Where to give birth? - Great Western, Swindon or JR Oxford? Help!

[Excitedmum2b]

Hi,

I'm due with my first baby mid may and can't decide which hospital to go to, either Swindon or JR Oxford. I've had all my scans at Swindon but recently have done some reading on Oxford and it looks quite good. I really like the look of the Spires MLU in Oxford but as there are only 3 delivery suites it might be wishful thinking. Would really appreciate any advice or experiences that anyone has had of either. :-)

Hi

I had DD at GWH. Staff all great, post natal ward has plenty of private rooms which can be nice. They are quite risk averse and I believe the caesarean rate is quite high. I had a ECS with DD, she was breech and we for various reasons decided against trying an ECV. But no complaints here. BF support was good (although midwife did get a sneaky bottle in without my prior consent due to low blood sugar readings whilst I was 'asleep'.

Not any experience of JR Oxford other than a CVS.

Good luck with the delivery!! Look forward to reading your birth announcement!

Hi ExcitedMum

Had DS at GWH in 2005 and due to have DD there in April this year. Would agree with Katypillars comments re: high cesearean rates and would add the same about inductions. That being said the levels of cleanliness, number of private rooms and staff ratios are all really good. Hoping to have a waterbirth there this time (so fingers crossed for everything remaining straight forward) and my mw who is based at the hospital has been v. supportive of this and indicated that my chances of at least getting to labour in the pool are high.
No exp. of Oxford but hopefully someone will come along soon who can shed some light on it

There is also the MLU at Wallingford, it is quite quiet and has had good reports from people who've been there, here is the thread which I also posted on.
I am planning a homebirth but will be going to Swindon if I need hospital care.

Hi - had DS at Swindon in 2005 and although I thought the labour ward and midwives were incredibly supportive (they really helped me to achieve the VBAC birth I wanted), I was very disappointed with the 'aftercare' (there wasn't any!). Once DH had left at about 7pm, they said they would check me (I was in a private room) at 11pm unless I called before. The room's heating had completely stopped working(it was February)and I had to lie in bed in my clothes and dressing gown and slippers. I didn't sleep all night but didn't feel ill enough to ring the bell as I knew they were busy. I'd had an episiotomy so was very bruised and walking was difficult.
Nobody came into my room until the paediatrician came at 7am the following morning!!! I was amazed. I could have been lying there dead. I definitely didn't sleep or even get close to it - I was holding DS for most of the night; feeding him and keeping him warm. That said, it was very clean (it was only 5 yrs old in 2005 I think) and the care throughout my birth was brilliant.

Only have experience of the JR which was wonderful. I wanted to go into the MLU (it's lovely) and there was plenty of space (from what I can gather, I think there usually is) but sadly had complications so went into the main maternity bit, which was a bit more hospitally of course but still GREAT care. And they have a pool there too, so you've got two chances if that's what you're after.

Couldn't recommend more highly. Have a friend who had hers at the Wallingford MLU which she thought was great too.

Good luck!

Spires apparently fantastic though I have heard the opposite to aquavit, which is that it's often hard to get in?

Some people near to where we lived, chose the JR (even though it was further away from the GWH) purely so that Oxford was on the birth cert and not Swindon. We weren't that picky.
I know a couple of friends who've had babies there and it's been fine.

I had DS at GWH 13 months ago, i had a high risk pg and was there at least twice a week from 14 weeks. The care i got there was better than anywhere else i have been (3 previous pgs in Exeter and Reading) but i have to agree with other posters and say intervention rates are quite high as are CS (i had one after three VB's)

There are more private rooms available post and ante natally than in any other place ive been to, the staff are fantastic and the day care unit particularly struck me as great as it was open from 8 in the morning till 8.30 or so in the evening and was there if you were worried about anything.

It depends what kind of birth you are after and what your experience so far has been like when you had your scans, i cant fault it but have no experience of the MLU in Oxford or JR - good luck with the rest of your pg wherever you decide to have your lo.

