craigy

Ladies, I have been reading this thread with interest as I live behind The Gardens and I think am Peckham Rye ward so in effect in a bit of a black hole too.. I am confused and looking for a bit of clarity really as will be applying for next year.. If you are in this black hole around Forest Hill Road/ Peckham Rye and not in the East Dulwich ward despite the SE22 postcode does that mean that you cannot realistically apply for the ED schools... my nearest is St Johns (450m) which I know is unrealistic as it will be a non faith place and Goose Green or does it only go on distance regardless of which ward you live in... I do anticipate that i will be one of the frustrated ones next year and so am following your stories (and last years) with interest... It is such a ridiculous situation..

I too have 2 cats, one pedigree that rarely goes outside and a street fighting mog... I was nervous when the baby arrived but it soon became clear that other than a quick sniff now and then they wanted nothing to do with him (and still don't really although now he is 3 that is not that easy for them as he likes to lie his head on them and say they are his best friend).. since he has been older he has had the odd scratch from the mog but to be honest he usually deserves it.. When he was a baby i made sure any room he was sleeping in was away from the cats but if he was awake i would leave them alone together with no ill effects.. The one thing that the arrival of a baby did do is bring the cats closer together and they are now bosum buddies who will curl up together...

haven't done it myself but have friends who have used Judith Flood and she is also a midwife, just google Judith Flood Hypnobirthing and she has a website...

I don't think kings will take someone who lives in new cross gate for a homebirth, only hospital

I think what you are looking for is caseload midwifery care and at 35 weeks you are usually too late for that as they are usually fully booked for each month very early on. There are caseload teams at St Thomas' but none that are based within the New Cross Gate area- they are in Bermondsey, Surrey Quays, Clapham, Walworth, Streatham, Kennington.... For the rest of the women there is a homebirth rota where two community midwives are on call each night for those wanting homebirths and can usually be contacted by the team phone number that is on the front of your nots or by contacting the labour ward in the event of labour.. and all of the midwives in these teams are affiliated to the hospital.. In this area it was only the Albany that ran on a different contract. They will usually go through all of your options at 36 week appt and if this doe not happen then you should ask for further clarification, Good luck

I never had one and will not be for the 2nd either.... instead i bought a lovely big leather bag from whistles that went over the handles of the pram perfectly and doubled it as mine and his bag and we got along perfectly with that... I really do not think that they are essential- just my opinion!!

I also find it particularly irritating that the lib dems have felt the need to knock on my door 2 nights in a row to remind me that there is an election- wow, would never have worked that one out from the nedia coverage and the amount of fake hand written letters that have come through my door... and then tonight to 'remind' me to go and vote (which I did at 4 o clock) they certainly know how to irritate...

We flew Virgin long haul overnight last Nov with a 2 and a half year old and were offered nothing like that.. He was fine in a normal seat and thankfully the flight was only about 2/3 full so there was plenty of space for him to stretch out.. However, despite being a champion sleeper he did not seep a wink the whole flight... I think I would be a little dubious about a special seat that you cannot remove as could be very uncomfortable for both of you... I did find that Virgin cabin crew were fabulous with a toddler though and really tried to entertain him.. Good luck..

Cannot imagine it would be too much of a problem for them as you are within the Kings catchment and only really an extra 5-10 min drive for them, think it would be more of an issue of you moved out of the Kings area as then it comes down to whether they can practice in that area...

Going back to a post from yesterday, I would second what Fushia said about things going wrong at home. Ask any midwife and they will tell you that a problem does not just crop up from nowhere and they can usually anticipate what is happening or going to happen... They will also have a very low threshold for 'sitting on things' whereas in the hospital they are more prepared to do that and will transfer in sooner rather than later.... I had a hospital birth by choice, not because I felt it was safer but because I knew I was having a big baby and I knew I would be a bit of a poof and want pain relief!!! Now with number 2 I am toying with the idea of a homebirth although still not too keen on the idea of the pain but hoping for a swift exit from the baby... It is an individual decision where and how you have your baby just as the way you bring them up is and the name you give them...

such a bittersweet episodes- those amazing mum's and 1 dad of course being so honest... and those babies.. made me cry (not a hard thing, i am pregnant!!)

