buggie

while not a midwife, as a nurse in an ED dept I often have to deal with issues of demand higher than capacity allows. While obviously it's in no means ideal to be waiting for a room to labour in, remember that the rooms are full because of other ladies (quite probably in a more advanced stage than yourselves) rather than the midwife's keeping them empty for the sake of it. It could well be that they are feeling even more stressed than you because their trying to work out how best to resolve the situation. (imagine how stressed you are in the situation and then magnify it x the number of women in labour there at the time). In my dept, it is always our aim to keep patients as well informed as we can and to tell them what our plans are - obviously on a labour ward this is more difficult as labour timings can't be predicted. Independent midwifes/group midwifes are free of this stress as they don't have the management issues the unit midwifes have. Prob just being bit hypersensitive, but as a health professional, the lack of thought of how difficult our job is at times concerns me, however, to re-iterate, please write about any negative experiences to the PAL's team as am sure these often highlight problems and are listened to more than staff expressing the same concerns.

Timster Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > well more to the point, what did the study mean by > 'smack'? > > of course, it's been quite a while since it was > legal for schools to cane or slipper pupils.. SteveT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Early sixties I believe. Fairly sure it was later than this - was born in the late 70's and sure I remember seeing about this finally being completely banned on John Craven's Newsround so that would be early/mid 80's.

As someone who often gets to see family dynamics (albeit at a time of stress) I can see no benefit in the smacking of children - without trying other means first. It seems to be used only when the parents don't have the confidence or skills to try and calm situations without resorting to physical assault (as it would be called in a boss/employee dr/patient teacher/pupil relationship). I caught something on daytime telly today about this report (the joys of shift work!) and one of the panelists was saying how she and her siblings had been smacked when they were kids and they'd all gone on to uni so it obviously the report was completely right and it does no harm. She then went on to say that she had seen children upset more and for longer by sitting on a naughty chair/step than if smacked so surely smacking was better... my jaw dropped as much as the other panelists. I'm ashamed to say I text the programme suggesting this would indicate that the smacked children were being numbed to the violence of it and if smacking children how could you then tell them off for smacking/slapping their peers - the comment was read out and blimey did she squirm and didn't have an answer back to it.

Hmm, short on time so just tried to find research on one of Justin's specialties - found some research on hair analysis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11150111 (sorry, need to cut and paste as can't hyperlink on apple :'() Maybe before attacking big pharma's bad science you should check what you're peddling yourself Mr Smith. Surely practicing complimentary therapies makes you a complimentary practitioner rather than health practitioner which would suggest a more medical/nursing/physiological training.

SteveT and VinceAyre seem to both be trying to twist this thread to fit their own moan about how the country's going to the dogs and it was so much better in the old days - well shame to you both. The nationality of the guy involved is the least important factor in this case as it is an international issue as organisations such as Amnesty and Reprieve work hard to recognise - human rights are equal to all humans not just those of our own race/culture. China took the easy way out and picked on the weakest link in the chain He was a vulnerable adult who was sucked into and taken advantage of by international drug smugglers who deliberately watch out for people like this to use as cannon fodder - Indulge them in their dreams or offer what to them is unobtainable while keeping the person in the dark as much as possible. With increased publicity on cases they're having to go younger/more vulnerable who won't be so canny (the schoolgirls who ended up in Ghana after being lured by men who befriended them springs to mind as well) while they stay safe raking in the money and limiting how much danger they're in themselves and I am sure within China there were (very possibly Chinese nationals) waiting for Akmal to arrive to "help him with his bags" who likely blended back into the crowd to return to meet the next mule arriving. It's the guys either side who should be caught and made an example of (not supportive of death penalty personally) but they are more difficult to catch. The prosecutors must have noticed that Akmal had mental health issues, and I hope it remains on their conscience. Unfortunately as long as there is a market for drugs, whether its a homeless smack addict, or a middle class dinner party wanting something to "kick off" the evening with, or even someone just wanting a joint to wind down the day with, then drugs will continue to be smuggled and the dealers will be looking for people to smuggle/have them planted on them.

hmmm, good idea but still no luck :'(

Slightly random question I know, but really need to make a recording of a snippit of a BBC London show from the 24th Dec - can listen to it on bbc iplayer but only for another 4 days, and really would like to keep it for a bit longer. Had high hopes on the desktop thingie but it is picky about what you can download and local radio isn't included. Anyone have any ideas? Hope Xmas as been good for all!

Too little gritting and not in time for today across all of East Dulwich it seems. Unable to get out of East Dulwich (at 1700) as roads like ice rinks. Told by the 40 bus driver parked up in Etherow Road that they've been he told to stop in Camberwell until the gritters have been out - he'd been on Lordship Lane when they'd radio'd and said how even with the handbrake on the bus had been slipping down the hill. The roads are visibly solid ice - know the rain turned quickly to snow but surely the council had been watching weather reports and aware this was likely.

interesting discussion over the nail varnish Amanda was wearing - surprised she wasn't ordered to remove it as it's a HUGE no no!!

Might be worth contacting London Ambulance Service as well on 020 7921 5100 incase you left it in the ambulance. Am pm'ing you regarding ED. Congrats on your new arrival.

there were clips of this on Buzzcocks last week - she was in the line up, was couple of years ago it was filmed though - remember it being mentioned on the forum at the time!

