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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

anyone been or going to Royal Free?

20 replies

champs · 15/02/2005 17:52

whats it like? How are m/w? How is the delivery rooms? do they tell sex at scans?
Anything I should know?

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Original poster

champs · 15/02/2005 18:22

bump

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hub2dee · 15/02/2005 19:02

Hi champs,

We're going there too for our first, so I'd also be interested in any comments. Remember that all the facilities were refurbed relatively recently...

Original poster

champs · 15/02/2005 21:03

hi hub2dee!!
I haven't even seen the hosp just not happy with my local ones. Have you and dee had your first visit?

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Pollyanna · 15/02/2005 21:10

yes, I've had all 4 of mine there.

They will tell you the sex. The delivery rooms are good (there is a new midwife led birthing unit) - recently refurbished. The post natal care is pretty hideous I think. (sorry). Midwives are a mixed bunch - you can get lucky, but people I know have had bad experiences.

Fire away - I'm happy to let you have any facts/opinions! (had a baby 5 weeks ago).

littlema · 15/02/2005 21:15

Hi, I had ds at Royal Free about a year ago. The delivery rooms are brand new and lovely.They all have a toilet and bath, and you have the choice of booking a room with birthing pool. Book an appointment for a guided tour, I know it definitely put my mind at ease seeing them in advance.
The midwives were ok, I don't think they differ that much from place to place. As I was ill before the birth and had an emergency c, I'm not sure I'm the best person to comment on the midwives helping out, I was pretty out of it! Oh yes and they do tell the sex at scans.You have to pay a small fee for print outs as well. If you need any other info feel free to ask. Goodluck!!

hub2dee · 15/02/2005 21:28

Definitely do the tour to familiarise yourself with the place: Sundays, 2pm outside labour ward on 5th floor. No need to book.

Yeah, we already toured the unit as I wanted to have a look at several places. As far as the facilities are concerned, I am not sure you could do very much better - a 'medical' side if you want to go epi, an 'active birth' side (with birthing pools) if you want to do that, transfer between if required and all the rooms / equipment are new. They do, however, deliver over 3500 babies per year so are v. busy places and won't want to see you until you are well progressed, and the midwives will doubtless be continually time-pressed. If you want a more personalised service, or a quieter, slower place, possibly you would be better looking at the Active Birth Centre in Edgware or the Bloomsbury Birthing Centre at UCH.

Original poster

champs · 15/02/2005 21:56

ty pollyanna. what made post natal care bad? was it the ward? midwife led part sounds nice.

thanls littlema, I deff want a birthing pool, missed out last time as had troubled pg and meconium in labour. How many rooms have pool? the toilet and bath sounds good too, that way I can get in and out of bath if pool is booked out. also can clean toilet and bath when I arrive

hub2dee--- thanks will look into these. are they nhs? or private?

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hub2dee · 15/02/2005 22:08

I believe both are NHS.

Original poster

champs · 15/02/2005 22:39

thanks

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Pollyanna · 16/02/2005 09:00

champs if you go into the birthing unit part, you only get to stay for 6 hours after the birth anyway. They will only let you go into that bit if you have a completely straightforward pregnancy, otherwise they are strict about you going into the labour ward. The labour ward rooms are still nice though, and mine this time had a birthing ball etc in it anyway. there is one birthing pool. This time when I went in, the birthing unit was full.

Postnatally the wards haven't been refurbished. They are 4 bed wards with one bathroom (some without showers I think). These are very busy and hectic. I haven't been a first time mother on those wards, so I don't know if it is different for first timers but people do seem to be left alone alot and discharged very quickly. I haven't seen alot of help with breastfeeding there from the midwives, but there is a bfc who is v nice. I think it would be helpful to ask to see her actually just to get on the right foot straight away if you do want to breastfeed.

MommyD · 16/02/2005 11:00

I have had my 2 dss at the Royal Free. I had to have an emergency C-Section with first (under GA - yuk) and a C-Section with epidural for second. I was lucky enough to have one of the rooms on Epsjtein (Sp.?) after and the care was fabulous. I understand that they have now closed these private rooms, so am interested to know what the post natal care is like generally -doesn't sound too promising. However, as this is baby #3, I am hoping I am a bit of a pro by now so won't need one-on-one b/f help etc.

