Maternity Services Wrexham/Cheshire/Shropshire

[Sparkles512]

Hi,

Just wanted peoples experiences of the maternity services in;
Wrexham
Crewe, Cheshire
Shrewsbury/Telford, Shropshire

Good & bad experiences thank you!

I’m pregnant with second, currently under Shropshire. Have been to Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Telford during this pregnancy and all have been amazing. Can’t fault them at all. Booked in to have baby at MLU in Telford. The rooms there are lovely and staff have been amazing

I had my antenatal courses at Crewe and they were excellent. Didn't end up giving birth there in the end though but that was not because of anything they did

I live not far from Crewe. I haven’t given birth there, but friends who did have had some very bad experiences.

Hi, I'm in this area. No problems so far, midwifes have been nice and I've only been into hospital for 12&20wk scans so not much to say yet.

Curious, why are you asking for such a broad area?

I've had two babies at Wrexham the first time was an easy birth so I was just in and out not much to say lol but the second time the labour ward were amazing when I had preeclampsia and had to be induced but ended up having an emergency c section at 34 weeks. The postnatal ward nowhere near as good but it was ok I just wanted to get out of there and home ASAP anyway though.

1st baby in crewe was absolutely excellent care, same for antenatal services for second baby. But with everything going on for my second i ended up being stuck in the hospital for 4 days (after my scheduled induction) waiting to be induced as labour ward was always full, quite a few of the midwives just ignored me, but then i had a few lovely ones who took their time to talk to me, listen to me cry (i was upset about missing my 1yr old) and try their best to get me in!
After care for my second was a bit.... rushed! As in right you've had the baby now go. Got discharged at 10:45pm and on my way, no help with breast feeding. But i was thankful in a way i got to go home straight away after all them days in hospital

I had my first in Wrexham. I was under English NHS and wanted to have my little one in Oswestry. Unfortunately my waters broke earlier in the day and they wanted to give me a check over, then when started proper contractions my little one wasn’t in the right place so I didn’t dilate more than 3cm. The MLU have a policy of two visits and your not allowed to give birth there any more as classed a possibly needing consultants. I was so upset because Oswestry had such a lovely birthing room and the staff I knew. Because of the pain I went to Wrexham as it was a lot closer than Telford.
Got to Wrexham and they wouldn’t check me as I’d been looked at Oswestry to see how dilated I was (prevent infection as my waters had broken nearly 20hrs) they gave me paracetamols which I threw up then told my partner to go home as it was night time.
They put me in a bay in the dark and I didn’t have a clue what to do, started getting big contractions and panic attacks so walked to the bathroom and ended up with blood everywhere and had to shout for help (very embarrassed and scared) turns out I was 9.5cm dilated and 9minutes later I had my little boy with no partner. He had only been gone for 20minutes and so had to be called and raced back but not fast enough.
The delivery staff were lovely but the postnatal ward staff were awful.
Because I was an English NHS patient they wrote my notes on scrap pieces of paper which they kept losing so I was forgotten about a lot, my little boy didn’t have a security tag out on him, my partner was allowed back in but when he needed the loo they sent him 10mins down the corridor to the main entrance and when he returned wouldn’t let him back in (wasn’t visiting hours) but he’d only seen me for 10 minutes since he missed all the birth.
I needed clean sheets as I bled on them so they showed me a cupboard for bedding and told me to make my own bed, I didn’t know how to go to the loo and look after my little one so I ended up having to take him with me. No-one was ever around to ask and then I was told not to feed my little one till he got a check over and they forgot about me again so I had to go find someone after half hour of my little one screaming.
I went back for checks at Oswestry and they were worried about my mood after birth which I cried about a few times. They also a found I’d been sent home with another patients notes at the back of mine.
I can happily say I’m heading to Telford for my next one in July x

@July2021baby that sounds awful. Telford have been exceptional with me this time. Only been there for things like reduced movements but they have been outstanding every time and the rooms are lovely

No personal experience but I’m from the Wrexham area and have family still there- never ever heard a good word about maelor hospital unfortunately. Meanwhile have several friends who gave birth relatively happily at the countess of chester.

@July
That sounds totally horrendous.

Telford Consultant Led was ok, but horribly understaffed. Think the MLU has been replaced because the old one was dark and miserable and on the other side of the hospital.

@thack I live around 30minutes of all 3 hospitals so just wondering which would be the better option!

Thank you for all your experiences, and I'm sorry some of them were not the best.

I think Telford sounds the best from everyone's experiences.

Hi @Sparkles512

I’ve had nothing but outstanding care from Wrexham hospital. An anomaly was picked up at my 20 week scan there and I was referred straight to FMU, they have been closely monitoring and have been fantastic at the end of the phone if I’ve had any questions etc and with frequent scan appointments. I was referred to Liverpool Women’s for further investigation by Wrexham FMU and will most likely need to be transferred to Alder Hay with baby after delivery, so extremely thankful for the vigilance of the sonography. I am now back under the care of Wrexham until then.

I’ve had countless scans with Wrexham and never feel rushed or that any question is unnecessary. I also had to be quickly admitted to Blair Bell last week and the staff were ready on stand by, reassuring and professional. I spent a few days on the ward, and the midwives level of care was second to non, despite covid - aside from the PPE you wouldn’t know that there was anything going on and I felt perfectly safe. I even had a visit from the paediatrician consultant who will be caring for my baby after birth, as they’d received note that I had been admitted. They are well set up for covid admissions, testing and keeping patients separate in bays for everyone’s safety. I’m completely at ease knowing that I’ll be delivering my baby there within the next two weeks and having met many members of the team already.

Hope that it helps to add a positive experience at Wrexham whilst you make your decision x

@2020N thank you for your reply!

Im glad they have been very helpful during your pregnancy, good luck with the birth of your baby ❤️

Telford isn't great its my closest hospital i personally would not book through choice

@mother2princess thank you for your reply.

I think it will most likely be Crewe or Wrexham as DH thinks Crewe has a good reputation and a work colleague had a good experience at Wrexham.

Are you pregnant yet OP? Because based on my experience, I had to.decide early on in my pregnancy.

I'm in NE Wales and under the Maelor trust. We chose to have both DC at the Countess of Chester because it is actually the closest hospital. I had my first appointment with the MW and then had to decide which hospital I was going with then to then go to the hospital for my booking in and scans.

Can't comment on tne Maelor for maternity services. But my general opinion of it is it's not as good as the Countess and a nightmare to get parked.

I had my first at telford, the midwives at mlu and delivery suit were fab however postnatal care was awful no compassion what's so ever, I'm going to telford again in July for number 2 and hope the just be on MLU and then home 🤞

@babyyodayada I'm not pregnant at the moment but we have been trying for a few months so just trying to find out my best options!