minette

I had a baby at the NBC in January. It was a difficult, induced labour and my baby (who is fine now) was very sick when she was born. I cannot fault the professionalism, calmness and friendliness of anyone - midwives, obstetricians and pediatricians - who helped me give birth in the labour ward. Right up until that point (ante-natal ward for instance) my experience was very poor. The NBC are hugely risk-averse and thus let me have practically no control over my labour, they seem to be understaffed as a norm so I was usually waiting hours and hours (6 hours each time on average) to see anyone. This meant that for a considerable part of my labour I laboured on an open ward, which is something they promised wouldn't happen. They wouldn't let me go home, and they wouldn't move me somewhere more private, I spent a loooong time strapped to monitors, which is hugely uncomfortable when in labour. By the end I had to be very assertive and demanding in order to get the support I wanted, which was unpleasant for me, but which they finally did give me. Would I go again? If I could not find anything better - maybe a hospital which is less busy? I was initially attracted to the excellence of the pre-natal care I received from the community midwives and other specialists that I saw in my (completely normal and drama-free) pregnancy. It is also close to where I live and I did not consider going elsewhere, but with that experience under my belt, I definitely would not go back in a heartbeat. I spoke to my health visitor about it, and she suggested my experience was not atypical. You should go an visit, see how you like it. If you have a straightforward and spontaneous labour your experience is likely to be better, I imagine.