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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

OMG look if you DARE - how does your maternity hospital rate?

111 replies

PaulaYatesBiggestFan · 25/01/2008 18:15

mine is FAIR

OP posts:
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Pk616 · 28/01/2008 15:35

OH. MY. GOD.....
My hospital faired the least well in the area
FECK
The next best is only Fair and I'm out of area for that one
FECK FECK FECK
I was considering going and staying at my moms for a bit as a cheeky way of going to a different hospital but guess what.... that one's least well too

And I'm due in 11 days!
Don't think I should have looked!

carmenelectra · 28/01/2008 20:48

PK
Where are you booked? i wouldnt worry, mined fared least well and i couldnt have had a nicer experience

daisy26 · 28/01/2008 21:01

I live in Northampton and we came in the top 10 maternity ward for being no soooo good-i dnt wanna give birth there

PortAndLemon · 28/01/2008 21:15

Pk616 -- look at the criteria. An awful lot of them relate to antenatal care rather than anything to do with the birth itself. For example, look at what I posted for lucicle about why Kingston rates "least well". Most of the factors it scored 1 and 2 on, dragging its average down, are things I'm not particularly worried about, aren't likely to affect my personal experience, or relate to a stage of pregnancy that I've already got through.

You can find the full report on your trust via this link and see exactly why it got the rating it did.

franfoxy2003 · 29/01/2008 03:27

well mine is apparently 'best' but have to say I don't agree but then again it was nearly two years ago I had ds.

Pk616 · 29/01/2008 07:58

Ok, So I've had a gander at the break down and things still do not look good! I'm booked into City Hospital in Birmingham whichfalls under Sandwell and west Birmingham NHS Trust.

Here's a list of the things they fall belowDoes the Trust provide a high quality value for money maternity service?
Average Score
2.713
Score (out of 5)
Clinical focus
Does the trust have strong processes and practices to ensure the maternity service is safe and effective?
Theme Assessment
2.5
Are there high standards of antenatal monitoring?
Indicator 1: Women not receiving NICE recommended number of antenatal appointments
3
How effective is the test and screening programme?
Indicator 2: Availability of NICE recommended screening
2
Are there appropriate levels of intervention during delivery?
Indicator 3: Appropriate use of caesarean sections
2
Are there good outcomes from delivery?
Indicator 4: Maternal Morbidity
4
Are there high standards of post-natal care?
Indicator 5: Postnatal care of women and babies
2
Is there adequate service provision for additional needs?
Indicator 6: Progress on implementing Mental Health NICE guidance
3
Do staff have adequate training and recent experience?
Indicator 7: Extent that staff are trained in core maternity skills
1
Does the trust have a strong Safety culture?
Indicator 8: Teamworking and Supervision
3
Women Centred Care
Are women informed, counselled and supported to ensure that they have a positive maternity experience?
Theme Assessment
2.75
How readily can women access maternity care and information?
Indicator 9: Average time between first making contact and booking appointment
3
How much choice do women have in how their antenatal care is provided?
Indicator 10: Choice and continuity for antenatal care
3
How much choice do women have for tests and scans?
Indicator 11: % Women offered an informed choice for screening tests
3
Do antenatal classes meet women?s? and their partners? needs?
Indicator 12: % of women attending NHS antenatal classes who wanted to
1
How much choice do women have in the delivery of their babies?
Indicator 13: Extent of choice in labour
1
How well are women supported to care for their babies?
Indicator 14: Support for infant feeding
2
How effective is the discharge process?
Indicator 15: Quality of support in caring for the baby after discharge
4
Are stakeholders engaged effectively to help improve services?
Indicator 16: Stakeholder involvement in service planning and evaluation
5
Efficiency and Capability
Is there adequate funding to provide an acceptable service and are management and improvement processes ensuring women get the best care for the money spent?
Theme Assessment
2.889
Is there adequate staffing?
Indicator 17: Staffing levels
Indicator 18: Integration of support workers
4
3
What is the cost per delivery?
Indicator 19: Average cost per delivery
Indicator 20: Delivery of hospital based antenatal care
2
3
What is the capacity to record activity and plan?
Indicator 21: Data quality
4
Indicator 22: Appropriate involvement of obstetricians and midwives in antenatal care
4
Are there adequate facilities and are service configured to use these effectively?
Indicator 23: % women who considered their length of stay was about right
2
Indicator 24: Homeliness of delivery rooms
2
Indicator 25: Women?s view of cleanliness of delivery and postnatal areas
2

Pk616 · 29/01/2008 08:25

OK so the post was premature! I was gonna sieve through it before posting but I've only been awake for five mins so my brain and my hands aren't communicating properly!

Worst Trust attributes:-

Indicator 7: Extent that staff are trained in core maternity skills (that's quite worrying!)
Indicator 12: % of women attending NHS antenatal classes who wanted to (so true I really had to pester to find out anything about parentcraft classes. when they eventually came forth with the information it was what I'd consider last minute. My last class is 2 days before my due date!)
Indicator 13: Extent of choice in labour

Below acceptable :-

Indicator 2: Availability of NICE recommended screening (bit late to be worrying about that one I think although I can say that the hospital AND the community MW have not tested my water every time I've seen them and had to be reminded about some 28 week bloods!)
Indicator 3: Appropriate use of caesarean sections (does this mean they over use surgery or don't when they should?)
Indicator 5: Postnatal care of women and babies
Indicator 14: Support for infant feeding (there are posters EVERYWHERE pushing breast feeding but the support is lacking, not good!)
Indicator 19: Average cost per delivery (I don't care about this one!)
Indicator 23: % women who considered their length of stay was about right
Indicator 24: Homeliness of delivery rooms
Indicator 25: Women?s view of cleanliness of delivery and postnatal areas (We went on a tour a couple of weeks back. I thought the place looked like it needed updating but it appeared clean. A couple of days later I bumped into someone who was also on the tour and she told me that she had opened a couple of doors and was horrified to find blood smeared down the doors on both occasions - she's now opted for a home birth)

Everything else is acceptable or better

thanks portandlemon for the link.

McDreamy · 29/01/2008 08:31

Mine came out as better (DD) - terrible IMO and better (DS) - fab IMO

FioFio · 29/01/2008 08:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

carmenelectra · 29/01/2008 13:54

Pk. I know the Trust that you are booked under. I cant comment personally, but i really wouldnt let it worry you. The trust i had my baby at scored a 2 for core midwifery skills, but i couldnt fault the midwives.

Also, the Trust i work in hasnt come out well. I can honestly say though the only problem i would have is the fact that we are always so busy and this is what would be affecting the indicators. The trust i had my second baby in is a smaller trust with less births, but the day i had my baby it was pandemonium. Something i couldnt have predicted. I almost had my baby on the ward cos labour ward were so busy. This however, still didnt mean i had a negative experience. Far from it.

Pk616 · 31/01/2008 14:38

Thanks Carmen.
I've calmed down now as i've decided to put more faith in myself and my body istead of pinning all my hopes on the skills of the MWs at hospital.

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