely to read of your experiences. We all love and job and do our very best to promote and facilitate the best possible experiences of labour and birth for you all. I too am a mummy...so have great empathy with the importance of this. I can't wait to get up to the Spires for true midwifery led care. Please carry on posting, and I'll keep reading...it's so important to reflect.

Midwife35x

had ds2 there on the normal delivery suite and the care recieved was excellent (i'm a nurse myself)

luckily i had the same midwife throughout labour and delivery which was really important and i remember being really touched when an african cleaner went round all the babies in the maternity ward sing a low beautiful song in an amazing voice that was very soothing...everyone loved it.