midwife experiences and policy at St. Mary's Paddington

[bebejam]

Is anyone here familiar with the new color coded group midwife system at St. Mary's?

My GP assigned me "shared care" without asking if that is what I wanted. (some appointments at the hospital, but most with GP)

It seems like shared care would make it less likely that you would meet all the midwifes on your team, an idea that makes me uneasy.

Also, the midwife that I met seemed friendly...but really young and didn't have the best english skills. I'm assuming they all have to meet some kind of credentialed qualification?

Did people here who have given birth at St. Mary's recently have good experiences with their midwife team? Is it possible to hire an independent midwife to assist during labor?

any advice is GREATLY appreciated

I know nothing about Paddington! But first time round I had all my care at the hospital and didn't meet one person from my team of midwives that delivered my baby, the consultant only popped in afterwards (I had a totally different consultant through the birth) I didn't meet the midwife that visited me post-birth either! It's best to just opt for which is easier to get to in my opinion, the hospital or your GP. You're more likely to meet the midwife who will visit you at home if you go to your GP thinking about it..

I had assumed that I would get to know my midwife before labout but it really wan't to be. A cast of thousands helped me and it was fine, as my main support was from dp but it was a bit odd getting to know a new person every 8 hours. A smaller, less busy place may be a better option if you want to be familiar with your mw before it all happens.

I found St Marys to be ok but, well, I don't plan to go there next time, put it that way. Nothing really wrong, just nothing particularly good either.

I had shared care and gave birth at St Mary's, I preferred being able to go to my GP for some of the appointments because it is nearer and the waiting times were shorter. I saw different people every time I went to Mary's but that didn't bother me, they were mostly fine, am sure they have all met the training criteria.

I expect you can hire an independent midwife (or a doula?) for hour labour.

for 'your' labour i mean

That is a good point actually - when you get to the size-of-a-small house stage and have to go every week, having a long way to go or a long wait just isn't funny (not that it is meant to be amusing but you get my drift).

I had shared care at St Mary's. I saw a different midwife for each appointment but go transferred to medical care after 24wks so didn't see midwives after that just dr's at hospital and at GP. Didn't see any midwives during labour that I had met during consultations but actually saw all of them and the 2 midwives that did my antenatal class in the 3 days I was in hospital afterwards.
Personally I don't think it would have mattered who was my midwife in labour as I was completely delerious (sp?)
Planning on having planned c-sec at St Mary's this time around.

Thanks for all your insight. I also read one of the other threads about St. Mary's in under the "pregnancy" topics. It seems to echo what I hear about a lot of London hospitals, that the delivery ward midwives are good, it is just the post-natal care that maybe isn't so great.

I hadn't realized there was such a midwife shortage in London!

I am taking a tour of the hospital later this week, hopefully that will give me a little more peace of mind. Thanks again for your advice and comments!

Hi
I'm on shared care at St Marys as well (like you I wasn't given a choice either...). Have been assigned to the 'Pink' team at Woodfield Rd clinic. Have had 2 appointments, both with different midwives - first one was a bit sharp (saw her on the labour ward when I went up to do a tour), second one was lovely, but due the day after me, so am unlikely to have her delivering my baby! We've hired a doula, as our first midwife appointment and the labour ward tour didn't fill us with confidence. Have got my first GP appointment next week (with GP and midwife, I think?), so will be interesting to see how that goes.