Princess Royal Maternity Glasgow

[Sept2021Nmxxx]

Hi! Just looking for any stories from anyone who’s given birth here, preferably semi-recently but happy to hear anything!
The only thing I’ve heard that’s confused me is that you have to go to the dining hall for meals which makes me think of a big school canteen 🤔 anyway thanks I’m advance!

Ahh it was your community midwife then? I'll try asking mines when I meet her at the 16 week appointment coming up just incase she can do it 👍

I gave birth here 2 years ago. I've got mixed feelings about it. I was taken in before reaching active Labour as I started bleeding heavily. The room they put me in was freezing and no heating in the middle of winter. Nobody checked on me for hours. I was in pain and exhausted. I was stuck there for 15 hours before I got taken to the Labour ward. Once there it was a different story and I suppose the part that matters most. The staff were excellent and the room was great. I had a forceps delivery as he became distressed but the staff were fantastic and I had a great delivery. I got taken back to the ward at 4am and yes you need to go to a little room at the end of the corridor for breakfast. I found the heat in the ward unbearable and was happy to be discharged by lunchtime.

@cuju2407 I’ve been told to take a wee handheld fan because of the heat! Where do you actually go when you’re in labour? Is it anywhere near where you go for your scans?
It sounds like a hit or miss in every hospital whether you have a good experience or not

@Sept2021xxxx I think level 3 has the labour suites and prenatal assessment, so I'd assume there? Although I don't know if you can just go in and make your way up. Might have to call on a buzzer outside the hospital. Hopefully they will share with us all in advance!

@Sept2021xxxx I just realised you would likely have to call before you go in so they probably give instructions at that point.

[quote Sept2021xxxx]@cuju2407 I’ve been told to take a wee handheld fan because of the heat! Where do you actually go when you’re in labour? Is it anywhere near where you go for your scans?
It sounds like a hit or miss in every hospital whether you have a good experience or not[/quote]
Yes you go to triage first which is just beside the waiting rooms for the scans. I had called beforehand to tell them how far contractions were and was told to come up. I was admitted at night and remember going to the wrong door to get in as most of the entrances are closed at night. A fan is a good idea also for during labour. If you don't want to have breakfast in the other room and leave your baby, pack some breakfast bars. I still had a catheter in and it wasn't pleasant going to have breakfast with it still attached 😳

@2020mission yeah Infact we will need to call so hopefully they can tell us everything then 😂

Just moved to Glasgow and the PRM is my closest maternity hospital. I'm 23 weeks so already had all my scans and guessing I might not be in the building until I go into labour. The parking is already stressing me out though!

DD1 I had at PRM 13 years ago so I’m sure things have moved on a lot. They were very busy so I was left to it for most of my labour without pain relief and only really had a midwife for the last twenty minutes of labour after sending DH out to find someone as I needed to push - that’s when I was transferred to a delivery room and finally got gas and air, had to have my stitches done twice. Had to stay two nights and was just desperate to get home, there was no real form of rest of recovery if you have a baby that cries a lot and you’re trying to establish BFing and worrying about disturbing others etc. Really only got chance for a quick shower once they’d let DH into the ward the next day, was left to just get on with things mostly, though if you asked for help on how to do something they would show you and they were well stocked with supplies like nappies and cotton wool etc.
With DS I opted for same day discharge, and my whole labour experience was so much better than before as well. Although initially sent home at 4cm dilated and having my waters already gone I lasted the car journey home and needed to go back in - this time when I re-arrived I was straight into a delivery room with two midwives and the whole experience was so much better- was able to have gas and air and had DS within three hours despite him being in a back to back position- I think I would have been screaming for an epidural if I hadn’t had the support of those midwives who were lovely.
Getting home that evening was also so much better for me.
This time round I don’t know how far things have come - but all of the staff I’ve seen there so far have been nice and I’m hoping to have an experience similar to last time!

@Sept2021Nmxxx Hey I’ve given birth there before and had a decent experience. In my situation I went straight into delivery room as I was in active labour by the time I got to the hospital so I can’t comment on the ward you may be in prior to moving to the delivery room.

