Can someone reassure me about St Thomas's!

[Annie456]

Morning all,

I'm due to give birth at St Thomas's in just over a week (tho could be more / less!) but my antenatal care so far has been pretty ropey - have to go to the hospital for all my midwife appointments (one of which was cancelled without telling me) midwife refers me to the "day assessment unit" every time I call to ask him a question (which, yesterday meant a waiting to see a doctor at 3pm and eventually being seen at 9.45pm, because I mentioned a high bump pain at my routine appointment - even though he'd already ruled out pre-eclampsia etc) it all appears to be quite chaotic and disorganised to me and I think I expected more because I specifically chose to go there having heard such good things.

I'm now at the point where I'm dreading going in to give birth because I feel like I'm going to have to put up a fight to get decent care and attention (which is DH's job...) I just wondered if anyone else has had a similar ante-natal experience but good birthing experience that will make me feel a little less terrified!

I know most people on here will be at kings which is what I will do if there's another one!

[Otta]

Sorry to hear all that. My wife had our first daughter at Tommy's a couple of years ago. Agree that the midwife appointments are a pain, but we thought the ante-natal classes were good.

Anyway, for the actual birth, the staff were great and kind. It's very different from the whole lead up.

Best of luck.

[radhabee]

Hi,

I gave birth to my daughter in sept 2009 at St T's and will be seeing them again in 3 months for baby number two. I had a really great experience with them. A midwife was present throughout, they listened to me, kept me informed, were reassuring etc. When I asked for an epidural (after approx 48 hrs of v regular contractions) an anaesthetist came immediately - unlike a lot of horror stories I've heard at different hospitals where women are kept waiting for an hour or longer). I had two midwives (one junior) present for delivery and consultants came round to check on things like suturing etc. When my placenta didn't come out, they sent the head midwife in to give it a bit of a jiggle (! sorry if that's TMI). Then they were really nice and let us stay in a room in the home from home birth centre as there was space(technically I didn't qualify as I had an intervention - epidural) so my husband could stay the night with us.

To your midwife care point, I think it generally seems patchy to all first time mothers - I also went to St T's for antenatal care but that was because my local unit failed to get in touch! - and it's a pretty 'hands off' approach throughout the NHS which some people find disconcerting. I also had a great midwife there (older lady called Maureen). It does sound bad that you are not getting answers and that you were made to wait so long to see someone, it also sounds a bit unusual. They keep getting awards for excellence in care; I've only heard people rave about the care they received. I think it might be time to kick up a fuss and explain you feel ignored and unattended to and your confidence in the hospital is at a low. I am sure they will respond positively. On the King's side, I had postnatal care from their team and (at least in 2009) they were useless! They failed to diagnose my amber-traffic-light coloured baby had jaundice, were no help with breastfeeding etc...

Hope this helps. And good luck with the birth, hope it's quick!

R

[sillywoman]

radhabee I read your post with great interest. I wonder if you could tell me which awards Tommies have for "excellence in care" as I was unaware of these? Great that you have such a positive experience of them to report.

[Norfolkvillas]

I had my son at St Thomas's in Nov 2009 (although my midwives came from my GP practice rather than the hospital). All of the actual hospital team - consultants, anaesthetists, junior doctors - were totally amazing. I had a long and complicated induced labour with pretty much every intervention possible bar a c section, and I felt that I was in safe hands throughout.

Good luck!

[Annie456]

Thanks for all the Positive feedback, this is exactly what I needed to hear...I guess the actual labour business seems to be pretty well taken care of and I will try to see them as completely separate (although next time I will certainly consider independent midwives for my AN care...). I dont think there's much point kicking off about the 3 long wait times I've had, and they dont keep records of what time people arrive and when they are seen. I burst into tears when I finally left at 10.30, exhausted and hungry, and the doctor ran after me and took me to a fridge and loaded me up with sandwiches for my taxi home-they knew I'd been waiting so long but it wasn't until I "wasn't ok" that they really paid any attention! I guess I'll have to speak up sooner next time.

Thanks again for the reassurance!

[radhabee]

Hi sillywoman,

It's a bit of a blur (2nd pregnancy and you only glance at a midwife about twice in the antenatal period) but last time I looked there was a certificate in the fetal medicine unit for excellence in care.

R

[lstickler]

I had my baby at St Thomas's and I thought the care I received was great. Although I had my baby on Easter Sunday and hence there was only 1 locum anaesthetist so it did take him a very long time (4hours) to come and give me an epidural once I had requested one, so I think that aspect is kind of down to luck and u might find that anywhere. I had a pretty complicated birth but I felt well looked after throughout. I moved to ED half way through my pregnancy and couldn't decide whether to move to kings or not. But I'm glad I didn't. Mainly because I had to stay in hospital for a week afterwards and St thomas's has an m&s food downstairs. There is absolutely no way I could hav survived on NHS food for a week!