Gosport* Rainham (kent)* Kedington (Suffolk) Bromley-by-Bow Camberwell East Dulwich Nunhead East Dulwich Sydenham Walthamstow (while waiting to move back to...) East Dulwich *possibly another place inbetween, but was only 3 by the time I got to Kedington so can't remember!

dmr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just to clarify that The Albany worked with an > "all risk" caseload. And what is the definition of "all risk" - that could mean many different things. The Albany team dealt with a local caseload, meanwhile, Kings deals with tertiary referrals (from across the whole of the south-east and sometimes further afield) to handle the births of babies identified ante-natally with problems such as Gastroschisis and Diaphragmatic hernia's both of which are incredibly risky and so lead to the higher than expected mortality rate (don't forget that perinatal mortality is from 22/40 to the baby being 1 wk old) and would not be in the sole care of a midwifery team for delivery. I am not trying to take sides or discredit - but you need to make your argument as fair and equal as you wish it to be from Kings as well. It is interesting to see how many of the posters on here seem to have registered especially to talk about this... either lots of lurkers have had a nerve touched, or there's some signposts pointing to here.

power_parent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Carrot Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > One low risk baby who ends up in the intensive > > care unit with serious medical consequences > which > > were preventable is one to many, multiple is > > criminal. Far too little too late. > > > That's right, Carrot. I agree, they should shut > down King's! > A perinatal mortality rate of 7.9 per 1000 at > King?s, compared to 4.9 per 1000 at the Albany? > King's is ridding itself of the superior > competition and the direct comparison, because > they are not meeting their improvement targets. errmmm Powerparent you're skewing the figures as much as you feel Kings are.... the Kings mortality rate will include all of the high risk pregnancies (many ref to them from other areas) that they take responsibility for (eg babies who have already needed surgery pre-natally) . Am sure the Albany workload consisted of lower risk deliveries and so should maybe look at comparing to the other midwifery teams who offer similar service. A like for like comparison is surely what is required to give a true picture of what has been occuring/to defend.

Just to check ClareC - does the labour tour involve touching the newborn babies/ladies wounds?? If not then using the spray would have been of little benefit but was there (as am sure you saw) to use (and am guessing with the concerns you expressed you did). Can imagine how much asking 20 people to use the alcohol spray would have disjointed the tour and think this point alone is very unfair to judge a tour on (but understand you had other concerns). When visiting as family/friends of a patient, then obviously it would be expected to use the spray as it's expected you will have direct contact with them (and there are big posters advertising this on the entrance to all wards @ Kings - you may have seen these - and the midwife might have expected everyone to see them as well and act upon it appropriately). Hope you have a positive experience where ever you decide to give birth, but for each positive or negative comment on here there are probably 10 more mum's who've had ok experiences but don't feel strongly positive or negative enough to post... similar to looking on trip advisor at a hotel - views are often polarized as people feel a drive to write due to either wanting people to have exactly the same experience or to avoid pitfalls.

Had a fab time last night, great to meet new people - the space seemed to lend itself to mingling!!

?floppy octopusses!

hmmm.... no consistant reports - airbags didn't deploy so low speed and talk of him being d/c from hospital with minor facial wounds. Don't understand why there's no clear info coming out.

HV's are hugely understaffed - if the ratios of HV's to families was similar to that of MW's to families am sure the service would be better. Unable to find the exact ratio for Southwark, but in Lambeth the HV to child ratio is 1:894 compared to County Durham's 1:165 (ref) Despite this, very little funding is availabe for increasing numbers/training for nurses wanting to become HV's and many HV's are disillusioned as all they have time to do is to try and keep up with families causing concern/with additional needs. It is disappointing to hear this - something I'm well aware of from the families I come into contact with, it could be worth looking into contacting Southwark Primary Care Trust PALS (patient advocacy and liason service) if you are unhappy/have inconsistant advice/care as this would highlight problems and would force them to further investigate.

You poor thing Tricia - having seen people coming in following similar incidents before, it's one of my big fears that something like this could happen... Hope you're not too shook up x

You poor thing Tricia - having seen people coming in following similar incidents before, it's one of my big fears that something like this could happen... Hope you're not too shook up x

It'll have had to be live last night as the voting lines didn't close till half way through the show - the phonelines are so strictly governed now they wouldn't be able to pre-record.

Parking around Ruskin Park is resident only between 12-2pm (to stop people parking there all day). W/e's and from 6pm-830am free parking on the roads leading up/from the main entrance of Kings - could always park near you and get the bus over if there for a few days.

Saline drops are fab - esp pre-feed as they are breathing v heavily then and as not chemical can be used as much as req. The only extra thing that could help is popping a pillow or rolled up blanket under the head end of mattress - positioning them a bit more upright in the cot can also help their breathing (did a similar thing to myself last wk when I had a cold!).

When kids are vomiting, consider what if feels like when you're ill - your stomach feels funny/empty and so can make you think you want to eat, but if you do eat it causes vomiting again - vomiting is the bodies way of flushing bugs/dodgy food out so it will con't until if feels that all has gone. So, ease off trying to get vomiting children to eat - it will return quite quickly, if breast feeding then continue encouraging (is easily absorbed and will give them antibodies to help). If not, I'd suggest dioralyte/rehydration salts to the concentration recommended (in freshly boiled and cooled water), start with 5mls every 5 mins and increase quantity/decrease frequency as tolerated up to typical volume fed. Don't worry about rushing to restart food - fluid is more important initally - and once thinking about food, start with BRAT (bread, rice, (shredded)apple & toast - not all in the same meal!). Plain water while keeping child hydrated will not give them any energy and they will start to break down their own energy reserves (same way the Aitkins diet works). Sunken fontanelle is a sign of dehydration but by that time would prob have quiet a poorly child - easier and earlier sign would be number of wet nappies - if you get to <50% normal then consider seeing GP - or if you have concerns - trust your mummy/daddy instincts as you know your children best. Sorry as prob bit late for Pickles but hope helps x