Thinking of having the birth in a private hospital

[EmmaG]

Sherwick - here's an example of the midwife practice at Forest Hill Road surgery. Hope it clarifies

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/may/18/health.medicineandhealth1

[antijen]

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article3887554.ece

Hi Sherwick, I think to get on the books with the community midwives its best to do it early, I remember from an earlier thread some mothers saying they were fully booked, though I've got to say my daughter was at uni and asked me to check for community midwives. I went round and they booked her in no probs, she was 12wks. Midwives have been campaigning for independance and supported by mothers particularly those who do not want a hospital birth.

[antijen]

http://www.homebirth.org.uk/law.htm

Sorry dont know how to copy and paste more than one link.

[Sherwick]

Thanks again everyone. We're with The Gardens surgery (again via recommendations by this forum) and were wondering if we join the community midwives through the surgery or do we contact them directly?

We had our first booking meeting today at King's, which went well, and Anna (the midwife who saw us) told us to book an appointment with Stella in The Gardens. Is Stella part of these 'community midwives'??

Will Stella get us on get on the books with the community midwives or is this something we do separately.

Apologies for stupid questions..

:(

[antijen]

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,88272,91902,quote=1

vickster wrote, 3 posts down on this link, she was refered to community midwives via your surgery Sherwick, I dont know how it works, I actually phoned a private midwife to ask about community m/wifes for my daughter and she told me about community ones. I got the address of nearest and went round, no problems. The biggest thing for my daughter has been the fact she has not had to attend hospital which she hopes to absolutely avoid.

[Jo]

Don't think there are any stupid questions first time round Sherwick.

I'm with the Lanes through my surgery just as a matter of course, but I think to be referred to the Brierly midwives you would need to express an interest in home birth (anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). That was my understanding when a neighbour was referred to them. It might be worth calling the surgeries where the midwives are based and asking what the procedure is.

The biggest benefit so far to me of having the midwife led care is that the whole pregnancy has seemed perfectly normal and not a 'medical' thing that needs me to be trotting off to the surgery or hospital for appointments (they do antenatal care at home) - that and my midwife is just lovely, and it's a huge comfort to know that she'll be there for the whole thing. When it comes to the actual birth I can choose what happens while I'm in labour - if all's well and I'm happy I'll stay at home, but if not I'll transfer to Kings, and the midwives will come with me.

Bear in mind the main purpose of the community midwives - to have antenatal care in the community, not in hospital, and to actively support homebirths. If your wife originally wanted a private hospital because she'll feel happier in those kind of surroundings then you might want to consider other options. If you have the spare cash and want continuity of care then an independent midwife might be the best compromise - I think it's Verona Hall who is based in ED, and I'm sure she'll be happy to chat to both of you.

[BellendenBear]

Yes, Stella is one of the community midwives, part of the Southwark East team. You will see her for all your routine antenatal checks which will take place at the GP surgery. She or someone else from that team will also visit you at home 4 or more times postnatally. If you want a homebirth, Stella will try to be there, if not one of the other East team will do it. You will meet them all at a homebirth meeting near the due date. They are all lovely.

Unlike the Brierly team, the East team don't come with you to Kings if you end up needing to go there. If you want the Brierly you do need to contact them early as they are very popular. I was very happy with the care and support I got from the East team.

The only reason I can see to go to a private hospital is a nice room, nicer food etc. If you want the reassurance of having the best expertise if anything gets difficult, then the NHS wins everytime.

[sillywoman]

BB, does Stella do births? I understood she only does antenatal & postnatal care?

Sherwick, if you want one of the good teams you'll have to do the footwork your self. The best ones are The Lanes midwives, based at Dulwich Medical Centre on Crystal Palace Rd, Oakwood midwives based at a GP surgery in Forest Hill Rd, and The Albany based at Peckham Pulse.

I'm afraid to say that the recent feedback I've had about the level of antenatal care Stella can give hasn't been good, a lot of appointments with GP (good, but not experts) as unable to get an appointment with Stella due to extremely limited time slots (only Tuesday afternoons), conflicting advice to that given by GP at previous appointment, when people do get to see her she's often running late, and I've heard of a couple of women who had specific questions, one quite close to her due date, that Stella refused to answer as she didn't have time due to running late. When one woman asked who could answer her questions Stella just shrugged! On the basis of what I've heard recently I would suggest investigate another maternity care provider asap. Sorry.

[Sherwick]

Well we don't want a home birth but having the antenatal checks at home and a regular contact with someone we get to know (and who gets to know us) is appealing....

[Jo]

Found Verona's website for you : http://www.veronahall.co.uk/

[Sherwick]

Thanks! :)

[canadianlisa]

I am also with the Lanes and due to give birth in October. They do home births and will now also come to the hospital with you. I believe this may have changed.

So far my experience with the midwives has been somewhat limited but overall good. I have consistently seen the same midwife. She often changes the time of the appointments as she has been at hospital with another woman during the night time but she is able to give me the same timeslot on another day to fit in with work.

They are very oversubscribed so I am not sure of their availability now.