ClareC

I get it on Goodrich Road, I do find it useful and always read through it when it arrives. It is sometimes delivered late so some of the info can be out of date.

Gillingham, Kent Wigmore (Gillingham, Kent)x2 Woolston (Southampton, Hampshire) Shirley (Southampton, Hampshire) St Marys now renamed "Newtown" (Southampton, Hampshire) Highfield (Southampton, Hampshire) St Mary's (Southampton, Hampshire) Wallisdown, (Bournemouth, Dorset) Polygon, (Southampton, Hampshire) Hedge End, (Southampton , Hampshire) x2 West Wycombe (by High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) Alton, Hampshire Colchester, Essex Camberwell East Dulwich Don't think I have forgotten anything!

It's only really affordable to do it if your employer still pays you! It's a great idea having people from all walks of life but the "compensation" payable for loss of earnings really isn't realistic living in London. I was called last year and wouldn't have been able to pay my council tax and bills on the "compensation" let alone the London mandatory huge mortgage!

There was announcements in Sainsbury's today that they are collecting toys for a charity - didn't pay too much attention as have none yet but I think it was a childrens charity of some sort.

That's a great tip, thanks :-) Ive heard its not the most pleasant of tasting drink!

Was it just the Christmas Carols or did anyone else get to follow the life of Caecilius and his household too in Pompei? I particularly remember Coquus, the randy cook forever being after the poor slave girl!!

We used to have to learn a christmas carol in latin every christmas at my school! Angelus et Virginum is the one that immediately springs to mind! Odd how you dont't forget (although my latin spelling isn't as it once was ;-) )

Congratulations veryseriousgirl! Thank you for taking the time to post such a positive experience, especially when you must have only just come out of hospital :-) Did all the partners of people being induced at the same time as you get to stay? Must admit this is the part that terrifies me most (being left to deal with the unknown alone). The midwife that hosted the tour told me this wasn't allowed :-( Maybe this is one of those things that the rules say one thing but the reality is often different. Mental note to self to bulk buy RLT ;-)

forgot to say, I do feel rather uncomfortable now!! I feel sooooo stretched! It would be lovely to get a full night's sleep but I guess that's not going to happen for a long time now!!!

I am due in just over 5 weeks....... feels ages away!! Think I have been pretty lucky so far with my pregnancy, no sickness at all, the only negative side effect being the darn back ache - although v irritating and quite painful at times hasn't stopped me doing anything, just makes me more concious of how not to do things to prevent it hurting! Like Molly mentioned, I too am quite focussed on the due date! I am really excited about meeting my daughter after all this time, can't wait for the labour part to be over and the back ache to go!! I know I will get impatient when she doesn't turn up on time which is what I am expecting!! I was 5 days late and her dad was about the same. In about 3 weeks time am planning on drinking copious amounts of RLT, hoovering (although hoovering stairs wear me out at the mo!!), lots of walking with the dogs, eating pineapple and curry and the other methods - think I will give the caster oil a miss though given its other side effect ;-) A week or 2 early would be lovely!

I specifically asked the question about being induced at Tommy's and was told by a midwife there that although I would be unable to use the HFH unit (induction being a "medical procedure"), I would be given a labour room in the medical section and my partner would be able to stay with me. The rooms are apparantly the same, the only difference being there is medical equipment in the non HFH rooms. To be honest I would be happy with a Kings room in that situation, it was the being stuck on a ward without my partner that I really had an issue with. I have a friend who has been booked into Tommy's to be induced in a couple of weeks and she had exactly the same concern as me and specifically questioned her consultant at Tommy's on this point - she was told the same. Another friend's wife had a baby there a few months ago and needed to be induced, she was given a room on the medical section and her husband allowed to stay with her. Sillywoman, I am hoping this is the norm now and your info is out of date - would be very wrong for them to mislead people if this is not the case. Pickle, sounds like you were really lucky, other than the two day wait ;-) How long ago did you have your two? I did specifically ask the midwife at Kings about this and she told me I would not get a room on the labour ward until I was in established labour, this is understandable, there are not that many of them, I was rather shocked by where she told me i would be and that I potentially may be unable to have my partner there :-(

