Anyone had their baby at kingston hospital?

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I've been hearing mixed comments about giving birth at kingston hospital. Just wondering what your experiences are. I know I want an epidural asap in the birth

I had DS and DD there (ha! seems like it's just one big chat between us this weekend).

DS was a 40-hour labour followed by emergency c-section. Almost everyone I met was lovely (bar one registrar who got right up my nose) but I did feel a bit on a timetable -- labour had started with my waters breaking and as a result they were trying to hurry things along more than I would have liked. I suspect that if they had been less interventionist I might well have avoided the c-section entirely. I don't have serious complaints, though.

DD's birth you can read about in this thread.

Aftercare -- DS I was in a single room, which was nice. I think c-section cases get first dibs on the single rooms, but there are quite a few of them. It was really nice to have my own private space and my own private bathroom (and all without paying). Not such good things were that the breastfeeding support was rudimentary, the food a bit rubbish (I suggest going for whatever the vegetarian option is as it's generally nicer and more nutritious), and they won't let you out of your room carrying your baby but you need to trog down to the other end of the ward to collect each meal. I was happy overall, but very keen to get out IYSWIM. With DD I was discharged straight from the delivery suite so didn't really have aftercare apart from a shower (nice, but bring your own towels) and breakfast (a good size and they went to get it for me as soon as I mentioned being peckish, but almost completely devoid of fibre and so an odd choice given that medical staff become obsessed with your bowel movements once you've given birth).

Thanks portandlemon!! Very helpful once again
is dh allowed to bring food into the hospital for you? I'm vegetarian and also quite a picky eater (especially now!!) and quite careful about what I put into my body... I know it sounds selfish and silly. I'll bet after giving birth you'll eat pretty much anything though, right? Do they allow you to have an epidural when you want it or do they encourage you not to?

There won't be anywhere to cook/heat stuff up (unlike the children's ward -- I can advise that should your child need to be admitted for anything later on that has a nice little kitchen with microwave for parents) but there shouldn't be a problem bringing in cold food.

Immediately after birth, yes, IME you'll eat anything you can get your hands on (I throw up repeatedly from the point at which labour starts, though so I may be hungrier than the norm). Forgot to pack the snacks this time, hence the cornflakes and jam sandwiches...

First time round I asked for an epidural at 5cm (I was coping fine on gas & air and pethidine at that point, but they were about to start me on syntocinon so I wanted something stronger) and that wasn't a problem. I don't know how they feel about giving one earlier -- are you going to / do they still do antenatal classes at the hospital? If so this is the sort of question they could answer there, or your midwife will probably know.