Russels hall or birmingham womens hospital? West Midland / Birmingham area

[Rasackytja]

Hi all, jus wondering if anyone could share their experiences and reviews on helping decide which hospital to choose? Currently thinking between russels or birmingham womens. Read mixed reviews on both, russels is closer to home though, but worried that they are short of good doctors in case of emergency. On the other hand birmingham womens seems to be quite busy all the time, so could lack focus.

Had my ds last year at RH and I couldn't fault the care at all! Only issue I had was he was admitted to NICU and I was kept on ward with out women and babies, would have liked a room on own or at least other women in same position. Looking back now I understand there just wasn't the room and it is something that would be unlikely to effect the vast majority of women.

I had emcs and it was really on of the calmest experiences, all very friendly and seemed to really care for my feelings in an obviously anxious/nervous time.

I too had heard mixed views but pleased to say I only experienced the good (1st baby so no comparisons sorry)

Congrats on the baby!

Thanks! My worry is that if something goes wrong there wont be enough competent doctors, i read that in case of bad situations most hospitals in the area transfer you to birmingham womens. And there was quite few cases in russels few years ago where babies get injured during delivery where that could be avoided. That makes me very worried.

I really don't know about number of competent doctors but I certainly felt comfortable and at no point felt like I was at risk due to who was available/competent.

Like I said he was first baby so have nothing to compare to. Hopefully someone will see this with a bit more experience of both hospitals

Maybe things changed and got better. Thank you for your review!

I gave birth at Birmingham women's. As you can imagine it's very busy. Very long waits if you end up in triage. I'm talking 4+ hours. There were women in the waiting area having contractions while they waited for rooms to become available. After I gave birth (in the middle of the night) I was very quickly sent to a 4 bedded bay so no time to rest. Partners were not allowed overnight (pre-covid). I was in for 3 nights after a difficult birth so really struggled. My sister on the other hand had a really good experience at Good Hope if that's an option for you?

O didn't deliver in BWH but got transferred there at day 6 and then post op for DS so I can only rate their NICU as very good. I was asked to see them bring women down in their beds to see babies whereas I'd had to haul my ass into a wheelchair 3 hours post birth to see mine

Oh wow, was it recent “wildhorsesruninme” that you gave birth there? Sorry to hear about such experience. So they are really that packed that women in labour have to wait in the waiting area? Thats shocking. Sounds like a conveyer not a calm place for women. I had my first child there in 2016 and there weren’t many ladies giving birth at all, doctors were ready for an emergency at any time. The only thing i didn’t enjoy there is the nurses in pre and post delivery area, seemed very cold and ignorant. Unfortunately good hope is quite far from us, we live in Tipton so bwh is already quite far, but am willing to go there to get good care, but if they gone downhill im confused now.
“Sleepingstandingup” oh im sorry to hear that, i wonder what are their priorities in choosing which women to look after more, looks like a game of luck.

It was early last year. I had to visit triage 4 times in total and each time I was there for 4+ hours. The waiting area was always very busy and on 2 of those occasions there were women in labour waiting for rooms in the birth centre. I found it shocking as these women were clearly in a lot of pain and I was very scared the same would happen to me. I ended up going straight to the delivery suite due to complications. I also found the midwives to be quite cold. After my birth, I was stitched up (complete botch job but that's a whole other story) and then I was told to have a wash (was told prior to the birth that the bathroom was out of bounds, not sure why this was) so I was given a bowl of water by the side of the bed. I lost a lot of blood during the labour so felt very faint and just wanted to rest but I was told they needed to move me to the postnatal ward. My partner had to go home at 9pm each night and I really struggled to cope due to feeling weak (ended up needing a transfusion). Gosh writing it down makes it sound so awful, I'm not trying to worry you but I want to give an honest account of my experience. I understand they were very busy, but it would be nice to feel like my experience mattered and that I wasn't just another number. If I had my time again, I'd choose another hospital. Having said that, every woman's experience is different but perhaps my post will help to give you some things to think about when deciding. I wish you all the best wherever you choose.

The thing is that there is some similarities between your and mine experiences there, i was stitched up very badly afterwards and had an infection straight after, but they failed to notice it because they barely checked me out after the delivery. My partner was sent home at around 9pm too, i was was left alone in a 4 bed room still numb after having epidural and also wasn't able to move one arm because for some reason my catheter was placed very badly which led having huge bruise on my wrist. Every time nurse would come she would just tell me to take care of the baby with no offer to help, even though i asked for it and explained the situation. They just straight ignored me every time and told me i had to do it myself. Now you saying all this seems they haven’t changed at all.

I'm sorry to hear of your experience. I felt unsupported on the postnatal ward too. I couldn't even tell you the names of the midwives that cared for me. I never said anything at the time because with it being my first child I wasn't sure what to expect and what was normal or not. Perhaps arrange a visit to Russels Hall and speak to the staff there about your concerns re doctors in an emergency etc.

Same here, i though maybe it was only me who felt like this as it was my first child and i had no one to compare it with. I will go to see my midwife soon and will ask her maybe she knows more about the hospitals in the area. Thanks for sharing your experience, it helped alot!