Just come back from being away for the weekend and quite surprised by some of the negative comments that have been added to what was (when I left) a thread containing helpful friendly advice and opinions. Bonce, It's only about the environment to the extent of putting myself in an environment that makes me personally as relaxed as possible and therfore hopefully ensuring as shorter labour as possible. I like the idea of a home birth but realise because I am nervous and its all new to me this is not for me - I would be more comfortable knowing there are emergency facilities down the corridor (don't think my first aid kit is quite up to it ;-) ). I have never been negative or moany about King's or to Kings or their staff, I don't beleive there was anything in my original post that suggested this. My original post makes it very clear that I think medically Kings are extremely good. My reservations lie with the bedside manner, which in my experience has been rather luck of the draw. It is about how they care for a run of the mill standard, no complication labour. I am concentrating on myself and my part in it in so far as I recognise I am scared! This is not about negativity, or being moany this is about doing something I have never done before and that I know can be very long, painful and can lead to mortality of mother and / or baby (thankfully this is unlikely given the medical facilities we are fortunate to have in this country). Seeing a poor woman appearing to be in established labour left waiting ages in a full waiting room did not fill me with confidence - I am sure medically she was fine and there was no risk to either her or her baby, perhaps she was fine with that but I know if I were in that situation I would not be comfortable and would feel quite upset. If I were to be induced, at Kings I would be admitted to a post natal ward (with 3 strangers and their babies) and depending on whether labour started in visiting times or not, could potentially be alone without my partner in early labour. This may be something that doesn't phase some people but it's really not my preference and I would be out of my personal comfort zone. Tulip, your comments are not even slightly helpful. It may come as a shock to you but complications do occur even in the "lap of luxury" western world hospitals. I am sure if you were nervous about something (presumably you are never scared and are confident in all you do) being told to "Get over it" wouldnt help, is offensive and entirley unecessary. Heidi Hi I agree, thanks for the support :-) Belle, completely agree Buggie, as you are no doubt aware no the labour tour does not involve touching either open wounds or newborns. I does however involve going in a "clean" labour room (which presumably is not then cleaned again prior to being used) to look around, and being free to touch things in there including the equipment (inc resuscitiation area) . I am sure you are aware that there is currently a swine flu pandemic and cleaniness of hands is paramount given the bug (and other bugs) can live on surfaces for some hours. 20 people using the spray did not disjoint the tour in the least at St Thomas's - 20 people can't get through the door all at once and it took less than a second for each person to spray their hands - people did it when they were a couple of people from the door and rubbed it in as they were walking through the door. Worked very simply as these things should. I did not judge the facilities on this alone however opinons are based and decisions are made on all the facts available to a person at the time of making the decision. This was something that did not impress me, especially given the media coverage of swine flu and its ability to transfer from touching surfaces. Yes Kings did have posters which is positive, so did Tommy's. In comparison to Tommy's Kings didn't go that extra mile and physically tell people to sanitize hands. I am sure on another day it could be the Tommy's midwife that doesn't do this and the Kings one that does but that was not my personal experience. I realise there are plenty of good and bad story's for both hospitals, both have an excellent medical record and we are really lucky here in ED to be able to choose between two outstanding hospitals. For me personally, it's been a tough choice (hence asking for advice and which in itself shows I doubt neither hospital medically). Having considered all the facts available to me and my personal experiences I simply feel that Tommy's is somewhere I will feel more relaxed. This is not based on it being a newer unit etc but mainly because they have made me feel more than just a number, that me being comfortable and not scared is important despite not (in theory) having any forseen complications. I realise that maybe my fears are unfounded, that birth is natural and millions of people do it and go on to do it again and again but for me simple things like knowing my partner can be there with me makes a hell of a difference. If I were to be induced at Tommy's, he wouldn't be sent home. Certainly not life or death but it really is the simple things that can make a world of difference.

