5 * Babies Inside The Portland Hospital BBC 2 9pm (wed)

[seasidesally]

Really looking forward to this,anybody else ??

I must still be bitter about not getting an epidural DameD on the NHS.
Everytime the midwife popped her head in the room I asked for one only to be told to see how I felt in half an hour.
When I asked for the final time, she said 'It's too late now, the head's out'.

ILost- I had a shit time on the NHS, bloody appalling,I had a section but I can't imagine having to wait for an epidural !

I think what struck me the most was how kind everyone was, that was completely missing during my experience, a few kind words would've would've gone a LONG way, and considering I was in hospital for a month before giving birth that's pretty shocking.

DameX- to me it looks fantastic, I'd go there in a heart beat if funds allowed.

Clearly it looks fantastic, there's no denying that, I just think it's not showing itself in the best light with this programme.

The programme last year was much better IMO.

I remember one from a few years ago, it was a bit more like a glossy PR video than this series. I remember thinking one of the midwives was really lovely.

I agree, I felt quite abandoned during my labour as the poor midwife was running around after several patients at once and when she did reappear, she kept getting my name wrong.

I think it looks great too. I would have liked to see more of the women and less of the kitchens and the food. There must have been ten close up shots of mini cakes in one episode.

Just caught up. Re the American embassy couple and all expenses paid for two months in Kensington-then the Portland - no Obama care needed for them. 😕

The private health insurance is a standard part of the US Government package for staff working overseas. The packages they put in place for families relocating are extremely generous...they have to be or no one would opt to move their entire life to a new location every 2-3 years.

Yes, I get the private health insurance aspect of it, we have that as well although not as extensive as the American version, and some jobs come with tons of benefits (even though a family house in Kensington is a bit ott)
I watched that Obama White House documentary last week and the complete battle he had to get it through the Republican house and the comparison just struck me.

It sounded as if it's really frustrating to be a midwife working there - because the deliveries are done by consultants, their function seems to be more that of glorified housemaids.

August, you can choose your 'package' - either a midwife led birth or a consultant led birth.

I had both my kids at the Portland. I wish every labouring mum could have such exceptional care.

For me the best bit was my lovely consultant walking into the room and staying with me the whole time. As he'd done all my check ups during pregnancy I knew him and trusted him. He delivered both my children and I will always be grateful to him.

I do not recommend the Portland Hospital. They discharged me twice to my husband when I had been severely injured by a physician’s mistake during my labour and I was left in a wheelchair in severe pain and very badly injured but they told us and in writing that I was making a steady recovery. I had actually lost the use of my hip joint and my husband has been reading more recently to find out that actually I was dying from a septic condition that was setting in after the physician’s mistake.

They have never provided any support but left me in a wheelchair dying, I am left requiring major repetitive surgery for life, the impacts of the situation have cost us our home and worse, and the Portland Hospital management will not even accept that the incident happened. It’s not even in the copy hospital notes I have so no independent inspector would ever know.

As long as everything goes perfectly then you will be fine but the reality is that often things do not go perfectly. The Portland Hospital is not equipped to deal. And if something goes wrong they do not want anyone to know about it so they won’t call A&E. If it wasn’t for my husband figuring out that something was badly wrong then I would probably be dead. I have recurrent major surgery for life which the management do nothing about nor any of the other terrible problems that have happened thereafter.

I have all the details now so if anyone thinks this is a fake post then you can be sure that it is not. This is a genuine situation and I have my second major recurrent surgery in only a few years time now while they are there enjoying a plentiful income and nice holidays.