St Georges Tooting - anyone given birth there in 2009-2010?

[CathN]

Hello,

I've read lots of mixed reports about St Georges, especially the post-natal care. Some have said the care they received was great, but others were considerably less impressed!

But most of what I've read is from 2008 or earlier.

And I read here (dated April 2009 - found it on google) that they've tried to improve things recently.

Was just wondering if anyone had given birth in St Georges since the 'improvements' (i.e. since April 2009) and what their experiences were? Also, does anyone know what the 'improvements' were?

I'm not due until September and at the moment I'm registered with St Georges, but my GP said I could change later if I want to (to Kingston or Chelsea & Westminster). However, I've also read that places get booked up very quick and Kingston seems to be very popular.

I'd rather go to St Georges if possible because it's closest and I know it reasonably well (but not the maternity unit). However, if a lot of people have still been having bad experiences there more recently then I might re-think.

Any comments appreciated!

Thanks,
C

• just found this about the new 'Carmen suite'. Has anyone tried it? Doesn't sound very big. Do you have to book early?

I also had this choice (I didn't consider Kingston as it is much further away). I heard equally negative things about the post natal care at C&W. They are both big busy hospitals with large labour wards, and hence after care can be haphazard, noisy etc. There will always be people who have not so great experiences - but we always tend to hear about those and not the vast majority of people who get on fine. Unless you can afford to pay for private room (hugely expensive in London) you just have to go with it. I was advised by local NCT and other mums that best strategy is just to ask (forcefully but nicely) for help as the staff are very busy and don't naturally offer it. It will be fine i'm sure. And I do hear that the medical care and labour support are great at both.

I've had really good care with St georges. Was due last week but have gone post-dates, and they've been great.

About halfway through my pregnancy I decided to go for a homebirth but still had all my scans at StG and am cared for/will be attended at the birth by their midwives.

It depends what sort of birth you're going for I guess, but StG has by far the lowest rate of C-sections (Chelsea has the highest in the country, I think).

All the midwives I've encountered have been great and my choice for homebirth has been fully supported and I've got no complaints.

Whatever hospital you choose, I think you need to be pretty vocal about your needs. Make sure you are as informed as possible and you should be fine, wherever you go. Good luck!

I have a couple of friends who had good experiences there in April. I think the PN care is a bit grim at StG and C&W, esp. the overnight care because they use a lot of agency staff. I gave birth in Kingston and was very happy with it. Can't really comment on PN care because I left on the same day. You can park right by the mat unit at Kingston but I've had to drive around StG carpark a few times in the past trying to park. It depends where you live because traffic to Kingston is pretty good along the A3 and traffic into Tooting can be grim from where I am in Wandsworth. If you're Tooting local you'd probably have your antenatal check-ups at St Mary's which is new and really civilised compared to StG.

Hi - I had my baby in St Georges in April 2009.

In summary I would say my experience of the midwives when I was giving birth was excellent - they were great and I felt very cared for. I started out in the Carmen suite (the natural birthing unit) and it was very nice (for a hospital!!) - we had a big room with a private bathroom, bed, bean bag, water pool etc. In the relatively early stages of labour this was great. However, I got to the point where I wanted an epidural but because they were so busy and had no beds, they couldn't transfer me downstairs to the main delivery suite for 8 hours .

However, when I did finally get a bed and an epidural all was right with the world!

Postnatel care however was pretty grim (although I was fortunate enough to be given a room on my own) - the midwives were over stretched and I didn't feel I got the care/support I needed (which was sad because the midwives were brilliant when I was having the baby). Having said that - friends of mine who have had babies at Kingston and C&W all said the same about the post natel experience- grim grim grim!!

Anyway, this is a long msg but in summary:

I would have another baby in St Georges

The Carman Suite is really good but just be warned that if you end up wanting an epidural you might have to wait for a bed if they are busy (next time I am just going to stay downstairs in the delivery unit!)

Take some antiseptic wipes for postnatel, grit your teeth, don't expect too much from the midwives, get your partner to bring nice food and before you know it you will be home.

Hope this helps.

had DS there before improvements, over 2 yrs ago but just wanted to say the midwives were fantastic and I would go back because the specialists were amazing. And DS was in neonatal for 4 days, they were fantastic. I just feel that it being a teaching hospital they have a lot of specialists there if anything goes wrong... or not according to plan

However the postnatal care was awful, so much so I made a formal complaint. hygiene was terrible, but the new wing was nearly open, and haven't heard too much about that, sorry.

I went into St Georges on 12th Auguest 2009 when my contractions were ten minutes apart and they sent me home and told me to go back in 4 days later. I arrived home, half an hour later an ambulance came to get me and I was rushed back into St Georges. I had no time to go to the (very lovely looking Carmen Suite) and gave birth to my son in a room downstairs half an hour later. Three friends have had the same experience of being sent home when you should be admitted into St Georges- it is because they are so busy and have no room. If they do try and send you home you should insist on staying.

I've had all 3 of mine at St George's, but the last one was in 2007. I've also had a couple of D&Cs there following miscarriages.

St George's is good for the birth, you can just turn up for early pregnancy scans and they are good for any problems during pregnancy (loads of specialists) but postnatal care isn't very good. The nurses just seem really unsympathetic in the postnatal wards. I agree with tootingbec - bring your own food.

I also agree with LisaS24, I was sent home when I knew I was in labour with my third child. They made out like I was delusional or a liar. I fought my corner because it wasn't my first labour, but I was still sent home. DD was born 10 hours later so I wasn't imagining it. I also know other people this has happened to.

Just to add to the other posts - I think the antenatel care at St Georges was good. I had a minor complication with my placenta that they picked up during the 20 week scan and they were really efficient at getting me follow up scans etc. And I never waited more than 5 or 10mins for my antenatel appointment when I went to the hospital.

My GP gave me some good advice re: choosing between St Thomas's and St Georges. Basically he said all London teaching hospitals are good but if you go into labour and are admitted when they are busy then your experience might not be as good as someone who gives birth when it is quiet.

The alternative is £10,000 at the Portland (+ £50 for every additional epidural top up!!)

I delivered 6 week-old DS there in December, and was largely impressed. You can see what I wrote a few days after the birth about the experience on this thread here if it helps.

Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all your replies. It's great to hear from people who have been there so recently. And I'm relieved to here that on the whole everyone said they would go back so I'm going to stick with StG. My first (12 week) scan with them is at the beginning of March and I'm very excited.
Thanks again for all your advice - I will try to remember the tips about bringing food and wipes for the post-natal bit!
C

they actually have an M&S there now , so someone could run down and get some goodies for you! After I gave birth I had never been so hungry!

I had my twins at St Georges. I had very good care whilst I was pregnant and then had a cs as my twins are identical, this again was a good experience.
The post natal care however was very very poor indeed. You need a hand breast feeding twins at the same time, and I would be pressing my buzzer (unable to move due to spinal block) and I would see the midwives through the door reading magazines at their station and they would just ignore me. I also had a pretty serious bleed, rang my buzzer asked to be checked and they refused.
In the end I left in a wheel chair (if you collapse they won't let you out and I knew I wasn't strong enough to walk) as I just had to get out.
I have met someone whose wife died following the birth of their second baby 2 years ago. This happened at St georges. The midwives simply didn't check her temperature and she died of an infection.
Mark Clarke the conservative candidate for the area has been campaigning for better post natal care at St Georges.