positive NHS birthing stories, please

[spatchcock]

Hi everyone,

I'm only 16 weeks pg with my first but am already feeling panicky about the prospect of an nhs birth.

I don't feel particularly confident I'll be given due attention, thanks to the treatment I've received so far - which has been adequate, but I've felt really rushed and misinformed. For example, today I was told (by midwife at routine exam) that my pgy 'might not be viable' because she couldn't find a heartbeat. I had to go for an emergency scan at which the sonographer said everything was fine and it wasn't unusual for the midwife to miss the heartbeat at this point. I guess anyone who has given birth before would probably know this but this is all really new to me, the midwife didn't explain it properly and I was in pieces.

I know midwives and medical staff are overworked and I really do think they do a great job with the time and resources they have. I am just really worried that when I give birth it will be a horrible, stressful affair with my partner having to fight tooth and nail to help me get the care the baby and I need.

Apologies for sounding hysterical/dramatic, and I KNOW there are people far worse off than me. It's just been a really long day and I could use some positive tales!

Hope all goes well for you and sorry for the stress you are facing.

I would say the level of care you receive is area/hospital dependent. I have have had excellent ante-natal care in both pregs. In my first preg, the post-natal care was shambolic and partly the reason my baby's illness was not picked up.

I also think it is good to arm yourself with info about the different stages of pregnancy, worrying symptoms to look out for and about the various tests. Really push for answers if you are not satisfied.

Spatchcock, I hear you! I have been quite worried about the same thing. I agree it is dependant on location but personally if we would have gone private but the pregnancy was an accident and too late (and expensive) to do it now.
I don't supppose anyone out there as given birth recently at Kingston Hospital??

'Normally' the NHS does provide excellent care, if a little rushed and overworked with tight dealines and sometime a lack of bedside manner.

I can only say that I have been very happy with the care I have received thus far- at 26 weeks pregnant, living in South West London. As other posts have mentioned, experiences do differ dependant on postcode. However, rest assured that if you do need anything in an emergency regarding your pregnancy they are normally on it. On a lot of occasions private births will be managed by the same consultants that also work for the NHS, so with regards to doctors you are receiving the same level of expertise.

ELLIE9- I am due to give birth this April at Kingston Hospital, and so far have heard nothing but positive reviews. I think it makes quite a difference as to how busy they are when you go into labour. So with a little bit of luck, come your due date- labour ward will be deserted!

There is also an excellent informitive website- www.hesonline.nhs.uk which gives you all the current stats for every NHS maternity unit in the country- very handy when you need to make a decision on which hospital to choose.

Have had two fabulous nhs births, one in hospital, one at home. We loved the midwives who delivered both my babies - excellent, compassionate care. But I did meet somes less pleasant ones along the way, and one of my pals came across two outright fruitloops! But I found NCT classes really useful in giving me confidence as to what care I should expect, and how to make sure I got it. We were told that in labour you can ask for a different midwife if you don't get on/don't feel you are getting the right care, though I've never heard of anyone doing so! The classes also emphasised the point that it's actually your birth partner that needs to do most of the interacting during labour as you'll be somewhat busy. Sign up early though as they are often oversubscribed.

Really pleased for you they found a heartbeat! That early pregnancy uncertainty is scary.

I've had two very well-looked after NHS births. It does depend upon how busy they are, but my midwives were great.

38 weeks through first pregnancy, NHS. Yes, they have seemed very busy (London, UCLH and Kings College Hospital) and sometimes I haven't had the personal touch I'd have liked.

BUT whenever it came down to me needing something like an extra scan, or second opinion, that has been provided. We also did NHS antenatal classes which were very good - not rushed, appropriate resources given, lovely and experienced midwife running them. Hopefully the birth will be as positive!

What I guess I'm saying is that it is very 'no frills' but they are competent! If there's a worry or emergency, they will make a big effort.

I've had two great experiences of NHS births, one a section, the other a VBAC, and couldn't fault the care. Postnatal care after my first baby was fab and helped me through establishing breastfeeding, and the antenatal care in my second pregnancy which at the time I thought was unnecessarily thorough actually saved me from developing a life-threatening illness. Not a bad word to say about the staff or facilities. I've even got a great HV this time, and they're like hen's teeth!