I gave birth at Russell's hall back in July & had a positive experience there. The delivery suite was really nice & I was lucky enough to be offered one with a birthing pool in.

Part way through delivery they couldn't find my baby's heartbeat & straight away the room filled with doctors & senior midwifes & they got my baby out safely & quickly with an episiotomy. I also had no issue with stitches & felt all healed & pretty much back to normal within a couple of weeks. I pushed to be discharged that day so didn't end up spending any time on the ward, however we did end up on the children's ward a couple of days later & again couldn't fault the care there.

I had my baby at BWH a couple of years ago... Aspects of our care were very good, and others were really not! I have to say that the couple of times I was at triage I was seen fairly quickly but the care on the wards left a lot to be desired... We were there over Christmas and the ward was so short staffed... individual midwives were brilliant but there was not much in the way of personalised care and attention. I was induced and went into labour quite quickly - night shift couldn't have been less interested and offered me a paracetamol: waters broke and they left me for almost an hour before day staff came on and found me fully dilated! Similar to previous poster, I was left catheterised far longer than necessary because they didn't have staff to remove it: when I then buzzed to ask for support to change my baby in the middle of the night (partner sent home at 9pm) I was told I should be doing it myself and when I explained the situation the HCA just swung the catheter bag to the other side of the bed closer to the baby! We were there for 4 days but they still discharged us without doing the newborn examination (thankfully no issues identified but could have been a very different story!)

I think so much of maternity care depends on the midwives/staff you see, but when they are absolutely rushed off their feet even with the best will in the world I am not convinced they can offer excellent care and BWH is always going to be busy!

Sorry that turned into an essay... I was also a first time mum - in retrospect I think I should have complained about several aspects of my experience but think is too me a while to process/ realise it wasn't acceptable/I was busy with a baby who never slept ;) I am pregnant with my second and am now in a different part of the country: I have to say even with Covid my antenatal care so far has been far better! (Sorry Brum!)

Wow girls thanks for such informative posts! “Sorbet18” im very happy for you to have such positive experience! Can i ask why do you think they pushed you to be discharged? Also did they let you rest a bit after delivery or transferred you to the ward straight after?
“Girlfrombackthen” it seems that most mothers can tell the same story while talking about their experience in bwh, i dont understand how their rating it still so high if the service is barely acceptable. Maybe if you have a very serious case they will look after you more, but being short staffed is not an excuse to treat new mothers like that. I met a midwife in russels hall that previously worked in bwh and now i regret not asking her opinion about the place and why she left. To be honest i doubt i will be choosing bwh this time after all these negative reviews, they truly shocked me. Such a popular and high rated hospital but no compassion at all for the women

I wanted to go home the same day because I don't really like hospitals & I was put off by other people saying the maternity wards are too noisy & hot to sleep on. I think they would have discharged me the same day anyway even if I wasn't pushing for it because the birth was otherwise straightforward & I was up and about shortly after.

They let me and my partner stay in the delivery suite for a couple of hours afterwards, where I ate lunch & had a shower. I then went to the ward as they needed the room & they sent my partner home soon after as there was a slight delay in discharging me because the midwife had an emergency to deal with. It was only me in that bay though so I just sat there waiting to go home. It seemed pretty quiet & relaxed, not sure if I got lucky and gave birth at a quiet time or if it's always like that

Oh wow couple of hours seems generous, in bwh they pretty much transferred us straight after the delivery, probably because they are always short on rooms. Now specially during covid when they don't let partners on the wards at all i cant imagine how women cope with being alone straight after giving birth when in most cases you need help in even changing the diaper. I was in russels triage overnight last week, and they even have spare pullout beds for partners to sleep in incase there is a need for it, which means they allow partners to stay overnight in some cases. The midwifes and nurses in both night and day shifts were lovely and helpful. Im wondering if i were just lucky or is it always like that over there.

Yea I gave birth just after 10am & looking at photos we were still in the delivery suite at 2pm, so they must have been very relaxed about letting us stay in there & rest.

Think my partner was sent home around 4/5pm when we were on the ward waiting. A lovely midwife popped in later though & saw I'd been holding the baby the whole time as he would cry otherwise & she swaddled him for me so I could get try a bit of rest. I was also sent to triage after they were a bit concerned after a scan & I didn't have to wait long at all.

It sounds so lovely, such a nice and relaxing environment. Thats exactly what you wish for when giving birth. I was just worried about going to russels after hearing some stories where babies got hurt during deliveries ect. But maybe thats in the past and they improved their staff.

Birmingham women's were absolutely amazing. I had a very traumatic birth and was put on a transitional ward where I got plenty of help with baby whilst I was poorly - they actually took him off me one night and did the night feeds to give me a good night sleep! I was also given my own room when he was in NICU

My baby has a rare birth defect so I was also scanned every couple of weeks and got plenty of support during pregnancy

Glad to hear they helped you and your baby! I guess seems like they are great in giving help for difficult births and more concentrated in tracking/supporting women in more serious situations. Which is great! Just wish they could be as supportive and nice in general to every other women too.