Birmingham Heartlands or Good Hope Hospital? Or somewhere else?!

[CountdownToSummer2010]

I was wondering if anyone had any recent experience of either Birmingham Heartlands or Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield? I am due my first baby at the start of August and have no idea which hospitals are good/terrible so any advice would be really appreciated. I'm hoping for a vaginal birth over a c-section and would love my own room (but I'm guessing this is what most people hope for!)

Also, does anyone know if there are any private hospitals in the Birmingham/Solihull/Sutton Coldfield area where I could have the baby?

As you can probably tell I'm a bit clueless about all this.

Thanks very much

Hi there, one of my friends has opted for Good Hope...knowing her I am confident that she would have researched her options before commiting.
However you can do further research starting here:

Key information for good hope: www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/pages/MaternityDetails.aspx?id=MT878&v=5

Key informations for Birm Heartleands: www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/pages/MaternityDetails.aspx?id=MT1095

Hope that helps

I had totally forgotten about MUMS; I have been recommended to go there for my Nuchal scan...this would certainly indicate that the consultants are very good, I hadn't realised they were from heartlands! Oh dear, I'm not sure now we've helped but further added to the confusion! Do lot's of research, perhaps visit each ward and follow your instincts??! Good luck!

Thanks so much for your replies, they have really helped. Its reassuring not to see floods of replies saying 'Don't go there!'. So I am assuming that they must both be ok.

I will speak to my GP about it next week and I may book myself in to see a consultant at MUMS too.

Thanks again.

There was a section on BBC Midlands Today this evening which said the Royal College of Paediatrics have issued a report saying care at Heartlands and Good Hope isn't "fit for purpose". They started an investigation after the deaths of 3 babies. It seemed to be focused on the care given in emergency or intensive care circumstances.

(I had an extremely positive experience at the Women's Hospital in Birmingham.)

That's a bit worrying about the BBC Midlands Today report. I will make sure I ask about that when I go to my GP.

Jaebird- glad to hear you had a positive experience at the Women's Hospital, I am going to ask about there as well now.

Thanks again for everyones help.

Hi I had my DD3 at Good Hope, elective section, they were really busy, had to share a room and regretted not going private. Actual birth was lovely; great staff and lovely midwife who stayed late so I wouldn't be rebooked but after care was somewhat lacking. I'm a hospital pharmacist and argued with midwives about pain relief but nurses do tend to be a bit by the book and like to ignore drs prescribing generally if they disagree. Getting my morphine topped up about 6 hours post birth took forever.

First 2 at Birmingham womens, better experience but both natural births. I know they are always busy but generally a better experience to a point but I did work for the NHS trust that provides their pharmacy service so maybe slightly favourable afer care?! Hope this helps. I used mums for scans but for some reason decided against private birth. Good luck for August.

Thanks for that. I spoke to someone at MUMS and they are only doing elective c-section deliveries at the moment, as apparently they are having problems booking rooms for private patients and having some general hassle with the local hospitals since Solihull maternity ward closed. They seemed really apologetic about it and have taken my details in case something changes. The person I spoke to was really nice about it and said that they were telling all new patients this before they took them on so no one was disappointed. They also said that Solihull hospital may be reopening in July, so maybe things will change by the time my bambino is ready.

I have a gp appointment booked in for tonight so I will see what he says re Good Hope v Heartlands (apparently I havent 'a hope in hell' of getting into birmingham womens?!). Guess that as I am leaving it a bit late to book in then I might just have to get what I'm given! Or look into homebirth...

Thanks for posting everyone, it has really helped.