Does anyone have any strong feelings about Warrington hospital and how are they on home births?

[Anglepoise]

I'm 30 weeks today with DC1 and about three weeks off moving 200 miles north. I therefore need to find somewhere to give birth (and you ladies have been very helpful re northern hospitals - thank you!). Not entirely sure where will be closest yet, as it depends where we end up living, which depends where DH finds work (the next few months are going to be fun!).

However, it is quite likely that Warrington will end up being our closest hospital - which is the one place I hadn't really considered as my parents are so anti it. I think I need to quiz them on this, as I'm not sure whether it's snobbery or because they had bad experiences of my brother spending quite a lot of time in there (as a hefty 20-something, not a baby!).

I had also always assumed I'd have a hospital birth, partly because I think I'd find it reassuring, and partly because I find the idea of going to hospital quite exciting rather than off-putting (my dad is a retired GP, so we received very little medical attention, never went to hospital and very rarely visited the doctor - so getting medical fuss is fun for me!). However, I'm finding the idea of a home birth more and more appealing (although I know my dad will disapprove ...). The major factor putting me off a home birth at the moment is that the nearest hospital is likely to be 20-30 miles away - unless we book into Warrington, which will be around 6-8 miles.

On the other hand, I'm quite happy with the idea of having a hospital birth the first time and then home births for subsequent DCs, as I am a first time mum and therefore have no real idea what to expect or how I'll cope with it.

As you can probably tell from my rambling, I am a bit confused (and grateful to anyone who's read this far!) - any advice much appreciated

i would look into their stats on intervention very carefully.
for a low risk pregnancy, then a home birth is a good safe option.
i don;t understand why if you book for a homebirth, you would be transferred to a hospital 30 miles away rather than 6 - 8 miles away?

you can always book a homebirth, labour at home and then if you need some extra pain relief or need to transfer in, you can. you cannot start labouring at hospital and then decide to give birth at home.

for the majority of first time mums who do transfer to hospital it is for more pain relief, rather than anything else

you can have water, TENS, gas and air and meptid at home

Thanks

I assumed that if I started at home and then was transferred, they'd transfer me to the hospital I was booked in at rather than the nearest one - am I wrong about that?

It's being able to be in water at home that is appealing to me tbh, though I need to look into which nearby hospitals have pools too I think.

i would book with warrington then as you need to be booked into a hospital to have your AN care etc....

has your pregnancy been normal?

re wwaterbirth, i am in the northwest, and the hospital nearest to me has one birth pool only. so you need to check first of all they have any birth pools, and if they do how many, and if there are midwives trained in waterbirth

if there is one pool it will be first come first served, so the way to guarantee a waterbirth is to have one at home. but you need to look into hiring a pool

this place is good and local ish

also, have you thought about a doula, i know a good one in your the warrington/manchester area

I gave birth at Warrington in December, there is only one pool ( first come first served and only if there are no complications). I couldn't use it as I was induced but it seemed ok. I think the home birth stats for the area are very low, I again considered it, but as a first timer decided on the hospital - the induction took the decision out of my hands in the end.

It seemed like any other hospital to me, there were plenty of nurses on the ward, not enough parking, not great bathrooms etc. The food was nice though. The midwives at your antenatal appts advised me of the tour they can take you on of the maternity wards which helped reassure me.

Sadly I think a doula is going to be out of our price range, as DH will be unemployed and I'm going on leave early so we can move!

Pregnancy has been totally normal so far except for measuring a cm small for dates at 28 wk appointment and I seem to have lost all my symptoms and don't feel pregnant at all (except for lots of kicking!).

Thanks for the link

There's a nice-looking midwife unit over at Stockport with a birthing pool but they only have two rooms so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get in there.

oh and good luck for your birth

Thanks Ambi, that's useful. Were they any good with breastfeeding support?

yes they were actually, too good. I kept telling them to go away and leave me to it. DD was given to me to feed straight away. The midwife that delivered my baby was fantastic, she was with me all night chatting away, only left me for breaks. I was under the impression they left you to it, popping in now and again.

Fab I will have to find out what my parents have against it, but it seems silly to book into somewhere miles away really!

measuring 1cm under is really nothing to worry about, and enjoy feeling well and symptom free

good luck with everything

Thanks! I have brief moments of irrational panic ("What if my baby isn't growing properly?") but generally keep it under control and accept that it isn't a particularly accurate measurement and know that a cm isn't too much to worry about

we all had/have those moments ! it is perfectly normal. hope the move goes smoothly

I've had one elective section and two vbac's at Warrington Hospital. For all three the consultants and midwives were pretty open to doing things whichever way I chose. One area in which they weren't great was breastfeeding support - first child ended up bottle fed as neither him, me or the staff knew enough to get breastfeedung going. With my second I made sure I knew enough, luckily she also had a much better idea than her big brother and we were allowed to just get on with it ourselves. By number three I only spent a few hours in the hospital. I have got quite a few friends who have had homebirths while booked with Warrington - the midwives seem to all be very supportive of homebirths. Any specific questions feel free to ask.

Hi . I've had all 3 dds at Warrington, and have had pretty standard care; nothing exceptional (echo what was said about v.little help with breastfeeding). Midwifes pretty good, though the odd 'strange' one - luck of the shift I think. Also needed to nag a bit about things like getting drinking water, and the removal of a used sanitary towel from under my bed when I was brought down from the labour ward...nice... I would recommend asking for a private room if poss (they forgot to charge me the 2 times I used it )as the wards are very cramped, though I suppose that's the case with all maternity wards.
I also remeber the food being pretty nice, though god forbid you're brought onto the ward after food times as the cupboard's bare..
Anything, just ask away! The memories are very fresh, and I think I'll be back in Feb for birth of no.4 .

Thanks ladies

I had heard they weren't great with bf, though hopefully I'll be able to find support elsewhere (NCT/La Leche/family etc).

What's the deal with the private rooms - how do I book and what do they cost? What if I am planning a home birth but then need to go in to hospital?

Re: the private rooms, you can't 'pre-book', and have to keep on asking straight after baby is delivered and someone should go downstairs to sort it out. They don't really publicise them, so there's usually a free one. Don't expect anything fancy, but it is nice having some privacy and you have your own 'en suite' shower and loo too. Think they were about £45 a night last time I was there, but will have gone up I'm sure.

No, I didn't know about the private rooms being available... hmmm, now I wonder if DH would take that as a good enough reason to go for number 4...think I know the answer before I ask somehow!

Go on alien, you might as well have 4 as 3 (my reasoning ). Plus the Isabella Oliver sale is on too. Private room and a new dress - convinced?