HAS ANYBODY GIVEN BIRTH AT ROYAL BERKS?

[HelenCS]

Just wondering what peoples experiences have been if youve given birth here...

I did, but DS1 is nearly 11 now (and we have moved back up north).

Things have probably changed vastly since I was there.

DH really not very well (just come out of the same place). They put him a bed in my delivery room because he was just not with it - this they were only too happy to help with.

We had a really good friend drive us to the hospital and who stayed with us - they were more concerned about why she was in the room and whose relation she was. We ended up fibbing to the midwives saying she was DH's sister. I really really needed her help and support.

I was pushed into having a c-section. DS1 was posterior and a 9lb 5 baby and I am only small but I do not think they gave me enough encouragement to have a vaginal birth.

But that was nearly 11 years ago.....

Whereabouts do you live? If Frimley Park is an option for you, it recently scored "best" in some national maternity unit survey. I think quite a few people on here have given birth there though.

i live in winnersh, nr wokingham so its not too far away i dont think.

I think i need to look at my options because my friends sister got turned away last sep when she was having her baby due to overcrowding there so they had to drive to another hospital in morning rush hour.

Im due 4th oct and the hospital being full is turning into a huge worry for me

Oh, I live in Bracknell so have a choice of Reading, Heatherwood (so possibly Wexham (!) )or Frimley. The roads to Frimley are great, not really ever congested and we can get there within about 15 mins on a good run - alot easier than negotiating Reading... There is a good website, i'll find it and link it which compares the statistics for different hospitals.

here hope that works - if it doesn't, Frimley has a lower induction and CS rate, and 3903 births per year compared to RB 5052. I am pretty biased towards Frimley though because it is (IMO, from experience last time) the most super hospital.

oh no, Frimley has higher induction rate, lower CS rate.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7207683.stm that's the survey thingy.

Hi I had ds 2.6 yrs ago at rbh. He got into fetal distress and so I had to have an emergency c-section under a general. It was a traumatic experience but the staff were excellent. The midwife came to see me in her own time on the ward the next day to check we were both ok (bless). Mine was an unusual situation but they were very good. The only fault I found was that ds had to go into special care for a few days and I woke up on a ward surrounded by Mums with their babies whilst mine was upstairs. They soon moved me to a private room though - and at the end of the stay didn't charge us for the private room. As I say mine was an unusual situation and if all goes well with this pregnancy (8weeks) I'll possibly try a vbac this time.
Lots of luck and if you want to know anything else just ask - I'm quite nearby in Wokingham so if you want to know about antenatal classes etc just ask away.

thanks buttercup babe, he/she isnt due until around 4th October, im only about 8 weeks so lots of time to make up my mind but want to find the best place for the birth

Ive got my booking in appointment with the midwife at 11am today.

If i have any q's il come straight to you xxxx

Hi Helen

I visited the RB a few weeks back because I'm due to give birth there in about a month.

I'm no expert but it all looked fairly nice - they have a separate midwife-led section, four beds to a room post delivery, and the option of booking a private room after birth if one's available (for £100 ). It was v. quiet when we were there but someone did ask about what happened last September. The m/w just said that September happened to be a busy month! It appears though that the RB had an influx of mums from Slough which was itself overflowing because lots of the mums weren't registered. I'm hoping that they're better prepared now.

Another option is Wallingford which is also m/w led, I've heard some good stuff about it. If you run into complications there they can take you to the John Radcliffe which is about 40 mins away.

hello,

I visited it too a few weeks back - its my backup if my homebirth doesn't work out in a couple of weeks.

Will second that it looked quite nice to the untrained eye, but we had a stand in for the usual tour guide, who let slip a few interesting things, including if you get a private room post-delivery you are more likely to be "missed" (?).

It also closed its doors three times in January due to another baby influx. Maybe you could ask in a couple of months how many babies they're expecting in October? In January it was 650 which is quite a lot more than 5052/12...