I had my DD at GWH nearly two years ago, and am due to go back there (any day now!). I thought the level of care was fantastic, i did end up having an epidural and ventouse with episiotomy, but they were very good at encouraging me to try everything else first- ie tens, ball, pool, gas and air, then went on to drugs. We paid the extra for the private room which IS pricey (£100), but i thought well worth it as I had my own bathroom and nice room. The only downside was it was right outside the nurses station so i could hear all the beeps etc and didnt get much rest!
The midwives were helpful and took DD away for a few hours at night so i could sleep but i felt i could have had a bit more support. I later went on to a MLU a few days later as i was still struggling to BF and I found a huge difference in the help/support of the midwives (ie they were more helpful at the MLU than hospital). Saying that, when i fell PG with this one i knew i wanted to go back to GWH as i feel really confident in their care.

Sorry, I may be a little out of date about how easy it is to get into the Spires as mine was last May and they were very busy trying to advertise it then - perhaps they've been successful! FWIW - and not sure if this is typical - when I went in, it was completely empty and both its pool and the one in the main maternity unit were free.

Bella were you in the room opposite the nurses station? I had that room at it was noisey! ( footnote for anyone else thinking of paying for that room )

I so wish I had been on the postnatal ward, rather than a private room - not as isolated.

JR is brilliant - even if you don't go for the Spires they are completely open to all sorts of natural things, there's a birthing pool in the main delivery area, bean bags, aromatherapy, tens machines, you name it. If you want to give birth with people swinging crystals and chanting whale music, they're up for it; if you want or need a very medical birth they're up for that, too.

I had my baby in the Spires last October, can't recommend them highly enough. Had no probs at all getting in, was actually the only one in at the time and so got the birthing pool room. Also got a private room afterwards and they let my OH stayover with me.

Staff all fantastic, rooms lovely, delivery suites and bathrooms same.

Don't think there is a problem getting in there, if you look at the figures of babies delivered there it amounts to 2.3 per day or something so your chances of all 3 delivery rooms being busy are quite slim.

We nearly paid to have our baby at a private hospital, so glad we didn't as it couldn't have been any better than the Spires.

Good luck. x

yes rosie!! i think this time round if they put me there i will ask to be moved, i wonder if they will or not? surely if you are paying that kind of money you can ask to have a better room? maybe ill just go on the ward, depends on the labour and how long ill need to stay in i suppose!

Bella i think you can probably ask for another one further down - there are loads usually and its not cheap is it! When i was in for a few days ante natally (nasty stomach bug and im diabetic) i was put in my own room further down and it was really quiet, got to say i echo what luciemule says about feeling isolated, but when i had DS i relished being on my own with him and had plenty of visitors anyway.I also loved having my own room as DH was able to stay till midnight nearly every night post natally as they tend to turn a blinder eye than perhaps they might if you were in a room with 4 other ladies.

Good luck for your impending birth

I used to work at the JR, admittedly some time ago now, but I would say JR every time.

Had DS in the Spires at the JR. We were the only people in for most of the day and it was lovely. We started off in the colour changing room which was actually quite laid back and moved into the pool room when it had all been cleaned and was ready.

My labour was a bit stoppy starty but they were very relaxed about it, left us alone when we wanted to be but said a MW could be with us all the time if we wanted... DS eventually born in the birth pool at the Spires that evening followed by private ensuite room.

I was also very pleased that they asked when I wanted to be discharged and when I said asap, they had all the papers ready for signature and checks etc all done by 9am next morning.

I transferred to JR from local MLU mid labour with DD, this was before the Spires Unit was built. No complaints at all re the care I received. A couple of friends have since given birth in the Spires and said it was fab! DC2 due in June and I hope to either go to local MLU or Spires at JR.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I'm moving house on Monday and will be marginally closer to JR so think I'll try and go there. Even if I don't get into Spires itself, JR sounds really good. I especially like what aquavit said about having two chances to get a birthing pool. Fingers crossed.

Poss not relevant to this thread (I don't know anything about maternity care specifically) but the JR is in terrible financial and other trouble at the moment, which is likely to translate into staff shortages and other problems down the line.

when ds was born end of Jan I couldn;t get into the Spires, not because it was full but because there weren't enough staff to cover it (4am on a Sunday morning)
but I had no trouble getting access to the pool on the normal delivery suite, and apart from the dappy student mw the staff were fabulous - we were in and out in 8h...