What is your maternity ward like and the care you get before and after baby?

Question

I live in midlands ireland. Our maternity ward is disgraceful. Three beds in a tiny room. Two of these beds are on same side of room and the wheelie cots are beside each other. The midwives are understaffed. They are going on strike because of this. We cater for our own county and all the surrounding ones too. The birth rate has shot up to an amazing level because of the foreign nationals moving to the country. The same midwives work the maternity ward and labour ward. If there are a few women in labour, no midwives or nurses to be there for women who have already given birth. Practically no after birth care. Never mind help with breastfeeding. I had a visit from my health visitor once and that was it. I am now on my second pregnancy and wish I had the 2000 euro, about £1700 to go private. Im dreading it. We dont get a first scan til 20 weeks or after. No hospital app before then even. How is your pregnancy care and hospital? Ireland is not the 3rd world, it shouldnt be so bad.

I forgot to mention that there is no such thing as music, birthing balls or baths in the labour room. You go down to the labour room when you are 6cm or more. You stay in the tiny room with the other women til then. And if it is night time you have to stay on your own because not even your partner allowed in after hours. And there is no staff to stay with you from 1cm til 6cm. You walk, sit or cry on your own. Unless is it daytime that it. Then the visitors can watch you in labour too.

Answer 1

well i live in Canada, and the hospitals you get your own nurse during labor and your own private room with a huge bed. the rooms are huge you get your own bathrooms with shower. um theres tons of seating and a big pull out bed for your husband to spent the night. the baby also gets its own little thing to sleep in. nurses come to your room clean you and your baby up and check on you every couple of hours. a breast feeding couch comes in and helps you. a social worker come in and helps you if your an low income parent with help with food clothes and diapers. i had a pleasant stay. you also get a menu and pick out what you want for each and every meal.. best of all its free. in Canada you and the baby stay in the hospital for 3 days and if you have a c section you stay for 5.. you don't pay a dime for any think its free. you also have a doctor and nurses no mid wifes. and theres big time security let me tell you.the baby stays in the room with you at ll times unless theres a problem. and if you want to sleep at night the nurses take the baby and cares for it until you wake up

Answer 2

Thats awful. Poor you. I don't know about healthcare in Ireland but is there a Local Health Authority you can complain to?

I live in South Wales and had my baby in an NHS midwife led birth centre. Wales is not a rich area but we at least had this priviledge.

It was beautiful. Spotlessly clean and very very homely. Not at all "hospital like"

There are no "wards" just individual rooms with en suite bathrooms and TVs, tea/coffee making facilities etc. There is a birthing pool and a big bath. Also a birthing stool, birthing balls, beanbags, cd player and low lighting, TENS machine, everything you need for a natural healthy delivery.

The midwives were lovely. When I had my son I was the only woman in there so I had two midwives and a nurse to fuss over me. another woman came in just after my son was born so we were the only two in there and had a midwife "each"! We had loads of attention and plenty of help to start breastfeeding.

It was fantastic and I would choose it over a horrible smelly overcrowded understaffed hospital any day.

And it was all on the NHS so I paid nothing for it.

Birth Centres are the way to go. Hospitals are only needed for problem or high risk births. Childbirth is not an illness.

I had a regular visit from my midwife for 28 days afterwards.
My Heath Visitor comes every week still (although my son is 10 months old) and I find it a bit too much to be honest! I wish she would call less often but she does this for all first timers.

Incidentally when considering where to have my baby I checked out the University of Wales Hospital Cardiff and it was a dump. The rooms were sparse, bare shabby and looked like they needed a good clean. It was overcrowded and understaffed. the only "ensuite" facility was a toilet and a grubby sink. So I decided against it! Birth Centre all the way thanks!

Answer 3

The care I received when I was first in labour was ok, I did have to sit around in the waiting room for quite a while. I was totally niave and panicked when I went tot he loo and found myself bleeding! The receptionist just laughed at me when I told her - no wonder! After a while I went to a birthing room with a couple of balls, a sofa etc. I was then transferred to a labour room with the bad and all the medical equipment. I was then put to another less equipped room becuase everything was going well and I wanted a natural water birth. This room was lovely with cushions and bean bags, balls and a bath but that was when the pain got really bad and I changed my mind about the natural birth pronto and was taken back to the delivery room for an epidural. I ended up not getting it as I was to far along and delivered with pethadine and gas and air.