I do think thats not good what happened to you, wrongly saying not viable must be really upsetting :(
The nhs care i've received has always been good though, I can't say I have any real complaints and am on my 3rd now, I have always been really happy with it.
However if your confidence has been shaken by this maybe you could use another hospital if there is a choice of nearby ones? otherwise hopefully some people can give you loads of positive experiences from that hosp and make you feel better
on the positive side atleast they did get that emergency scan for you, rather than the midwife just saying that and then leave it at that!
hope everything goes well for you

Generally hospitals in London or other really big cities tend to be more rushed off their feet than ones outside. Not given birth there but had a great experience in Southampton hospital which was a total contrast to my London hospital experiences, of which I have annoyingly had many.

On the plus side, you do often get the very best medical care at the top London hospitals. The doctors are amongst the best in the world - usually where it all falls down is on the postnatal ward! But if you have any special needs or become high risk you can normally rely on the NHS to take very good care of you medically at least although there are exceptions.

It's pretty hit and miss on the day though and so much depends on the individual healthcare workers - even between shifts. Most are decent, wonderful people who work very hard with not enough resources, but like all things you get the odd bad apple who give the whole thing a bad reputation and sadly are the ones we remember the most.

To get the most out of your birth make sure you educate yourself on as much as you can (making a birth plan is one way of doing this), even if you think it will never happen. That way you'll already know what you want to do when faced with choices and you can advocate for things that haven't been offered for whatever reason. In fact advocating for yourself throughout your pregnancy will bring the best possible outcome.

For the record, if you opt for a homebirth you'll get the full attention of two midwives.. not what you normally get in a hospital!

Hope it all goes well! It does for most people after all :)

spatchcock i am glad everything is ok with you and it was all for nothing.

i have had 1 dd (and only so far) with nhs and found it fine, although i dotn have anything else to compare to. i had her in lincoln hopsital and found the student midwife to be excellent, far more attentive than the long standing midwife, although all the care i received was good.

the ONLY thing that sticks in my mind was that after having dd at nearly midnight, i couldnt get any food apart from abit of toast. i was starving but had to wait till breakfast for a meal. that was the only thing i remember as being not very good, but couldnt be helped and i know better for this time for dh to go to 24h maccy d's

sorry to hear you're so stressed - i can understand why.

i had two nhs births, one was not what i'd planned but they did brilliantly. no stitches and great doc.

the next one was wonderful, waterbirth in pool with the most amazingly calm midwife ever. it really was a marvellous experience.

no stitches either time. and second time round nothing but water for the pain.

it can be done.

good luck!

Hello I've also had 2 NHS births, first took quite sometime so I went through a couple of shifts of midwives, one of them I found 'odd' she'd given me some painrelief and then came into my room dressed as Elvis, i was very confused for a time and kept asking over and over again why is my midwife dressed as Elvis, transpired she was off to fancy dress and thought I might laugh, i didn't....BUT that was the worst of it! I had some brilliant and special midwives who made the birth even more special (the 2nd time there wasn't much time to get to know anyone as had DS after being in hospital for 2hrs).
Remember just because your midwife rushes you don't have too. Write down any questions and let her know that you have a list with you and that you'd like to go through it. It is difficult but my experience of the ward is that it is different.
Best Wishes xx

Sorry to post and run yesterday.

Thanks for your replies, they have been really helpful. I'm feeling a bit calmer today, too!

Really good to hear some positive birth experiences. I appreciated all of them. I am in London, by the way.

I love the idea of a home birth but am a bit nervous about it, to be honest. A good friend of mine needed emergency surgery after a hemorrhage post birth. The doctor said if she hadn't been in the hospital she probably would've died. I know I am being paranoid and probably a bit silly but I would rather the first be a hospital birth.

Sparklies - that is a good point about educating myself about the birth process. Luckily I have a very supportive DP who will fight in my corner if need be.

Thanks again everyone. May we ALL have happy NHS births. x

I have had four NHS births in 3 different hopsitals and all were fabulous from a care/medical point of view! When I had my second child my DH couldn't get there until an hour before I delivered so it was just me and the midwife until then and she was great, despite not staying with me the whole time.

My fourth birth was very difficult as I was just under 24 weeks with twins. I had two midwives with me and DH and they were very, very good and reassurring. They even set up an extra bed so DH could stay the night with me in the labour ward after I had given birth. Yes, we had very difficult circumstances but they went out of their way to accomodate us, bringing DH meals, snacks etc as well as me, plus absolutely endless cups of tea.