Whenever I went to the day assessment unit I was seen almost immediately, so maybe the bad care u have received is just unfortunate.

I do hope u feel better about going back there. Good luck!

[chantelle]

I had my son at St Thomas in July 2008 and have opted for it again for number 2, mainly out of fear of the unknown! My initial care there upon presentation for labour was pretty rubbish, with the night midwives basically ignoring us for five hours until realising my contractions were actually putting my son in distress. The care then became like night and day- with an amazing response from all of the consultants, anesthetist, etc., and much better midwives somehow got rotated into my care (literally a shift change I imagine). The birth wasn't pretty and came via forceps and episiotomy but at least it was handled with expertise!

For that pregnancy I lived in Lambeth and had fantastic one on one midwife care, in my home for every appointment. This time I've been assigned to some horrible unit in the Aylesbury Estate where they couldn't be bothered to take a pee sample. I'm just hoping my pregnancy is fairly uneventful and I'm relying on the reassuring consultant I saw around 16 weeks in case of any issues that come up.

good luck with your birth.

[louloulabelle]

Hi

I wasn't overly impressed with any care, pre or post birth BUT I had both my babies there, one in 2009 and the 2nd oct last year and best thing about it was the brilliant views I had from my labour rooms!!!!

[Sol]

I had both babies in St Thomas and had good experiences, my own room in the home from home birth Center for the first baby during labour and after, my husband stayed with me the night. The second time I used the pool, they were very busy at that time, as it was Christmas day, but a midwife who was on call came and she was great, had to wait a bit, but got my own room and pool for labour and birth, had to share room after birth for a few hours, while I was sent home.

[mummynegin]

I had both of my babies at St. Thomas (in January 2009 and September 2010) and would highly recommend it. You get top class care at St. Thomas', especially if you have any complications (which I really hope you don't). I had reasonably long stays in St. Thomas' (on the ante-natal ward) for both my babies. I stayed 3 weeks for the first one and 2 weeks for the second one, so I know most of the midwives and consultants. They do a really wonderful job.

I can understand that it is frustrating to have to wait hours to be seen. I too spent many hours on 3 or 4 different occasions waiting to be seen in the Day Assessment Unit for my first baby. One thing to bear in mind though is that St. Thomas' provides 24 hour ante-natal care if you need it. That is not the case with all hospitals, where you may have to wait until the next day to be seen if you have a problem/worry during your pregnancy.

As for the birth experience, both of mine were c-sections and both were a positive experience in spite of that. The post natal care for first time mums is ok. The ratio of midwives to women on the post natal ward is pretty low, but they prioritise the first time mums. My experience as a second time mum was that I was pretty much ignored, whereas the first time mum in the bed opposite me had someone come to help her/check on her every one to two hours for the 2 days we were both there. She also had had a c-section just after me.

Also the views are amazing, especially from the garden room in labour ward. I watched the new year's eve fireworks from there when I was staying at St. Thomas' before my first baby was born and I think it's the best view I'll ever get of the London new year's eve fireworks. Even without fireworks, the view is great, especially at night...

I hope you have a great birth experience and if they're really busy and you need to be a bit pushy to get enough attention, don't worry about it and just keep pressing that call button!

[2Loulou]

I gave birth to my two daughters there, second time I found the quality of antenatal care went downhill, they have way too many women going there plus those who drop in when in labour, I thought it was mad but it is true... as apparently they cannot refuse them.

However, the staff during labor was professional, I even thought I have too many people coming to check on me and told them so! before the birth, I called a midwife called Joe on the helpline, she was ever so helpful and even accepted to see me before I went to work one day.

I really think it is a good hospital to give birth, they tend not to give you a lot of attention when you are just pregnant, but you do get a good quality care when you are in labour or have anything serious

good luck!

[Annie456]

Thanks again for more reassuring messages! Its great to know that the care is so different when in labour...I just really hope I can go all the way through without having to sit in that day assessment unit waiting room again...and definitely hoping to have to go in during the night when I won't have to fight for a place in one of those lifts!

Hopefully just a few days to go for me and I will make sure I post back at some point in the next few weeks to let you know how I found it all.

Annie x

(by the way, I agree that the lady on the helpline is absolutely lovely - i've spoken to her a few times and she always answers my questions without making me feel like a nuisance)

[MaeveW]

I had my very premature twins at St Thomas and had amazing support. Having heard other people's stories of neo natal intensive care units in other hospitals, and support from staff and midwives, I think I got the best treatment I could have hoped for.

Of course, I don't know what a 'normal' birth would be like there - but have to say I was very impressed by all the care me and my babies were given.