However once baby was delivered and all the checks were carried out, me and OH had some time with baby along with some delicious tea and toast. I was then encouraged to get up and get cleaned up etc and then we were moved to the ward where we’d stay until discharge. This of course was a shared ward with other woman and as someone else mentioned it had one bathroom between us all. No partners allowed to stay overnight but the visiting time for partners was generous, it was like an all day thing but that might’ve changed now due to covid of course.

I wasn’t made aware of the food arrangements, nobody told me where to go and eat and at what times. So I would ensure you ask someone of the arrangements and times so you’re not sitting there hungry like I was. There was a trolley that brought tea and toast in the evening that you could have whilst still in the ward but again don’t know if that’s still the case. Keep on top of your meals! You’ll need the energy!

Like someone mentioned above we just had to leave baby and go off and eat in the canteen type room which is a room at the end of the corridor. It was awkward like first day at school and everyone looked very tired which of course is to be expected after giving birth! However, it was a dull atmosphere. I think I had something like potato wedges and beans which I quickly stuffed down my mouth so I could get back to baby quickly as I didn’t like the thought of being in different room and not being able to see baby.

If you run out of nappies/milk/cotton balls the front desk can help which is literally across the ward. There isn’t always someone there so be prepared to wait at times. They had a choice of SMA and Cow and Gate milks.

I stayed in for 3 nights as my little one wasn’t feeding well and by the last night it was just me in the ward as all the other ladies had left. Must say I loved having it to myself as it was peaceful and private! It did get very warm in the ward so wear a thin t shirt or so, also got very bright very early on.

I’ve probably missed all the important stuff you want to know and given you info that’s not even on your mind lol, let me know if there’s anything in particular you want to know x

@SproutingSprout2021 @Sept2021xxxx @Sept2021Nmxxx I know it varies across hospitals on whether they will tell you the gender at the 20 week scan so just just wanted to ask if you've all had your 20 week scans, did the Princess Royal tell you? I'm hoping to avoid paying for a private one!

Due to give birth here in 3 weeks so will report back!

@2020mission I was told the gender at my 20 weeks scan (although I already knew from a private scan at 16 weeks)

I've found them really gokd when had to go in to epu in the early stages with bleeding and also into triage with reduced movements. Hoping the good care carries on.

I've not got any maternity notes, they're all online, apparently some people are able to see them on the app but I'm not one of them.

Thanks @Alicespring! Ohh 3 weeks now how exciting 😃 hope everything goes smoothly. Definitely let us know how you get on.

@2020mission - we didn’t want to find out and they didn’t actually even ask us so I’m
Not too sure sorry x

@OPTIMUMMY @FurryMcFlurry such helpful info thank you guys so much!

@2020mission I already had a private scan at 16 weeks and I did ask them to double check but the woman at my 20 week scan was all business and I felt she didn’t really have time for me to be asking stuff like that 😳😂

@Alicespring good luck! How exciting 😁😁

@2020mission yes they tell you the gender, just make sure you let them know that you would like to find out though. Otherwise they won’t mention it of course

@Alicespring do report back please so we can see what the most recent experience was like and good luck x

Oh good luck @Alicespring!! Hope everything goes great ❤️

Thank you everyone! I will report back (ftm so hopefully I won't go too much over my due date....this heat and being heavily pregnant is brutal 🤣)

@Alicespring I can only imagine how you feel being further on! Do you know what you’re having?

@Sept2021xxxx I'm quite scared actually but excited too! Yes I'm having a wee girl 😊 my partner already has two boys from a previous relationship so it'll be nice to have a girl on the side for a change 🤣

I've not had good experiences at the PRM tbh, although I haven't actually been to the labour ward (never made it that far).

I've found the staff in EPAS quite callous and dismissive of concerns, and not interested in taking a proper history. When we had a MMC last year, the ward staff were almost universally disinterested, left me without adequate analgesia for long periods, and I ended up writing a long letter of complaint about the clinical and communication issues.

In contrast, one of my friends went to the QEUH site and despite a complicated delivery she had a very good experience and felt in safe hands throughout.

@Scirocco I’m sorry you had such a bad experience! I’ve heard such mixed things but it’s hard because I’m sure there’s mixed stories about every hospital but I have zero time for people being dismissive!

Had my baby in here this week.cannot fault them at all. From triage to recovery everyone has been great.

They are a little slow to do things in the recovery ward but they are absolutely rammed with all the lockdown babies 🙈 so they get to you eventually!