I think the Royal Free is a great hospital. The antenatal care is excellent (rather long waits for appointments though) and most of the midwives are lovely. I consider myself very luck to be able to have my babies there.

Original poster

champs · 16/02/2005 16:28

ty pollyanna, did the labour room have bath/toilet too? postnatal wards are quite small 4 beds postnatal wards at hosp i was at were bigger but better than antenatal wards.

mommyd-- ty for info appt were long at hosp i was at too, seems like they overbook these dh was always having to put more money in meter!!

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franch · 16/02/2005 16:42

champs, I had a terrible experience there just over a year ago. The Birth Centre is fabulous so make it clear you want to go there - if you do end up there you'll be fine I reckon. The labour ward is another matter.

M/ws vary dramatically.

Delivery rooms nice enough - lovely in the birth centre. Postnatal horrible.

Yes they tell sex at scans.

Not keen to go into too many details as I'm currently gearing up for my 2nd birth (UCH this time) and trying to put the awful Royal Free experience behind me, but I should add that my GP was not at all surprised and was quite keen for me to go elsewhere. I know others have had different experiences but I'd recommend looking into alternatives

Original poster

champs · 16/02/2005 16:46

ty franch, good to hear all sides and diff experiences. I may go for antenatal (and sexing--shhh) and see how i feel.

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hub2dee · 16/02/2005 18:37

franch, are you booking in at the Bloomsbury (the Active Birth Centre part of the Elizabeth Garrett A at UCH), or the 'regular' bit ? We had a fairly long chat to the Senior Midwife at Bloomsbury and were impressed by her attitude. Having said that we picked up a £50 forgot-to-pay-congestion-charge, found the ride in a bit long, parking tricky, and have gone for the Royal Free which is only 10 minutes away...

To the other Royal Freers: dumb question, but when exactly do you state your preference for Active Birth Side vs. more medicalised labour side ? Is it something that you specifically must 'book' or does the whole booking in / 12 & 20 week scanning, mw appointments etc. automatically mean you are booked for, say, Active Birth if that is your preference ?

franch · 16/02/2005 19:26

h2d, I'm actually going for a homebirth this time so UCH is just backup When I did the Free last year you had to state you wanted a Birth Centre birth - they put a sticker on the front of your notes and gave you a special tour - also you could ring the Birth Ctr direct if you wanted to chat, which was very helpful. They also do a waterbirth workshop. I'd mention it at every antenatal visit just to be sure

Pollyanna · 16/02/2005 19:55

yes the labour rooms have [very clean] bathrooms with loo, bath and showers. you do have to book the birthing unit - they give you the info on the tour, but my mw had the necessary forms too.

epsztyn [wrong spelling!] has closed now, so no private rooms - i had one of these for my first - they were fab!

franch, i know people whohave had horrible experiences at uch [and the whittington too] - it is such potluck whether you get a good midwife/overstretched staff etc. i had a bad experience with my 3rd child at the royal free - i was v traumatised, but much better this time. i was on the labour ward and was impressed. the head midwife is called amanda mansfield, i think she is meant to be approachable if you have concerns - she is keen to improve things.

yes the antenatal appointments are v busy - you have to wait a long time - see if you can have all of the appointments with your mw at your gp's.

sorry about bad typing - holding dd3 as i type!

hub2dee · 16/02/2005 23:06

Pollyana and franch, thank you so much for the info.

I will start (and not stop) mentioning our preferences to the midwife.

Also, best of luck to franch for your homebirth.

LisaBelsize · 02/12/2007 12:21

anybody know if st.mary's is any better - I was offered to go there as an alternativie to uch/royal free/whittington...?

LOVEMYMUM · 02/12/2007 12:44

Am having no,1 at Royal Free and so far, am inpressed with hospital (27 weeks pregnant). 2 friends have had their babies there and both gave good reports. Its good cos you are offered antenatal physio and ante-natal classes, 12 week, 20 week and 28 week scans (which not all hospitals do). Can't comment on labour as not got to that stage yet.

RF is my local hosp and like hub2dee says, RF is local and no congestion charge (although parking can be tricky).

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