Vangough

Any recommends for other private birth units in the local area would be appreciated ! The birth Centre in Tooting is a good half hour drive for us and anywhere closer means less speed bumps ;)) (not fun when you're in labour !) thx

Thank you for everyone's comments, I knew I wasn't alone in my experience at Kings, I guess I was hoping things might just be a bit better now. Sadly it seems not. R&A I totally know how it is to be ignored - that was my biggest problem at Kings, they didn't believe I was as dilated as I was, or that I needed to push when I did. How can any midwife not recognise that a woman can actually know her own body ? That was part of what their apology was for. Therefore (if you can face it) I would suggest a stern note to Kings PALS when you get a minute free as they do take it seriously, and it's only when women complain about being treated like this that those midwives who are the problem are identified. I think the advice about going a private route is sound, and it is something I am investigating. We are seeing the Birth centre in Tooting soon if anyone knows anything about that !? thanks

I am pregnant with my second child (due April) and am hugely concerned that I will end up going through the horrific experience I had with the birth of my daughter at Kings 2 yrs ago. The problem is where I live (I am up the hill in Crystal Palace) I am already 24 weeks yet I have only just had a phone call from a midwife at the Heshima centre (I was told all local antenatal midwife care was disbanded) It was only when I wrote to PALS at Mayday that I got that phone call. Until now I have had ante-natal appts with a different midwife each time through Kings. Nobody is 'allocated' to me like if you are lucky enough to be in the catchment for Paxton Green/Oakwood/The Lanes etc. I have had no opportunity to discuss how I feel this time around, or build up any kind of trust/relationship with a midwife...let alone actually know the midwife I will get when I go into labour. I have No guarantee of getting a room, No guarantee I will not be made to crawl around the labour corridor for 6 hrs in advanced labour again. I have had an apology from Kings about what happened the first time and whilst they assure me I will not be ignored, bullied and generally made to feel unwelcome again this time, I may still have to wait hours for a room. They even admitted there is a 'postcode lottery' when it comes to Midwifery care but said they can do nothing about it. Nobody even came out to see me and my newborn once we were home last time....they were too busy. If midwives are 'too busy' to visit first time Mums and newborns, just exactly who are they seeing? It's so frustrating to hear friends talk about 'their midwife' and how they 'just walked into their labour room on arrival at hospital' and how 'safe' they felt. I feel anything but safe ! Even though I have begged the self-referral practises in my local areas nobody can fit me in ! How is this fair? Am I the only one in this Midwife 'black hole' !? It's very isolating :'( Does anyone have a magic wand?

I had my first child at Kings and have just written to PALS (on the recommendations of my midwife - I am pregnant again) as my experience in 2007 was nothing short of horrific. I read the earlier post about women not being left in a corridor...well sorry to say, I was (albeit at Kings). Staff were completely over-run and I was shunted from seats in the waiting area, to an equipment room to yes, the corridor, where even though I was hanging onto the railing in pain (I was 5 cm) I was told to 'go for a coffee on the ground floor' (we were 3 floors up) I did eventually get a room at 6cm but a very agressive midwife told me 'if you're not at least 5cm - you're out'. On the whole midwives were rude, agressive at times and totally disinterested in what I had to say. Thankfully once the door closed I got a 'human' midwife who was lovely, and she listened to me. I got great post natal care (I had complications) but no follow up care at home (I am SE19) Kings midwives refused to come and Croydon midwives didn't answer my repeated messages left on their answermachines. I finally rang an emergency number and got a midwife in the evening 6 days later only to find out I had a roaring infection and was instantly re-admitted. The midwife was v abrupt with me - I can only imagine as she realised she should have come out days earlier. I suffered a year of complications due to that infection and subsequently had to have corrective surgery. All because of a huge lack of local resource, communication & care. It makes me VERY nervous about having a 2nd baby and I have begged Delaines and Albany to let me self-refer to them as my friends who have had midwives go with them to hospital have had great experiences - nothing like the treatment I was subjected to. Does anyone know of any other self-referral midwife facilities locally? or does anyone know of a Kings affiliated private midwife? I would love to have a better experience this time ! One last note - I was in the labour ward at Kings this week (the MAU was closed) and my husband and I were stunned at how QUIET it was ! there was one woman there !! perhaps its not so busy now?