Kings College Hospital maternity services

[StephSE19]

Hi,

I'm due to give birth in August at Kings. I would like to use (or at least start in) one of their midwife lead birthing suites. As they only have two I'm a bit concerned that my chances of getting into one are quite low. When I asked one of the midwives all she would say is that they aren't as well used as they'd like so I'll probably be able to use one if I want.

This has left me with more questions than it answered. Why are they not well used? I looked on forums like this one and saw some posts suggesting the midwife lead birthing suites aren't well used because staffing shortages mean they are often locked/unavailable. However, these posts were from quite a few years ago.

Has anyone given birth at kings in the past year using the midwife lead birthing suites? Or were intending to but were not able to get into one (not due to medical reasons)? I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Many thanks in advance!

[Rinsed]

They are excellent. You will get a dedicated MW for the duration and the rooms are very large and relaxing. They have large warm pools if that is your thing. If there are any complications the mat ward is literally down the corridor and they will move you. These are much less personal but it really is whatever you fancy doing. We were told the MWLBS are almost always empty and had no problems getting in (twice).

[Dom Johnston]

Hi Steph,

We were due to, however, we moved and ended up going to Lewisham and having our baby in their birth centre. They have 6 rooms so we felt more confident about having one.

If you can give birth in one of the birth centre rooms (at kings or Lewisham) then I really recommend it. They're much comfier and cosier.

Because they are midwife led, there isn't all of the medical equipment making it much cosier for you and you will have a dedicated midwife with you all the way through.

We were told that the midwives prefer it as the doctors on labour ward try to get things done their way, which can include interventions before they are necessary.

You have better mood lighting, birthing pools, en suite bathrooms, maternity balls, a double bed to lie on afterwards, you can play your own music and you get to stay there for a few hours after birth with baby too rather than being shipped onto a shared ward with 3 - 5 other new babies who could all be crying making rest much more difficult.

If there are any complications, they can get help from a dr very quickly and efficiently..

You just need to call the birth centre when your waters break and let them know you're going in and you'd like to use the birth centre. Worst case scenario is they say there aren't enough midwives available and you have to go to the labour ward for the duration of the labour or just until a midwife is available.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions about it, feel free to drop me a DM.

Dom

[racingsunbeams]

Hi Steph

I haven?t used the services but I am also due in August, and interested in giving birth in one of the midwife led rooms. I asked my midwife about availability and she told me she has been working at Kings for several years and has only heard of one mother not being able to go straight into midwife-led and she just had to wait a bit until a room was available. She said this is because of the strict criteria to be eligible for midwife-led. I?m not sure if the criteria are written down somewhere...I?m planning to ask my midwife at my next appointment.

[swquiz]

I asked my King's midwife about this, and she explained that a lot of women aren't eligible to use them (you have to be considered low risk), and of the people that are eligible a large number just aren't interested in using them for whatever reason (e.g. I believe you can't use them if you want an epidural, and many women would rather have the epidural). Of the remaining women that are eligible and want the rooms, a certain proportion will have last-minute complications that mean they either change their minds on the day or end up with a planned/emergency c-section instead. Therefore, if you want a birthing suite and are eligible for one and nothing unexpected happens in your pregnancy there will most likely be a suite available for you.

[sillywoman]

Just to be clear: If you are using the midwife led rooms (which research suggests will improve your chances of having a straightforward vaginal birth without interventionshttps://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/birthplace/results)and you decide you need an epidural, then you be will transferred to another room a short walk away on the same floor in the consultant led unit and you can have your epidural there. Using the midwife led rooms does not exclude you from choosing an epidural at any point.

[swquiz]

Thanks for the clarification, sillywoman. In that scenario would you then stay in the consultant-led unit and continue to labour there, or would you be able to be moved back to the midwife-led unit?

[sillywoman]

Once an epidural is sited it stays in until the baby is born. Consequently you would have to stay in the consultant led unit from that point (siting of epidural) onwards.

[bladonad]

Hi-

I gave birth in one of the mid wife led birthing suites in January at Kings- I always thought I'd end up having an epidural (and made a note to remind the midwife that I may change my mind to this effect) but in the end the birthing pool was sooo much better than what I expected. I found the time I spent in the water with gas and air easier than the hours I spent outside the pool when I was only a few cm's dilated. I also found the midwife that took care of me in the room amazing- although I barely spoke to her until after my son was born my partner could also attest to how good she was.

In my NCT class the instructor mentioned that as you have to meet certain criteria/ not want an epidural the rooms are generally available if you want one- despite there only being 2 rooms. Hearing from others in my NCT it also sounded like anyone who could use the room was able to, some spent part of their labour in there and then were moved when they needed more medical intervention and others finished in the room.

If you have any questions at all message me and happy to answer!

[ewickstead]

Hi there,

My wife was very unlucky - she gave birth in March 2019 and when we arrived at 5.30pm both of the rooms at Kings midwife-led centre were full so we had to go on the labour ward. It was disappointing as my wife wanted to have a water-birth however we were able to make the room comfortable by dimming the lights, putting on electric candles and playing calming music. In the end, it didn't really make much difference. It's just a warning though as they told us the same - that the midwife led suites are never full.

[sillywoman]

At Kings, the two midwife-led suites are currently only being used for women who have, or are suspected of having Covid19.