bolton maternity services - whats your opinion

[miamemau]

Bolton is now a centre of excellence for their maternity care, so why is it that again with my second pregnancy i have to fight for every little thing, I had a horrid experience with babe 1 mostly aftercare issues and now with babe 2 have some serious anxiety issues, i have so far seen 5 differnt midwifes as they keep changing, four of which sere supposed to refer me to the counselling service, only they seem to have forgotten, when i finally managed to kick up a fuss (i have only seen my midwife once a month if that i am now 33 weeks pregers) the last one finally got a referal, but it seems a little late in the day since i am due in a few weeks and havent got the time to work through my issues with anyone.

i realise that some people will always fall through the net but could really do with some confidence in the people i am going to out the life of babe 2 in the hands of

It probably doesn't help but I found the community midwifery team in Bolton to be terrible. I barely saw the same midwife twice ante or post natally. My post-natal care was especially poor. I was breastfeeding but my milk took 5 days to come in and I was told to 'just give formula', asked if I was 'breastfeeding because I wanted to or because I thought I should, because if it was the latter I should just give him a bottle' and one midwife suggested I was doing real harm by persisting with bfing and threatened to hospitalise my DS! One midwife told me I was being ridiculous and that 'of course you've got your milk, he just can't feed!' I did end up with a brilliant mw after threatening to throw the last one out of my house and I couldn't fault her but I think that was chance rather than design.
My care at Royal Bolton Hospital was great. I gave birth in the Birth Centre, in the pool there and loved it. I ended up with a third degree tear as my DS' shoulders got stuck but they looked after me so well. I'd heard so many bad reports about RBH but I really couldn't fault them, it was Easter weekend and very busy too.

it does help, i thought i was being unreasonable about the aftercare thingy, my delivery wasn't text book but i couldn't fault it, in the hospital, it seems like a better idea for the midwifery service would be that they actually communicate with each other, by the time you have finished explaining arguing and telling them what you want its time for you to leave and the next one to come in, saw midwife the other day and she said since i had a growth scan booked for middle of june they dont need to see me till the week after, i'll be 39wk preggers or may have had to be induced by then no wonder i have issues, on the breast feeding issue they cocked that up for me as well, as little one was fed by a tube i had to express so let down wasn't great, then she had no suck reflex, and couldn't latch, then they told me to use a nipple shield, didn't tell me to stop using it after a couple of tries, so milk never really came in, and dried up, it was only the health visitor that found me in a right state that sorted me out and made me feel that i wasn't completely useless

Ihad both my boysat bolton and found them to slow to respond in both cases ds1 was born not breathing and with the cord round his neck they kept saying he kept going to sleep before he had been born it may be coincidental that they did nt get the consultant out but itwas xmas day ds1 was finally born 0550 boxing day i had my seond baby theweek they opened the new central delivery opened suiteand theyleft me for seventeen hrs there after breaking my waters and only when they realised i hadent progressed any since they broke my waters they finally put me on the drip and ds 2was born via ventouse an hour anda half later [ hewasback to back] community services were great though

I'm losing faith in what I've read about RBH. I'm at week 15 with my first. (age 38) The more I read, the more I want a home birth! I had my first scan and the NT tests on the 25th May, it took three weeks to receive the results (finally arrived yesterday)- after telling me that I'd get a letter in about a week. I must say that the people at the hospital were all very nice, helpful and friendly - but they were also really, really busy. (We had to wait over 45 mins after the scan to see the midwife.) They are obviously lacking resources. ...So, if I have a home birth, I'll have a midwife to myself, meaning that the ward will have even less resources. ...

Now only got three weeks to go, and worrying like mad, have had a growth scan and they have mesaured babe at approx 9lb, went to see the midwife (yet another new face) who basically fobbed me off by saying well you've had one the natural way, you can have another, I did think about kicking up a fuss but truthfully whats the point its getting me nowhere fast, after digging my heels in they have agreed to induce me on my due date, which is one thing i suppose at least i know he/she cant get much bigger.

OiMissus (great name by the way)if you feel like you would like a home birth you have one, my aunt who has had all three of hers at home, she was 39 when she had the first wouldn't have been caught dead in a hospital, the staff are employed to help you through your birth and afterwards and its not your or anyone elses fault apart from the PCP trust that resources are limited, if it means you get a midwife you offer you the support you need do it, i would :)

I had a baby there 15 weeks ago. my community midwife got swapped when i was around 15 weeks and i was really annoyed at first but my new one was amazing and i had her the rest of the way. she was based at the oxford grove childrens centre. When i was at the hospital my birth went really well and there were no faults on tht part however they have paid all this money for a birth suite which is suppose to be brilliant ect for a natural birth yet when in labour they told me it was closed but there was staff just sat at reception chatting! if the birth pool hadnt of been avaliable on delivery suite i would of stood in the corridor and started a rant. It really annoys me as its not a shop with specific opening times! the goverment spend all that money and probably dont realise the staff are fobbing people off because they cant be botherd going upstairs when they want to chat. x

I went for the tour last night - I wish I'd read your reply beth0703! The tour was good, the delivery suite pool looked nice, the birth suite room they showed us looked OK... (the pool room was in use). I asked about whether they felt they had enough resources, I was assured that they had plenty of midwives, that you get one-on-one care with the same midwife throughout, that there was always at least one pool available... They didn't mention that the Birth Suite closes at certain times! I really thought it'd be OK... Still, plenty time yet!

