York Hospital - any experiences/ choosing an alternative?

[Charmainebelle]

Hi everyone, I live in York and just saw a worrying article about the maternity services at the hospital here following a CQC inspection. Has anyone had a recent experience of giving birth at York (positive or negative) that they could share? I've been told by friends we're allowed to choose to give birth at a hospital out of area - does anyone have any experience of doing that? Do you just raise it at your next midwife appointment? Or any experiences of any maternity hospitals nearby in Yorkshire?

@Charmainebelle hi op just wanted to say where abouts on the Internet have you seen this report?.. I'm from York itself and this has obviously been my chosen hospital for my babies (I've had 4) never had a problem here tbh, antenatal care & maternity unit itself its brilliant i would say! maybe some would disagree depending on their experiences but I'm pretty surprised to hear that! For example I know a friend who was from Malton, didn't want to give birth at Scarborough (as I have heard that is a rubbish hospital) so chose York Hospital instead! :)

@MummyTo4BoysXXXX Thanks for replying - and good to hear you had positive experiences as just reading negative stories online is worrying, especially as its my first so wouldn't know when to speak up etc! Looks like there was an inspection recently and it was rated 'inadequate', so BBC news, YorkMix etc have reported - links below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66056115

https://yorkmix.com/york-hospital-report-says-patients-put-at-risk-of-harm-mp-calls-for-meeting/

I gave birth there last August, and they were very understaffed at the time, hopefully this has changed. I went into be induced but by the time I was ready for the second pessary the labour ward was full (due to lack of midwives) and the induction had to be stopped and I was left in a side room for days waiting for room on the labour ward so they could restart the induction.

I ended up going into labour naturally but despite this being my 4th baby the midwives wouldn't believe that my labours progressed very quickly once they started. As a result I ended up giving birth in the corridor as they finally rushed me round to the labour ward. All with no pain relief despite asking numerous times.

They were meant to be recruiting more staff so hopefully the level of care will improve.

@Charmainebelle bit shocked to read but seems like their is only concerns over staffing not in regards to care of mother & babies but they have said their has been improvements in those areas that were of concern since inspection. i gave birth lastyear in Novemeber, the delivery rooms are nice though & they did try to make the room as calm & relaxing as could be considering been in labour lol .. think you should have a chat with midwife & maybe see if she could put in place a visit to the maternity unit for you so you get a feel of the environment which will hopefully help you make a decision if you want to birth your baby there or not. x

Thanks for sharing your experiences @TalkingInTheKitchen @MummyTo4BoysXXXX . The not getting pain relief despite asking sounds awful! I know understaffing seems to be a national issue, it is just worrying that it has got to the stage that they've received such a bad report. MY friends have told me to request to transfer to a different hospital, but I would rather stay in York if possible. I think I'll raise at my next midwife appointment like you suggest and see if I can arrange a 'tour' in the hope its slightly reassuring!

@Charmainebelle just wondering if you went with York and how you got on with them in the end?

I'm currently considering moving my care to Leeds, so outside the clinical area altogether (Scarborough is also poorly rated and further away than Leeds).
I haven't found my experience to be great so far, I'm only just into 2nd trimester and they're not exactly filling me with confidence.

Hey, yes I carried on with my care at york and gave birth there. I had a really complicated pregnancy (PPROM at 18 weeks) and a traumatic birth (induction, Labour until fully dilated but my baby was stuck as I was pushing so emergency c section) however I don’t regret sticking with york hospital, I think they did the best they could with my case. The consultants and midwives I encountered during my weekly checks were lovely, gave me options on my birth plan and even came to find me after I’d had my baby to meet him and see how I was. I had to stay in a week after I gave birth and they really looked after me and my baby. He had to go to SCBU who were brilliant too.

I think all hospitals have their challenges, mainly due to staffing issues. I’ve spoken to other mums who’ve had their babies at leeds, Harrogate and Scarborough and all noticed the same staffing issues.

Sorry to hear your care has not been up to scratch so far though. Is there anything in particular that has made you feel that way?xx

Scarborough were excellent last autumn. I really couldn't fault them, especially the consultant Mr Brooks. So kind and compassionate and incredibly skilled. I had a very traumatic time of it due to complications of my pregnancy and I'm so thankful for the care we had.

This could have been written by me. I’m in York, just about to go into my third trimester and yet to see the same clinician twice. Seen 5 different midwifes and 2 different consultants. Wrong locations for appointments given, waited literally HOURS after appointment times and just general unease. Torn about what to do.

Hello!
I am in hull and going through the same thing, failed cqc last year, I read the report it was quite frightening. I researched other hospitals (including York) and I’ve settled on Grimsby. You can request a move at any time in your pregnancy (I did it at 36 weeks with my DD)
When I went for my downs screening at the hospital it was horrific, loads of heavily pregnant women sat on the floor due to no seating available outside a consultant clinic, and a nurse was taking blood/dipstickinf urine in the waiting area behind a notice board. It was awful and I absolutely will not give birth there… I am a nurse and unfortunately know the pressures which makes it more terrifying x

Hey i just saw this in passing but i have birth in 2011 and i had a traumatic time. The nurse was rude and belittled me to my partner in front of me, refused to give pain medication and although i managed to change to a very friendly alternative i was then put in a side room after the birth as had no room on the ward, not given any support despite having a c section and left for days with no food/drinks offered to me at all. I was in tears unable to manage baby and go to the toilet even. If you have an option to go somewhere else id strongly recommend it. Xx best of luck x