The ward I went onto after giving birth was pretty small with 4 beds and got pretty crampped with the cribs, everyones baggage and visitors! The midwives were pressed for time - I got no help trying to establish breastfeeding. The first time he needed fed I pressed the buzzer to ask for help. The midwife whipped my boob out my pj's, squeezed my nipple to make me leak and slapped my baby onto it and went away. It was agony and I didn't know what I was doing!

I had a straight forward birth and didn't require much in the way of aftercare. As a result a student nurse was put in charge of most of my care and discharge and this was an absolute blessing! She was lovely and had the time to dedicate to me, unilk the other midwives.

It isn't their fault though - the issue of staffing really does need to be addressed.

Answer 4

I loved the birthing ward at our hospital (Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Idaho USA). The rooms were all private and HUGE. We were able to go check everything out ahead of time, all visitors had to be buzzed in so there weren't a lot of people wandering everywhere, there was a hospitality room for dads to have free drinks and snacks, we went back 3 days after leaving for a post clinic, and there's a 24 hour babyline you can call with any questions. Sorry to hear things are so bad in Ireland, maybe you'll want to take a trip to the USA around the time the baby's due ;)

Answer 5

I gave birth in Norman Regional Hospital with all three of my children and it's like staying in a hotel room! When it's apparent that you're in labor they admit you into the hospital and take you to your room and set you up with an IV for fluids and at four cm you can get an epidural (you're not allowed to eat once your admited) and you give birth in the same room you've been in all day. There's a TV in a disguised wardrobe, a table, chairs, pull out couch and 1-2 rockers. A bathroom and another sink outside the bathroom, hardwood floors, beautiful flowered walls.... The baby is set on a table right next to you and if all is well you get to socialize and bond w/ baby for an hour before they go off for their first bath and tests. If you need a Cesarean you are of course wheeled off to an operating room... but oh, I love Norman Regional Hospital... I want to work there when I'm done w/ school... =)

Answer 6

I gave birth to my son in Dundee, Scotland (Ninewells Hospital). It is much the same as you described. The labour ward was rows and rows of beds with curtains. It looked like that old television show "MASH." Everyone labouring was doing so in front of everyone else. The thing is, the midwife that took you in, stayed with you until you birthed your baby. Is it possible for you to dart across to Scotland to have your baby? Is there a La Leche League group in your area? Have you considered a home birth? Do you have midwives that can deliver you at home? Can you afford a doula? I now live in the states and have had two babies since. I would move back to Scotland in a heartbeat if I could. But, I must admit, there are more resources available to me here than I had there. I also could not afford to go private. My biggest complaint in Scotland hospital was the food. I'm not a glutton, but I eat much more at breakfast than I do at tea-time and the meals just didn't come that way. If you're interested in a pen-pal you can email me at [e-mail]. Best wishes to you.

Answer 7

Well, I live in northern england. This is the care I received when pregnant and giving birth with my first and only child:

22 weeks - first MW appt (at home)
24 weeks - scan (at hospital)
31 weeks - second MW appt (at doctor's clinic)
36 weeks - third MW appt (at doctor's clinic)
38 weeks - visit from health visitor (at home)
40 weeks - fourth MW appt (at home)

41 weeks - gave birth (at home) 2 MWs arrived at 2.50pm and left at 4.10pm.

Baby 8 days old - MW appt (at home)
Baby 2 weeks old - Health visitor (at home)

None of these appointments went beyond pefunctory checks. I never had a needle, an internal examination, or test of any sort.

Sorry to hear you think the care is so bad where you are. I think the one scan rule is fairly normal though. If you don't like the hospital, do you have any other options, another hospital, a birth centre, or a home birth? I got no help with breastfeeding which was shocking, the midwives left after birth before my baby had even fed.

I suggest you read it up on it youself - go to http://www.llli.com and get as much of your own information and support as you can before your baby is born. As for your antenatal care, most of the tests can be performed at home if you're worried. You can buy a doppler to check your baby's heartrate for example to put your mind at rest. Do you have any friends who are in the medical profession? They could help you.

Meanwhile why don't you check out http://www.babycentre.co.uk, they have birth boards with lots of women at your stage who'll support you and hopefully be able to set your mind at ease throughout your pregnancy.

Try not to worry, pregnancy is a natural and normal thing which may require some guidance to get through, if the health service doesn't provide it you can get it from elsewhere, although it's not ideal. I'm sure they'd be there for you if there was a serious problem though, so make sure you always have access to an emergency number regardless of what you think of their care.

