Experiences of pregnancy care in Manchester?

[Ryuk]

We had DS1 in Swansea and the care was pretty good, I mostly felt listened to and the midwives we dealt with were supportive of home birthing and generally friendly. They answered all our trivial questions and were very encouraging.

We've since moved to Manchester and are (unexpectedly!) about nine weeks along with DC2. So far we've had one appointment, it was very very brief, the midwife filled out an A4 form with my basic details, took my height weight and blood pressure, gave me a bottle of folic acid tablets and told me my booking in appointment (which she said would take about an hour) would be in just under two weeks. It just all seemed a bit abrupt, I mean I'm sure she's busy and it's understandable but it's left me a bit disconcerted. Has anyone had good experiences in Manchester they could tell me about?

I'm in Manchester, 12 weeks. Registered at the City Health Centre in Boots as I live in the city centre, and most of my appointments are at St Mary's. All the midwives that have seen me have been absolutely lovely.
If you're having your booking in at St Mary's, be warned that it is very busy, especially on Mondays and Fridays apparently, I was there for 2 and a half hours in total for my booking in with waiting for appointment and then waiting to get bloods taken, so factor that in! But the midwife paid great attention to detail and was really nice, same with the one I saw today after my 12 week scan and my commnity midwife too. Also it's a new hospital, not sure when they rebuilt it but everything's shiny and new which instantly made me feel better
Where are you registered/what hospital are you going to? Have a colleague who's a couple months ahead of me having hers at Wythenshawe and can find out what that's been like when I see her on Monday.

Ooh and also, having re-read your message, the midife at booking in was quite positive about and actually suggested the option of homebirth to me; as it's my first the idea terrifies me so I very quickly said no! She said I can always change my mind which bodes well...

Hi I'm 29 wks with dc2 booked in at St Mary's (same as last time), most antenatal apts are with my local community midwife. My experience last time was good - didn't have much contact prior to 12 weeks, and the apts seemed a bit few and far between to begin with as I didn't really know what to expect, but apts are much more frequent as I got closer to my due date, and I guess as I had a plain sailing pregnancy there was no need for more frequent. for the actual bitrth the midwives at st Mary's were fantastic, really looked after me and made me feel comfortable tho I'd never met either of them before, which is why I've decided to have dc2 there too. The facilities there are great too as its a new hosp. Which hosp are you under ryuk?

I had my first at wythenshawe 6 yrs ago and the last 2 in st Mary's (old then latest in the new building) - I agree that st Mary's can be very busy - wythenshawe is the same in my experience although you may not go there for all antenatal appointments - some local hospitals eg withington are used (or were last year anyway!) for the majority.
Parking wise - which if you drive us also v important! St Mary's is much better than wythenshawe.
Good luck with everything! How exciting, wish I could have another !

The appointment I had was at my GP building (it's on Rusholme) but I think the midwife said she's based at St Mary's. St Mary's is my nearest hospital so I expect that'll be where the scans are etc. Guavas that's really nice that you were actually asked about homebirth - the person I saw said something like 'so I assume you'll be giving birth at St Mary's' while writing things down and didn't even look up while she said it, so I said 'er well DS1 was born at home and I'd like to do that again' and she went 'oh!' and then looked up and started asking me questions about DS's birth, was it on purpose etc. She just seemed a bit... surprised? Didn't try to talk me out of it or anything though, so that was ok. I just felt a bit like I had to justify it or something. But that might just be me.

I'm glad other people have had good experiences though, I think you might be right Twitchy it's probably just dependent on who you see. Maybe she was just busy that day or something, hopefully the next appointment will be better. :)

As I understand it from my gp the world and his wife (so to speak) want to have their babies at st Mary's cos the new hosp is very good - your midwife might have just assumed cos most people she sees want to go there. might she have been pleasantly surprised at someone asking about hb perhaps?! They are really busy there now though, when I had my first Trafford and hope hosp maternity units were still open so at Mary's weren't that packed but both those have closed and their patients transferred to st Mary's now.