Birthing experience in St.Thomas's hospital Post Reply

[nannyforurangels]

Hello

Iwas wondering if anyone recently gave birth in St. Thomas's hospital? I have choosen this hospital rather then one closer to me St. Georges and was wondering whether that was The right decission? I am due in January woth my first baby and therefore very nervous. Any ideas or experiences would be helpfull. Thanks

[MrsAmanda]

I had my first child at St Thomas' in Jan 09 (so two years before you).
The medical team and midwives whilst I was in labour were really good. But, the antenatal and post natal left quite a bit to be desired. I spent a lot of time in the ADU, and would often have to sit there all day, waiting to be seen. Once I was moved to the post natal ward after giving birth, the midwives were so busy that they were a bit neglectful and often to the point of rudeness. Unfortunately I was there for 5 days.

This time, (am 39wks pregnant) I'm at St George's. Partly because St T's told me they were not accepting any referrals from outside Lambeth (we live in Wandsworth) as they were too busy.

St T's got a few mentions on this discussion a little while ago: http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/thinking- ... t1050.html

[lamj1974]

I had both my babies at St Thomas' (one this year and one last year - don't ask!)

I honestly had the most amazing experiences with both kids. my first child was premature and the midwives/docs were just fantastic. My second birth was more straightforward and again they were brilliant.

I really think you have made the right decision. Maybe i was incredibly lucky - but everybody i came into contact with were amazing!

Good Luck x

[mum-from-tooting]

I gave birth at St Thomas now 18 months ago as also heard they were much better than St Georges. The midwifes pre-birth and the team around whilst they tried to induce my daughter to come into the world was fantastic. Had to have a caeserean in the end and the surgeons were also great but the post-natal was the worst experience I have ever had in a hospital. They did not care at all about queries about my daughter, I had to be asked to be released because they completely ignored the concerns I had about my baby crying all the time and once at home ended up having to go into A&E at St Georges where she was hospitalised for another 5 days for dehydration. If you have a natural birth, they are excellent, after that - just be prepared but maybe I just had a bad experience.

[moops]

Hello

I had my Son at St Georges and vowed never to have another baby there again. I have written all about it in a different thread but basically I was ignored for 6 hours when I was fully dilated and my Son was stuck and very distressed. It truly was a miracle that he surviced. The aftercare was even worse, I was in heaps of pain and couldn't get my Son out of the crib to feed him so after buzzing for ages an annoyed Midwife came and got him for me but then refused to answer my call to put him back so I slept all night with him in my arms. I had him at 5pm and was discharged at 10am I assume because they were so busy (I was told when I arrived that they had no beds so I labored in the waiting room for 1.5 hours), I could barely walk but I couldn't wait to get out of there!

Saying that though, I know lots of people who have had babies there with no problems and they have a fantastic neo natal unit if god forbid you would need that. I have heard very good things about St Thomas's and I would have liked to go there next time, I was also told that they weren't taking people from Wandsworth etc. I know it's a terrible mindset to have but I really think all post natal care in NHS Hospitals is pretty terrible and pretty much the same.

[KAT272]

Same for me- surgeons fantastic. Post natal care- 5 days of hell!!!

[nannyforurangels]

Thank you so much for all the posts!
I live in Wandsworth but moved here after I choose hospital which is St. Thomas`s ( I used to live in Clapham) so probably that is why they are ok with me to go to St.Thomas`s. I have heard that the whole maternity ward has been refurbished so hopefully fingers crossed they did the same with aftercare. Also if there are any mums to be in Earlsfield area please get in touch as I am fairly new in here and don`t know many people in the area.


Thank u x

[mumble]

I notice you've made your choice however I'll make a few points here for the next time
FWIW I think post natal care in most hospitals is pretty mediocre (maybe just London ones my friend gave birth in Bath and it sounded more like a hotel)

TBH I'm not sure there is a huge amount to choose between the two, a lot of peope will choose St Thomas' because of the 'snob value' both have excellent neonatal units, both have lots of experienced staff, however one important point is that George's refuses to train the most junior level of doctors however this will hopefully not be relevant to you. However you might stand more chance of getting into the Carmen suite (George's) than the home from home (Tommies) which might be relevant to most people.
It is also worth thinking about how close each hospital is to your home!