Good luck and congratulations!

Answer 8

Here in America, in North Carolina, anyway, it's much nicer. You have someone checking on from the group of doctors you normally saw during your pregnancy. You MUST meet all of them, b/c who ever is on-call at the hospital during your delivery will be delivering, no choosing.The hospital I went to had a labor and delivery room, one person to a room and you stayed in the same place to deliver, if you weren't having surgery. My husband was with me the whole time. My family could have been there, had I wanted it, but I didn't. I had a midwife who worked at the office with my doctors and she was there the whole time. She was helpful and caring. She didn't want to do an episiotomy, but I needed it and she finally did it. You could have cut the air with knife when I asked for it though.
Breastfeeding was another issue. The Lactation consultant had no shame. She brought in another woman to observe without asking me first. We were both embarrassed.
Just an aside, I had a scan at 6 weeks, b/c I was bleeding. The baby was fine. I had regular scans after that, b/c I had just moved to NC after I was 3 months pregnant.

Answer 9

Wow, that is really sad especially when newborn care should be a very high priority of any hospital. I live in Northern Virginia, just outside of DC, and delivered my baby 14 weeks ago and had a great experience and exceptional care. My prenatal visits started in my obgyn's office around 8 weeks and I had to go once a month at first, then my appointments progressed to every two weeks, then every week until delivery. The labor and delivery rooms at the hospital are large and only one patient per room. They contained a sitting area with chairs and a couch that folded into a bed. I also had my own tv and radio, along with my own shower. I had my own nurse who checked on me often and a button to call, if I ever needed them, plus access to any pain medication that I thought I needed. After delivery, my daughter was never taken from my room, it was large enough and set up so that her APGAR scores could be performed in the room right away. After delivery, I was moved to the "recovery" room where again only one patient to a room and I had to spend a mandatory 48 hours because I was a first time mom. Nurses came in and showed me how to bathe, dress, diaper my newborn and then I had to sign off that I was comfortable performing these tasks on my own before I could be discharged. At night I could also send my daughter to a nursery where nurses tended to her so that I could get some sleep. My recovery room also had my own shower and changing area, a tv, a couch that pulled into a bed (so that my husband could stay with us) and everyone was just so nice and helpful! The "common/waiting" rooms also had wireless internet, so I was able to email photos and video to family and friends right after my daughter was born. The lactation nurse visited twice a day and gave a very "hands on" demonstration :- ) and she also left her cell phone number for me to call anytime that I needed her for anything. But I am thankful for this because it is the only way I would have been successfull at breastfeeding. There is also high security at the hospital, no one can enter unless buzzed in, and the mom, dad, and baby get a monitoring alarm bracelet that sounds if anyone tries to carry your baby off of the floor. All together my medical bills for prenatal care and labor and delivery were around $10,000, but thankfully I also have great medical insurance that covers maternity, so it only cost my husband and I around $2,500. for everything. I feel very blessed to have such a facility to be able to labor and deliver in, and I feel so much for women in your situation because pregnancy and childbirth is a very scary thing. I can't imagine having to go through it alone without my husband during the labor part!! That is a very personal and private thing for anyone to have to "share" with others. You are a much stronger woman than I. Reading that just makes me want to cry because I have no idea how any pregnant women could survive not knowing their baby was okay before 20 weeks, there is so much stuff that could go wrong. You are right, that is disgraceful to women who are birthing the future of their country, they deserve a better start than that! But my family and I wish you all the best and no matter what you have to go through, just think about holding that special little baby in your arms when it is all over!

Answer 10

I'm in England and it's not a lot better I'm afraid. I did get my scans at 12 and 20 weeks though. All the NHS hospitals are suffering from lack of staff here. They do their best though. I had two emergency c-sections and spent a total of 6 days in hospital (3 for each child, including my labour) in the entire time I spent in hospital I didn't see a care worker or my 'designated' midwife. Didn't much worry me though but they had promised they'd be there! The after-care wasn't up to much. Straight after the section, I was on the ward (9 to a room!) and my baby was crying. I couldn't move, having literally just got back from theatre. I asked a midwife to hand me my baby and she looked at me like I was a bit of dirt and said: "I'm far too busy for that," and walked away, leaving my new born baby and me in floods of tears. But that was the only bad bit. I know they do their best in incredibly trying circumstances.

My very best wishes to you and yours x