Hi Ladies,
did you know that you can speak to somone if you're having problems with anything hospital related? Or even community related? (i.e GP, midwife, health visitor etc). Just call PALs and they'll tell you how they can get it sorted for you. You need to be sure you're getting the best possible care for yourself and your baby, so they can sort out any issues for you. The hospital PALs team is on 01204 390193, monday to friday 9-5. I'm a mum of one 14mo boy, and work in the hospital so understand from both sides of the scale. I really hope none of you have any problems, but if you do give PALs a call. xxx

I had a bad experience with aftercare at RBH and Community Midwives! Just like everyone said, you never see the same community midwife, and to top it off, i was struggling to breastfeed, but really wanted to, and when i needed my community midwife the most, she never showed. I did succeed with breastfeeding, but that was thanks to google and my husband. When i rang up to find out why she didnt show up, threatened to complain to EVERYONE i could, the supervisor came that same day, and she visited every other day until the HV took over. She was great! very supportive! My HV are great though, I love the drop ins! As for RBH, i had my baby during the heat wave, it was close to 30 degrees in the postnatal ward, and had some crazy matron covering my son with TWO blankets, and the midwife uncovering him it was frustrating, to say the least! The personal light didnt work so when i needed to try and bf in the night i buzzed and the matron switched on all the lights, waking all the women in the room, and I also had to wheel my baby out into the corridor to change his nappy!! As for the ward itself it was DIRTY! There was no soap in the toilets, there was no hand sanitiser in the dispensers and the toilets were disgusting, blood all over the toilet, bed pans still in the toilet filled with urine and blood and blood in the showers! I didnt shower until i got home for hygine reasons! My delivery was complicated and i couldnt fault the delivery unit or the Birth Suit where i was initially in. I hope to have a next one in the birth suit, just hope i dont have a complicated delivery and have to be in the post natal ward again!

Not sure if you know but Bolton Hospital is having a Health Fair on Saturday 15th September 11am - 3pm at the Royal Bolton Hospital. It's a chance to look behind the scenes, talk to the staff and discuss any concerns you have with them. There will be tours of the maternity unit and it's an opportunity for you to find out more about the hospital and community services. You can also have your family's health checked at the same time.!www.royalboltonhospital.nhs.uk/news/articles/boltonhealthfair0812.html

Hi!

I'm only 31 weeks but due to some issues have attended the ADU at RBH unit 3 times now, I was at steeping hill previously and had to attend several times there due to bleeds followed by a dose of anti-d because of my blood type.

The midwives at RBH have been excellent on all occasions. My only complaint is of the doctors- they all want to rush you out the door! Although I can't include a FANTASTIC registrar who sat down and was determined to sort out the problem once and for all and made sure I had all necessary scans and test within the week.

First doctor didn't label my bloods so I had to go back the next day and the doctor on the third visit made my look boil- she insisted on having read my notes despite not knowing my blood type and pretty much insisted I'd wasted everyone's time by coming in, even though the midwives had asked me too attend since I was bleeding again! I then asked if this time I still needed anti D (my green notes btw have 2 additional pages due to the amount of times I have attended for bleeding and anti d) her response was 'oh have you had anti d before?' I then proceeded to ask if she had actually bothered reading my notes which she panicked and made her excuses.

We could hear the midwives correcting her and instructing her as to the registrars concerns, a swift attitude adjustment was then adopted- thanks to the midwives!

On another occasion there was no beds in the ADU but midwives sorted me a bed in the delivery unit within 10 mins upon seeing the severity of my symptons, but were once again let down by the doctors, the whole maternity unit was swamped and the poor midwives were blue in the face running around desperately trying to find a doctor.

RBH have 'fixed me up'. Turns our Stepping Hill are giving a third of the necessary dose of anti d (to save money!) I think the midwives are brilliant so far although they seem to be spreading them very thinly indeed!

Wow. None of this is very positive! Ive been hearing mixed reviews about RBH's maternity unit but this seems to be mostly bad. I just found out I'm pregnant and I'm not even sure how far i am bcs i have irregular periods! My doctor wrote a referral for me to see the midwife for them to start me off with things. I dropped the ref letter off on Friday, today's Wednesday and I still haven't had a call from them. How long did it take you guys to actually see a midwife? I thought I'd get called in to the surestart centre on monday bcs well, its a new life that needs to be monitored to see if everything's ok and well i thought things would be very hands on, chop chop! I have a few health issues which I'm concerned about and would love if i could have one midwife the entire pregnancy so that she's familiar with my history. But reading the above makes me wonder just how many midwives I'll go through !!! Would love to have a home water birth but don't know how things work. I'm newish to bolton and the whole pregnancy thing is obviously even newer for me since its the first pregnancy. I dont have any friends friends here yet and my family live far away :( Very nervous about the hosp/midwife side of things rather than the birth itself. Does bolton have a birthing centre seperate from the hospital? Did any if you think of going to other hospitals to give birth? Are there midwives who operate privately? I'm sur even if that was affirmative, it would be so so very expensive! Would love to hear from you all. Glad i found this forum!