I recently gave birth at St Thomas' and the postnatal was a complete shambles all staff agency one night, one midwife shouting at another (in front of me) that she wasn't to speak to me because I was someone elses patient, I was left for nearly 24 hours with no food or water, no staff could access any computer system (drugs bloods etc).

[mumble]

Oh Good luck

[owolczek]

Hi,
I had my daughter in st thomas's and loved it!
I was in home from home and it was fantastic. I had a quick labour (2h - with my first child) but satayed for another 2 days. I loved that we were in the same room for the whole stay since coming to the hospital. My husband was allowed to stay. We had a private bathroom and a lovely view.
It wasn't easy to get midwifes attension but they would come eventually and some ( ) of them were briliant. I felt safe and had a really good overall experience.

[nannyforurangels]

I am getting bit scared! Thanks anyway for all the comments at least I know what to expect fingers crossed postnatal care will be ok...

[KEMS]

I had my son at St Thomas's in January 2010. I totally agree with the previous posts - the midwives were excellent (although very busy) - and care during labour / delivery was first class.

As soon as my baby had arrived and was checked / healthy etc we were abandoned for hours and hours alone without having been cleaned up and without any food or water (I was starving!).

The next two days were absolute hell on the ward - complete shambles, you are in a ward with 3 other new mums/babies screaming (although this is standard - not just St Thomas's). Can't get any sleep. No-one paid us any attention at all - I struggled to breast feed and my baby screamed for two days. I found the whole experience pretty traumatic, but that was mainly because I didn't have a straightforward birth.

The lovely thing about St Thomas's is the beautiful home from home unit, the views of Parliament at night / the river etc. It is really special. Unfortunately, if you want any pain relief or if there is any complication (for me it was that I was admitted with sky high blood pressure) you can't go into the home from home unit so you don't get to take advantage of it. I had planned a peaceful water birth and got something totally different.

I think we were also pretty unlucky with the staff shortages because my baby was born during the ice patch last winter when there was snow everywhere and sheet ice and lots of the midwives couldn't get to work because the trains weren't running.

Anyway, really good luck with the birth. Hope it all goes to plan and I'm sure you will be fine!

K x

[monaco]

I have one tip to get around the awful post-natal care at Thomas.

Agree with the majority of posts: labour care excellent, post-natal care awful.

One way to go around the post-natal care issue if you can afford it is to pre-register with the Lansdell suite. They offer private care but you can also try to register for an individual room even if you give birth under the NHS. You pay a deposit before birth and it entitles you to an individual room if there is any free on the day of your baby's birth (ie if they are not all taken by their private care patients at the time). It is particularly precious if you have had a c-section. Brilliant attention by midwives (especially got good help with breastfeeding), they take away the baby for the night and bring her/him to you if he/she wakes up for feed. The first 24h are free so if you only stay one day, they give you your deposit back.

My husband was reluctant when I said I wanted to pay the deposit but he agreed aftewards that it was really worth digging into our savings !

I had my daughter at Thomas' under NHS and emergency C-section (under general anestheatic!!) at Thomas'. Labour midwife and surgery was brilliant, nothing to complain about. Got into Landsell just after the birth.

I used ante-natal and post-natal care though as well as I had to return to Thomas' 10 days after birth with an infection. Terrible, terrible experience (I'll spare you the details) !

So I can definitely tell you that (if you can afford it) it's worth considering getting into Landsell.

http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/servi ... suite.aspx

[MrsAmanda]

Wish I'd known about pre-registering at the Lansdell. We did enquire, after the baby was born but they said it was £600 a night, which was a bit rich for our blood.

Mind you, in hindsight, it might have been money well spent as I had such a horrible time in post-natal, despite being in a single room on my own.

[Erykah]

even if you know about the Lansdell, it doesn't guarentee a place.
we tried the night i gave birth as i was still throwing up from all the drugs when they wanted to move me onto postnatal. Really wanted husband around. No luck. Lansdell full. sleepless scary night on postnatal. husband chucked out.
Postnatal experiences don't seem great in alot of hospitals but i keep hearing of people who had such bad postnatal experiences that it affected establishing breast feeding and bonding with the baby in many cases, and at the least meant an exhausting start to life with a new baby.
Am wondering how to take this forward as we all seem to be singing the same tune. it would be a great victory to ensure that subsequent pregnant women get a more positive experience. Let me know if you'd be interested in putting together ideas...