***PANORAMA TONIGHT!*** Filmed at my local PCT BARNET GENERAL HOSPITAL, and they have issued a statement.....

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Dated 26th April 2007

"Dear Mothers To Be

Re: Panorama

We are writing to inform you that Barnet General Hospital will be featured in a 1 hour Panorama Special on Maternity Services.

The Trust is being featured as a result of undercover filming that took place at the start of the year at Barnet Hospital. The programme will make a number of accusations about the care our women receive which are either untrue or taken completely out of context.

At Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust we endeavour to provide the best possible care for mothers and babies. We have recently received an external award for the systems and processes we have in place to ensure that we provide women with a safe and quality Maternity Service.

Whilst the Panorama programme may highlight some concerns in the provision of Maternity care, we have conducted a thorough investigation of the issues Panorama has raised with us. We would like to reassure you that we have found no evidence of our mothers and babies receiving a substandard care or coming to any harmm. As a Trust we strive to give all our motehrs and babies the best possible care.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to either your Midwife or the Doctor caring for you.

Yours sincerely

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Clinical Director Women's and Children's Services.

Carol Littlehales, Head of Midwifery.

Oh, and no rushing you out of your bed/room after delivery, playing 'musical' beds or wondering if you had a bed to go back to after delivery.

Gosh this was so shocking. I had ds at Barnet and there were failings. The comments by the midwives are shocking but they are under pressure and the Barnet press spokeswoman, Averil ? has just no excuse at all.

What we went through was nothing compared to some of the couples on last night's programme. I was, like many others, very moved by their situations.

For us the delivery suite was very quiet when we were there so I can't fault the care there(although the soundproofing was appalling and I could hear everything from the room nextdoor e.g woman screaming in labour)

Problems came later - very long labour and ds born in very bad way indeed for reasons I won't go into as too long a story. They didn't monitor his heartbeat for a few minutes at a crucial stage when things were going wrong in stage 3 of labour - as far as I know no one had switched the machine on again after moving me to theatre.
The delivery obstetrician seemed very jumpy afterwards about it all.

ds was taken to intensive care and dh and I were left with absolutely no one to help or tell us what was going on. No one brought a wheelchair for me and I had literally never seen ds as he was whisked away. It was 3 hours before anyone came to help so I could get down to NICU to actually meet him.

The first evening I was told I'd have to stay on the main postnatal ward - my baby was in intensive care and they were trying to make me stay on a ward full of mums cooing over their newborns. We put our feet down and said this was innapropriate and I was given a side room but I was then utterly ignored. I was ok physically but my baby was in IC so I needed some support emotionally and didn't get any.
Again minor but still rubbish.

I never really got a clear explanation of what happened to ds and why the machine was switched off that should have been monitoring him and whether it made any diffence to what happened. I should have had them investigate what happened with the monitoring but it is too long ago now (the limit is 6 months I think for PALS to investigate)

NICU and SCBU were amazing and completely faultless.
Ds made a full recovery and is fine and I am so grateful for that but I do still wonder what happened and whether if they had done their monitoring properly he wouldn't have had such a dreadful birth and spent a week in NICU.

I really feel for anyone about to give birth at Barnet - but if you are reading this I know quite a lot of people who had a perfectly good birth there so try not to worry and the management will be sh*ing themselves at Barnet right now to make sure everything is ok.

OH yes Boo - NICU and SCBU are totally amazing - huge contrast to the maternity ward.

sorry to hear about your experience Boo. I had an ok experience first time round at Barnet but it wasn't great. I wasn't confident enough to do it there a second time though so i opted for the home birth with DD.
VeniVidiVickiQV - go for the home birth! It was a completely different and fantastic experience

I recorded this as it was on while I was in hospital in inducted labour (just as well really) - haven't had a chance to watch yet - I thought the hospital in question was chosen by a lot of people in north London in preference to the Whittington (my choice) which I have seen heavily criticised.

Well, I love all the Whittington's midwives I've met forever, some very different people and approaches but they're brilliant. Their workplace is a madhouse, I've still got to watch the programme. I'd say my criticisms, and I have loads, come down to scarce resources, staffing and space - I don't know if the cleaners are privatised or inhouse, but I know from my own experience how at certain moments a maternity ward bathroom might get absolutely disgusting, I was that woman who changed a perfectly clean postnatal room to one which looked like a bloodbath!!