Dogs have played a huge positive part in human life for centuries. They were (and still are) used to help man hunt for food, they hear for the deaf, see for the blind, provide life changing assistance for no end of human disabiities, assist the police, forces and customs in their work whether it is sniffing drugs, explosives, mines, catching criminals, hunting for missing people etc then there are the avalanche dogs which are a victims second best chance of survival (second after wearing a tranceiver and their party all wearing tranceivers and being able to dig them out). There are many "occupations" that the dog assists man with. Even non working dogs give a lot to their owners. The anti dog threads on this forum really annoy and upset me, as has been mentioned the chances of being attacked by a dog are extremely small - It is not in the inbuilt "nature" of a dog to attack humans. Your far more likely to be attacked by fellow man, hit by a car etc. The vast majority of dogs love people. Sadly a very small minority of people misuse and mistreat dogs which leads to the awful stories that come up in the press every so often. I am saddened by what happened to that poor cat, my sympathies are with the owner. The dog owner should never have allowed that to happen. It is a reflection on the owner not the dog. Incidentally the dog is no more likely to attack a human because it attacked a cat! Unfortunately that is nature, just like cats catching (and killing) birds, rabbits, mice etc is nature. I appreciate that people do have phobias against all end of things, that shouldn't be dismissed, however, although others should be sympathetic to these fears, it really isn't for society to remove anything that could scare another! Dogs being banned from being off the lead is not the answer, it is unfair, draconian and would lead to a huge amount of unhappy dogs with excess energy. That said, I find this thread offensive. What happened was terrible I 100% agree. The witch hunt that followed and that poor innocent chap being hounded was disgusting! What I really found hard to beleive was that when the poor guy came on to clear his name he was ridiculed for his spelling \ grammar! Certain people should be ashamed of themselves!

Me too, I don't like spiders and they get everywhere ;-)

I am still waiting for 2 CD's 1 DVD and a letter.............. posted end Oct!

We should! Fingers crossed I will have one and will start a thread to that effect ;-) I have borrowed a tens machine and am keeping my fingers crossed for a pool to be available! I think the incentive of keeping my partner with me after the birth should help me to not give in to an epidural ;-) Incidentally I just spoke to a Tommy's midwife who confirmed they very rarely close the unit (she had only known it happen twice in the time she had worked there). She said, in the unlikely case they do, you just are admitted to the other section which means you cant't use the pool. She also said that a high percentage of women who are admitted to the HfH unit actually give birth there - the only exceptions being those that decide they want an epidural and those with complications (mother or baby). Fingers crossed for me starting a good birth experience thread ;-)

Thanks everyone, your comments / experiences have been really helpful. We went on the labour tour of Kings last night..... was a very different experience to the one at Tommy's!! I do have huge reservations about Tommy's namely availability and distance being the main ones, however, I got a good feeling there which I certainly did not get at Kings :-( I was really hoping that I would be pleasantly surprised by Kings and really did go with an open mind but I can honestly say I would rather have a home birth than go there (and I am far too scared to even contemplate that!) To be fair Kings were busy last night however on arrival the waiting room was pretty full, lots of heavily pregnant women standing around with nowhere to sit whilst around half the seats were taken up by perfectly fit able bodied men! (Cant blame that one on Kings). There was a woman clearly in a great deal of pain in her dressing gown standing in the waiting room, presumably in established labour, not being seen to at all - she was told someone would be with her soon (she was still waiting when we left). There were around 20 people doing the ward tour - the midwife who did the tour let us all through to the labour ward and didn't ask anyone to put the anti bacterial spray on their hands either on going out or leaving, she then took us to see the post natal ward which was pretty full of newborns (and presumably mums with ceasarian wounds), again, no mention of using the spray.................... The labour rooms themselves and and ward appeared to be OK, (ward cramped and noisty but didnt see Tommy's ward to compare) labour room was not quite as "shiny" but that is to be expected given its older. I really don't have an issue with that at all, I just want to feel confident in where I am going so I am as relaxed as possible. I realise there are good and bad with both, going to go with my gut instinct which is Tommys - just felt peaceful and professsional and somewhere I would be happy to be. Kings did'nt nspire any good feelings at all - Given the more relaxed you are the easier birth you should have I think Tommys is for me.... albeit I am going to have to keep everything crossed they are not short staffed etc! Dr appointment next week to organise... and I am still scared!!!

