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

[seasidesally]

Really looking forward to this,anybody else ??

It's more about the super rich being made to look like spoilt dicks than the Portland I think isn't it?

I had 3 Dc (including one happened at home still birth) at my local nhs hospital. The hospital was incredibly busy, one time there was a power cut, (except emergency care generator), another time the ward loos were disgustingly unclean with used sanitary dressings overflowing from bins and unclean showrers. However, the staff were lovely and the neo natal unit is the best in the region; where babies go from less equipped hospitals. I wouldn't have gone anywhere else.

Hefzi - what have their looks got to do with anything?

Are you an absolute stunner yourself then Hefzi? What a bizarre comment to make.

I would have thought that when the idea of the TV programme was mentioned to parents that use the Portland there wasn't a huge rush of them wanting to be in it.

Why would you want to take part?

I bet some of the parents weren't that happy about TV crews even being in the hospital.

There was always a certain amount of comraderie on the NHS wards I was on with all the other mums and babies. I made great friends with the mum in the next bed.
It was bloody noisy in the night though.

I agree, the whole programme portrayed rich Portland mums in a bad light. The commentary was mostly a veiled dig at the posh brigade whilst the CEO seemed to view it as an opportunity to plug the hospital.

Maybe some of those agreeing to take part wanted to flaunt the fact that they were now in the 'Portland club' as Anna kept saying, she couldn't wait to tell friends she had a 'Portland baby'

I imagine Hui agreed to take part if they plugged her fashion range and blog (which they did at the end)

Yes, I am not sure of the motives the people that did feature had for wanting to do it.

I've worked in the Portland and have to say I would not have a baby there, even if they offered me a free birth. The fancy rooms and afternoon care aside, care provided in NHS hospitals is better if you need it and there is an unexpected emergency. They just don't have the facilities to cope in case of life threatening circumstances. Too many agency staff too.

I also don't think Pat looking after nine babies on her own seemed right. As a nanny it would not be legally possible to have nine babies in my care at one time.

And wasn't one of the babies (whose mother was interviewed) lying on its side. Contrary to every bit of SIDS advice.

Seems there's too much pandering to the parents because they're paying a fortune and not enough pandering to the baby.

Was Pat definitely on her own? Or were there more nurses who just didn't want to be filmed do you think?

I got the impression that there was another nurse flitting around in the background. I would need to watch again to be sure, and I really don't think I want to do that. I will probably watch next week's episode though.

How many episodes are there?

Surely there must have been other nurses looking after the babies. You wouldn't pay £30k and then just have Pat.
I think there's one more episode next week, just googled it and noticed a Daily Mail article claiming the new mums were feasting on foie gras and babies were put in a 4 poster cot.? Must have missed that bit!

I imagine that if all the babies were kicking off in the nursery, someone or several baby nurses would come in to help Pat out...but if all but one or two were asleep she might well be on her own in the room. Seems sensible to me.

I thought it was interesting what some of the doctors said about enjoying working somewhere like the Portland/private sector....that they actually get to do stuff they were trained to do (rather than competent registrar doing all but emergency complications) and follow a mother through the whole process, build a relationship with her and provide not just that crisis help

I had DS at the Lindo. The heating broke down in my room and it got progessively worse. But it was over Christmas. One night I couldn't take it any more but there were no spare rooms available. So I hunkered down in the nursery in the middle of the night, in the darkened room lit only by the soft glow of a couple of computer screens and Magic softly playing on the radio, and nurses talking softly, and all these gorgeous gorgeous little babies dotted around. I sat on one of the feeding armchairs and half slept. I have to say it felt extraordinarily special in there. Bliss.

It was over Christmas so no one could be found to fix the heating in my room....hence why I had to take refuge elsewhere

When I had my babies I wanted everyone to leave me alone and to leave hospital as soon as was possible after the birth. So the Portland wouldn't have appealed probably.

Parsley - can I be really nosy and ask what was in the goody bag, please?

I wasn't at the Portland... I was at the Lindo. So I'm afraid I can't tell you SDTG. I don't recall that they gave a goodie bag at the Lindo...which might explain why it was about £150 cheaper for the cheapest room (if I remember rightly)??

If I could afford it comfortably I probably would like a private room so I don't have to hear other babies crying for most of the night, and a night nurse to do the night feeds for the first few days so I could recuperate.

I stayed on a NHS ward for 5 days post birth and was so so so utterly shattered by the end of it. It was severe sleep deprivation combined with a physically exhausting birth.

I work in a NHS maternity hospital. I had all my babies at the same hospital.
There is no way our nursery nurses would be allowed to look after 9 babies at once The maximum is 4 per nurse.
Parents, if they choose, can be shown how to bath baby and make up bottles.
We have specialist breastfeeding nurses whose sole job is to assist mums with breastfeeding.
OK, the food isn't brilliant but they get 3 meals a day, tea, coffee and biscuits on tap if you can manage to walk to the kitchen!
All this for free, good old NHS I say

'The heating broke down in my room and it got progessively worse. But it was over Christmas. One night I couldn't take it any more but there were no spare rooms available. So I hunkered down in the nursery in the middle of the night, in the darkened room lit only by the soft glow of a couple of computer screens and Magic softly playing on the radio, '

I'd be fucking furious if I were charged top whack for that.