Can anyone tell me about post-natal care at the Southern Gen - and any good tips?

[wearenotinkansas]

Having been reminded of the horrors of post natal care for DD1 on a thread which is running on AIBU - I have suddenly got very nervous about the Southern where I am due to have DC2 shortly. Does anyone know what it's like? Would especially like to know about visiting hours/policy on DPs staying - and things like cleanliness (should I take my own teatree cleanser - did last time!); food and if they will organise bottle feed if needed - as I had problems bf last time.

Thanks....

Hi,
Had both DS in SGH. Good experiences with both. Partners can stay on Postnatal ward pretty much all day if they want. They have to leave for an hour about 5ish but if memory serves me right I think they can be with you from about 10.30(ish)am - 9.30pm.

Think general visiting about 2 hrs in afternoon and 1 hour at night.

Cleanliness OK (shared toilets a bit grim) so I'd take in anti-bac. Food not great. Breakfast OK, hotmeals horrible. Get DP to bring fruit/sarnies/plenty of drinks. Ready made bottles available on request (SMA/Aptamil and maybe Hipp I think?)

Very supportive of breast feeding and willing to offer help/advice if wanted.

Definitely noticed it a lot busier second time around (shortly after Queen Mums closure) but was happy to be left to it as everything was going OK for me.

Overall given some of the stories on the other thread, my experiences were pretty good I think. Notice that the Scottish mums on the other thread generally seem to have fairly positive experiences in comparison to those down south.

HTH and good luck.

Thanks for that. Pretty reassuring overall. Will def get DP to bring food and drinks. I'm sure dehydration was part of the reason I had problems bf last time.

I was there in Decmber and agree with all that Mint says.

It was really busy when I was in so that may be something to bear in mind.

i was there in september-just a wee note on the bf side of things- my son wouldn't feed, i was given a a wee tub to express into, & a syringe. i didn't produce enough milk for the syringe, so was told to dab my pinky in it, then put it in his mouth. this was about 2ml of milk. this was all he took. they refused to give me formula milk, they don't provide it at all. they were adamant my son was "absolutely fine. he'll take it if he wants it."

i was discharged & they wrote on my notes "breastfeeding well established & baby feeding often & well."

when the midwife visited next day at my home, (after me being up all night trying to get my son to feed) i was advised to give him a bottle, or he'd have to go back to hospital :( (despite the southern's staff insistence that it was all "perfectly normal")

they also don't enable you to sterilise bottles or prepare formula feeds, you have to bring those wee disposable bottles with you. if there's ever a next time, i'll make sure i've got plenty of them with me.

agree about the minging toilets & crap food, too.

I'm gobsmacked by that Glittery. .

I was there in August so not long before you. At that point, ready to use formula in the wee glass bottles with sterilised teats were in plentiful supply. You just had to go to the nurses station and request them, so no need for any bottles from home or sterlising required if FF.

You were certainly encouraged to try to breastfeed and offered support and guidance if you wanted to, but I was told by more than one midwife that it was their policy to respect the choices that new mums made whether that be BF or FF.

They've either had a major change in policy or you encountered not very supportive midwives. Maybe it varies from ward to ward.

the bf nurse was very nice, the one time i saw her. the rest of them (including the delivery midwife) were either awful, or indifferent. the cleaner was actually more helpful, & a hell of a lot nicer.

i begged for a bottle, and was told they don't have any whatsoever, & my baby didn't need one anyway. it may have been just my ward, quite a few of the other mums weren't very happy either.

I had ds2 there in may and they supplied formula no problem. Just sake the midwife/nurse discussed why I wanted to try bottle, no pressure to breastfeed and was given a choice of formulas.

Was v busy when I was there but the staff were on the whole very good. Food
Not great, but show me a hospital where the food is good!

Partners can visit most of the day although theybare asked to leave at mealtimes.

General cleanliness was ok too.