If your booked in the Tommy's and they close the ward what do you do? Surely your not just left to get on with it in the corridor :-(

It was mentioned earlier that a number of the Dr surgery's around here seem to use team's of midwifes affiliated with Kings, giving you the benefit of your own midwife going to Kings with you and being there for the birth. Unfortunately my surgery does not do this, I have a lovely midwife I see regularly but when it comes to the big day if I were to stick with Kings it's a case of we are in it alone until we get to Kings at which point its luck of the draw as to who is on duty and who we get....... Presumably the midwives all know one another, is it a case that someone coming in with their dedicated midwife will automatically be prioritised over me......... Is private stupidly expensive? Where do you go for private care? I only know the Portland from Hello/OK magazine when in the hairdressers ;-)

Thanks for all the information, this is really helpful. I am going to do the Kings tour on Thursday and am trying to keep an open mind :-) Bit concerning that Tommy's closes the hfh section and sends people away - does this happen often? Also, does anyone know the statistics for the percentage of women going to hfh who actually give birth there? I know 18% was mentioned earlier but I wasn't sure if that was 18% of all births at Tommys or 18% of people starting off at hfh. C

I know this has been done before (ive read the comments and there seem to be equal good and bad comments for both hospitals). Wanted to get opinions from those that have done this before to help me with my decision. I am currently booked in with Kings, although I have no complaints medically (infact ive been told they are the leaders in foetal medicine), most times I have been there I have felt there is a complete lack od bedside manner. It's certainly not true of everyone there but there do seem to be a large number of research fellows who clearly love what they do from a research prospective (and do a good job) but have no interest whatsoever in the people side. Conversely there have been two Sonographers there I have seen who were fantastic! (Ive had a fair few scans!). My experience of the midwifes there has been mixed. My midwife I see every two weeks is lovely and the one that booked me in was great too. However, on the one occasion I called the number I was given because I was worried about something I did not feel at all reassured and felt like they thought I was a nurotic mother (probably true but its my first time, you do worry about things) and simply wasting their time. I have also been given incorrect information twice and when I visited did not find the labour ward to be a friendly or relaxing place. I know they are busy, under resourced and doing a great and difficult job but quite honestly I am scared stiff of the whole giving birth thing, I need to feel relaxed and comfortable in my surroundings, I am really not convinced Kings are capable of this. I considered home as an option which in theory is great but in practice I am scared so do not feel this is right for me the first time round - like the idea of Dr's etc close to hand. Last night I visited Tommy's home from home unit - I got a really good feeling about the place and the midwives I saw were lovely (also were helpful when I called them). Seemed so much friendlier and as relaxing as a hospital could possibly be. I am strongly considering changing, my reservations being its further to get to than Kings, if you have an epidural you have to go on the normal labour section just down the corridor (so miss out of the benefit of your partner staying with you 24 hours after the birth), they have less birth pools than kings and the actual hassle involved with changing at this stage (34 weeks). Would I have to change the midwfe I see every two weeks too? Or is it simply a case of getting a cab to Tommys instead of Kings on teh big day? Any opinions / views/ experiences greatly received!! Thanks C

CD wow are the same - you have to wait 21 days!! That said one of my CD's turned up today, just shy of 21 days from dispatch!

two of my missing packages turned up today! No thanks to the post office! They had been delivered to the same number house as mine in Heber road instead of Goodrich Road!!! Fortunately the gentleman who they were delivered to came round to let me know which was really nice of him. Not everyone would be so honest. I can understand a letter getting caught up with others and going astray but largeish parcels being delivered two roads away is just careless!! Can the postman not read?!?!?! Wonder where my other two missing parcels are....... Ive contacted CD wow but they wont do anything until 21 days have passed! At least when I was at work I could get things delivered there!

Definitely more accepted in house! I know lots of part time in house lawyers too, I think the issues are often that the days decrease but the work doesn't!

I am looking forward to it opening too and see it as a welcome change to driving to DKH Sainsbury's. My use of the other shops on that parade won't change, I have never done "Sainsbury's" type shops in them before and wont start! I think (not 100% on this) Sainsbury's local's have higher prices than the big Sainsbury's so there may be not be significant undercuttng anyway.