St Heliers Hospital

[babybump08]

Has anyone had a baby at St Heliers hospital in the last two years????

I'm booked in there but to be honest I'm not from down south originally so I've no real idea what it's like.

I've checked out previous threads and there doesn't seem to be anyone who has had a baby there recently....just the case of "I've heard bad stories about there"...what stories did you hear????

R they true....I'm beginning to worry. Is it too late to change hospitals at nearly 14 weeks?

Please advise if you can

[mum2bean]

i used to work at st heliers hospital and most of my friends have given birth there and say it is a fairly pleasant place.

The staff are friendly enough, and the child care hospital there is amazing.
it may have changed rapidly in the past few months as they have had a boost of cash from the government.

The tests are completed quickly for mother and baby, as they are priority patients (i used to work for the immunology dept) and it is an exceptionally rare occassion that a baby will need to be bled more than once for the same test due to loss of the blood within the department.
I wouldn't worry about giving birth there, because it is't that bad a place. You hear horror stories from nearly all hospitals, it's just if you live in that area you tend to moan about it!
all my siblings were born there and my younger brother is a regular as he is constantly breaking bones!
And also they treated him for reflux kidney and a semi-breach birth. ( he decided to stick his arms outlike he was stretching!)
if you are still that worried, have a look around the hospital.
If not, there is st.georges hospital, which is in tooting and a very busy place(unsure about maternity there)or epsom general. But they no longer have ambulances arrive there as the bay was shut down about a year and a half ago!
Dont worry about the story's though, just go and visit yourself and see what you think.
hope it helps!

[EyeballsintheSky]

babybump, I think the thing that puts people off St Helier is the look of the place. It's fairly imposing, not in a good way and it makes you feel a bit grim before you even get in the doors. But women in my antenatal group had their babies there and were happy with it.

I had dd at Epsom in Jan this year and it was fine. I was born at St George's but, to be honest, I can't remember much about that...

Congrats btw!