I know this is an old post, but I also had a horific birth at Dirty Barnet in aug 2002. I was one of those left on a ward buzzing and ignored. Prior to birth, my notes were lost, I was forgotton about time and again.
I was sent away at 15 days overdue, then again at 16 days, and only the intervention of an off duty midwife saw me being induced. And despite being in labour, my partner was sent home at 8pm, then I was left alone until 1am. I was puking, my waters broke, and noone was around.
At midnight, a nurse poked her head in and asked me if I had a boy or a girl, as mum was on the phone! I told her I was in labour, pls help me, but she went back, told mum i had baby, and I was left again.
At 1am, a very rude midwife came, had a go at me, because I was rigid with constant contractions and she couldn't examine me, had a go at the mess from my puking and waters breaking.
I had been pushing for hours. Finally an old lady came, and rushed me to delivery.
I was too tired to push, and the baby kept pinging back, turned out he had been tangled in the cord all that time. I suffered extensive damage from that birth.
And Avril Dongworth has the cheek to deny most of it, and they say no harm has ever come!
It makes my blood boil.

p.s. Shower!
I was so weak from blood loss, I couldn't stand or even sit up. They shoved me out of suite, and said shower, my other half had to hold me up in the shower, getting covered in water and blood, and there was no soap or towel for me either.
Then they sent him home (4.30am), shoved me on ward, and left me till 8am. I couldn't get my baby to feed him, I couldn't sit up.

I JUST FOUND THIS BLOG ON A SEARCH ON THE 13TH OF APRIL 2007 I WENT INTO LABOUR AND WAS TAKEN TO BARNET HOSPITAL AS I WAS BOOKED IN THERE THE ANTENATAL CARE I RECIEVED WAS DISGUSTING. ON ARRIVAL THEY FOUND MY SONS HEART RATE AT 96BPM AND 56BPM APPROX 7 OR 10 MINS LATER BOTH ARE LOW WITHIN THE TIME OF ME ARRIVING.AT 6.40AM AND 7.10 MY SON HAD DIED THEY SCaned me and said there was no signs of the placenta coming away my son was delivered at 11.35am hes heas was crushed . i was 24 at the time and had two other boys at home i became very ill after my sons delivery and was taken to intensive care and given a dud diagnois after i nearly blee to death due to the fact they left hugh clots inside my womb. when my friends and family asked what happened all we were told was he was dead before she got her. the hospitAL IS A JOKE AND NEEDS TO BE CLOSED DOWN OR SERIOUSLY SHAKEN UP.

hi

i am reading all these posts with horror. I am 1st time pregnant and have just seen my GP who said she is referring me to Barnet, but now I am not sure where to change to? Any ideas on "better" hospitals in North London? Is Barnet any better now?

i cant believe that carol littlehales had the f*ing cheek to make a statement on 26th of april on this page that no women or child is recieving sub standard care or coming to any harm she made that statement 13 days after my son died at the hands of barnet hospital and that dogworth thats the only name i can give wicked women like her!! can stick their heads in the sand all they like im gonna make sure this hospital gets put on special mesures my son is not here where he should be the other month my youngest boy just turnt 5 told me now hes not a big brother any more(during my pregnancy i had got my 2 sons really involved and my youngest was really looking forward to being a big brother like my eldest is to him)it has messed up not only myself but it completly messed up my kids my eldest son is still suffering nightmares and panic attacks over losing hes brother! i almost nearly died and bleed to death due to them leavinh hugh clots inside my womb after delivery of my son!!! he would be 2 years old next april!! and i still have no answers the hospital hasnt even responded to my letters they tried their best from letting anybody outside the hospital getting involved so much they even told me no health visitor or midwife would come out to my home and i wouldnt be given a 6 wks checkup dispite this being for my own well being regardless weather my son was alive or passed away !!! ask your selfs why because barnet knew already that they were going to be exposed 3 wks later that filming they showed was during the times i was ment to be recieving my so called antenatal care which woz disgusting