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Dulwich Mum, Apologies for the slow response... in the blur of the weeks following childbirth, I actually had no recollection of making that posting. Have since discovered that my experience at Kings was, in relative terms, much less traumatic than that of others in the nct gang. You're right in that you can't avoid personality clashes with your midwife - our solution was simply to ignore her and have a crack at birthing baby unassisted, which worked out fine, but probably not recommended for a first time mum. We had no joy in securing an Albany or Brierley midwife this time round, but would definitely again if I am ever foolish enough to have a second. In King's defence: 1. I had a completely textbook waterbirth (am such an earth mother) and probably didn't require much fussing during or after labour 2. My first midwife, who was with us for most of the labour was wonderful and stayed with me an hour and a half after her shift was due to end (probably something to do with me begging her repeatedly not to leave me with her cold-as-ice, officious replacement). PS I did have a great health visitor, who listened patiently to me rant about how boring I initially found motherhood.

apologies, rather new to actually posting msg. Thanks for the tip.

I have had it for couple of years now and have learnt to relax a little, but when it first arrived I was constantly twitching the curtains when I heard any noises outside. One night I was about to turn the bedroom light out when I heard a suspicious noise, pulled the curtain back and saw one guy standing in the road with camera phone ready and his lanky mate on the curb warming up to leap over. I was stood there in shock as I watched him launch his drunken body on to the canopy displaying his urban surfing skills and then about a metre or two into the middle of the road (unfortunately we don?t live on Barry road, as they would probably both have been mown down), all this was caught on his mate?s camera phone. Once I got over the shock I banged on the window as the red mist descended and desperately searched for clothes, what I found did not look good but sufficient to avoid indecent exposure charge. By the time I got downstairs (the dog must have sensed my fury and was also up for a ruck) it must have been a few minutes and the drunken fools had scarpered. My first bad experience of Lotus ownership, but I can look back on it and laugh now. I won?t go on and bore you with details of other incidents, like how the car levitated 3ft in the air after I disrespected the automatic security bollards at my office car park??? Not sure of body shops locally, but I use Sinclaires in Romford for servicing and plan to use them for the above repairs. Another good source of info is the SELOC website. I have a Silver S1 111s, my g/f is insisting I mention it is also for sale if there is any interest.....(fyi ? no damage from above altercations)

Nutty - I share your pain. My Lotus also suffered the same fate last week, when someone drove down the side (on a quite ED Street). I presume it was a lorry after spending much time examining the damage, CSI style. It is a shame that people aren?t honest enough to leave their details (poor upbringing) and I have now just come to terms with having to cover the excess. Our new addition to the family arrived 7 weeks ago, so the Lotus is now rarely used (although its amazing the excuses you can conjure up for a spin out to the sticks) and always loses the fight with the little one for attention. Although I realise its days are numbered, I am holding out for a few more spring drives before patching her up and parting company??............sorry just getting more tissues

I had our daughter at Kings a couple of weeks ago, and found the experience a bit hit and miss. For the majority of my labour I had a fantastic midwife, but at shift change were landed with someone I just didn't warm to. Equally on the post-natal labour ward (where I only stayed for 12 hours), I thought it was a bit disorganised -some of the people I came into contact with were great, and others on another planet. If going to Kings, my advice would be to keep a sense of humour and stand up for yourself if you feel you're being ignored.

I've gone to a class at JAGS throughout my pregnancy - Saturdays at 13:30. It's a really nice soft style which you will probably enjoy more the more "pregnant" you become. It costs ?8.50 if you're not a member of the JAGS gym. I also did the classes at Kings, which are run by Sitaram as well - there's a 18:00 and 19:30 class if you're working. I also tried the classes run by Mangal Jot, but coming from an exercise science background, there were a couple of 'exercises' I wasn't convinced were completely safe from a biomechanics perspective, although there were some really nice elements to the class. Preg yoga seems to come in many variations, so I would recommend trying out various teachers until you find one that works for you.