Praise for the Carmen suite at St Georges

[Littlemai]

I had my DS 3 weeks ago at St George's in Tooting, I was lucky to be able to have the water birth I wanted in the Carmen Suite. I just wanted to say what a fantastic experience I had and how amazing all the staff who supported me were!! Although the labour was fairly simple, I actually thought it was a good experience, I did have a few complications at the end- the cord was around babies neck and I turned into a bit of a fainting disaster due to low blood pressure and blood sugar as well as having lost some blood due to a 3rd degree tear. i felt complete secure and looked after all the time and everyone was very reassuring and caring. I couldn't have asked for better treatment. I thought it was important to share this good experience as often we only get to hear the bad stuff. xx

I am glad for you but very surprised. St George's is my local and I had DS there 3 years ago and was booked in there for DD this year but went elsewhere at the last minute because of the appalling treatment and state of the wards.

As I say I am glad that you had a positive experience there, maybe they are turning around.

Littlemai, I'm relieved to read about your positive experiences of the Carmen Suite, as I've found it really difficult to find anyone who has actually used it. As was the case for WobblyPig, there are many bad experiences reported about St George's (I've read about plenty of them here on MN...).

Hopefully, I'll be delivering on the Carmen in a few weeks' time, so I'm staying optimistic!

please do- the midwives were lovely and there seemed to be loads of them!! I was a bit worried before my birth as it was my first and I had no idea what to expect and due to swine flu we couldn't even visit the Carmen suite which made it even more of an unknown, but from the minute I was admitted I felt relaxed and supported. There were lots of letters displayed from other mums saying thank you- obviously they would only put the good ones up but it shows there are others- and I think often feel more motivated to write on MN when they have had a bad experience. I'm sure no hospital is perfect but I am very grateful to the team who supported me.
Good Luck covycrump I'm sure you will have a good experience too
(ps when I had my baby blues day and was in a crying panic about the fact that my nipples had cracked and DS was therefore drinking my blood- I phoned the community midwives who I am now under and couldn't get through to anyone eventually I phoned the Carmen Suite not knowing what else to do- I was put through to the Sister who had delivered my baby and she was yet again absolutely lovely!!