St Mary’s or UHSM

[jubbablub]

Any Mancunians have any advice? Only 5 weeks, but my midwife at our GPs is keen to know where I want to give birth.

I’m stuck between St Mary’s or UHSM (Wythenshawe) for where I want to give birth. St Mary’s is obviously a great hospital, but I feel like it’s too close to where I work, UHSM has more birth pools, there’s no possibility to book a private room at St Mary’s, it has fewer birth pools and they don’t offer hypnobirthing.

I haven’t read many positive stories about Wythenshawe, but have booked myself there provisionally as in my head I think it would be less busy than St Mary’s due to it being further away from the city centre?

I had both mine at Wythenshawe, one in the birth centre and one in the labour room. Both experiences were fantastic. The midwives were excellent. I needed an episiotomy the first time and this was performed by the midwife and done perfectly, I healed quickly. Absolutely not a bad word to say. I never even saw another pregnant woman until I got to the ward, even though I'm sure they're stretched.

The second time I had baby in the pool, went home four hours later. The hospital bit is right down the corridor in case you have any complications.

The best thing is to take a tour of each and see how you feel. I believe that st Mary's has better provision for mums who have serious complications but don't quote me on that. St Mary's is also one of the few hospitals in the country where you can donate the umbilical cord for stem cell treatment, saving potentially many lives.

I've never heard any bad stories from Wythenshawe but don't know anyone who had theirs at st Mary's. If you have any specific questions about Wythenshawe, feel free to pm me.

I’ve had one at St Mary’s and will be having another there this year. I was happy with it but obviously have nothing to compare it too really. It seemed really really busy but I was in for five days over Christmas so I sort of assumed everywhere would be like that. I did feel a bit neglected once baby was actually out to be honest, but again I knew they were busy and sort of assumed other places would be the same.

Might be worth finding out policies on partners being able to stay over etc as that prob differs between hospitals (DH had to go home overnight when I was in the induction bay having contractions every few mins which I was a bit upset about, that wasn’t a fun night). Sometimes I watch One Born Every Minute and see partners staying over and feel a bit hard done by!!

When you say ‘don’t offer hypnobirthing’, what do you mean? Isn’t that something you decide on and do yourself, rather than the hospital ‘doing’? Or do Wythenshawe offer something in particular?

You’ve got me wondering if I should change my mind now

22 weeks and we're having ours at St Mary's. It's our first so not given birth in either, but so far the service has been excellent. I've had to go to the emergency unit twice and they were great - saw me quickly and arranged scans. All our scans have been great too with really nice sonographers. The proximity to work was good for me to get to these appointments.

I'd also read that St Mary's is better equipped to deal with any complications which was another plus.

I've had friends who have had babies at Wythenshawe and they say it's great too!

I've heard great things about both. Just consider travel time in rush hour!

As long as you avoid north Manchester general, you'll be fine.

Thanks all. I’ve not had any scans yet, so will probably make a more definite decision after the 20 week scan. If there are problems, then I might change my choice.

@thepatchworkcat Wythenshawe offer subsidised hypnobirthing classes. The class is done at the hospital and not free, but is cheaper than paying for it from a totally external provider. www.uhsm.nhs.uk/services/specialist/maternity/home-births-birth-centre-delivery-suite/#pain-relief (See supplementary therapies)

Thanks jubba! Didn’t know that...

Not been treated in either but could have gone to St Mary's - decided against it due to it being awful to get to in rush hour (lucky seeing as I ended up going back and forth in early labour for three days!)

I am about to have my baby at St Marys next week. And if it wasn't for the fact my baby needs specialist treatment i would of opted to give birth closer to home. The staff have been amazing it is just the sheer hassle of it being in the centre of manchester and trying to get there in the morning or evening during rush hour is very stressful.

As this is my first I can't really compare St marys to another hospital but if it comes down to convenience choose the one closer to home. But all being said St Marys is a very good hospital and i will be happy that i am in the best place for my baby.

I think St Mary’s is closer as the crow flies, but in terms of driving time, Wythenshawe is just a bit more predictable.

I had the option of st Mary's and thought that it would be a right pain to drive to and it can be expensive to park so with all the appointments went to Bolton (in Prestwich)