my understanding is that it is the OMP you have to repay and not the SMP... For example I work for the NHS and their mat leave is 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay with SMP then 13 weeks SMP & 13 weeks unpaid. I thought that if I did not return for 3 months (can be part time or full time) then I had to repay the OMP (occupational mat pay) which is the 18 weeks half pay......

have to admit i too found the young man a bit irritating.... but have to hand it to him, he was remarkably calm throughout the whole thing and that is what women need, not a man stressing as he feels helpless...

i wish i could do it without finding out but i don't seem to be able to and am going to find out what no 2 is... found out no 1 at 14 weeks... do what feels best for you..

i loved shelagh and richard and especially her feeding the horses 2 days beforehand....

I take it that SCSB79 has never encountered the joys of potty training a toddler first hand then..

I phoned for there info when i was looking for a place for my son but was then completely put off by the fact that they phoned me about 4 times on 2 weeks to see if i had made a decision despite the fact that they had a huge waiting list and could not assure me a place for when i wanted it, i stopped answering the phone in the end.. the hard sell really put me off and made me realise that they are a business selling a product and i didn't want my son to be part of that..... i know most nurseries are but you don't want it rammed down your throat...

Abbie, her mum and boyfriend were lovely and all so supportive of each other... However, I think the fact that they have a section every week is the reality of a real life birth centre where the theatre is rarely empty... i think that hospital has a midwifery led birth centre somewhere else that probably deals with all of the low risk lovely vaginal births and what you see at the hospital is unfortunately the harsh reality of maternity care... There was the woman at the beginning who came in and pushed it straight out with the midwives calmly wandering in and out..

I am 14 weeks with a nearly 3 year old who will be 3 years 4 months when the baby arrives and he knows about it as I have had quite a few scans so far and he has been with me for each of them... he tells me i have a fish in my tummy and also that he has a a baby in his... I am not overly worried about him when the baby comes despite him being at the critical age... currently he shows no jealousy when i hold other babies and is very interested in them and want to hold, kiss and cuddle them... he has never been a child that suffers from separation anxiety and is friendly with everyone... we have talked about having a baby and said that it will be like his friends having baby brothers and sisters and he seems quite happy with the idea although is swaying towards a baby brother! May get a few books nearer the time and will do the present thing but i am sure knowing my boy that he will be fine with it all....

tomk- i don't mean to be rude but why would you want to move hospital if you cannot get in with the Lanes? if you went to St Thomas' which is the nearest after Kings you would either have your antenatal care in the hospital there and have to travel up or in one of the clinics that they do that sees out of area women which i think are either in waterloo and kennington. on the day you would just have which ever midwife is on duty at that time and postnatally be followed up by the kings midwives so it would all be lots of traveling hassle and no additional continuity of care and there is always the risk on a 3rd baby that you may not get there in time.... if you have had Erika for your previous 2 births and got on well with her why not phone her directly esp if you have already seen her in this pregnancy.... it seems a little strange that DMC are managing the appts as it is usually the midwives that manage their own caseload and appts....

It is unfortunate that this happened and certainly worth investigating at the surgery as to why it happened but also consider that the caseload teams such as the Lanes only take a certain amount of women each month so if they are full they cannot take you on regardless of how much of a fuss you make. They usually work on the ratio of about 3 women to every midwife each month so maybe only take 18 women a month which is why you have to get in there literally from the moment of conception (especially round here)

Michelle, sorry to hear that you are finding the whole midwife thing stressful... The harsh reality is that midwifery care does not really kick in until 24 weeks+ as that is the age of viability and also when the complications of pregnancy can develop. In the 1st trimester other than a bit of advice the midwife does do very little... just the way it is... Is also worth considering that NICE guildelines are just that and does not mean that a hospital has to adhere to them.. We live in an area with 2 excellent teaching hospitals (Kings & St Thomas') but unfortunately they are also densely populated areas with lots of women having babies and not enough midwives to go round.. As for work, you will not be provided with any official paperwork until about 26 weeks when they give you your MATB1 so you should just go ahead and tell work that you are pregnant and you are entitled to time off for appointments and there is nothing your employer can do about it other than moan.. But they will have to get used to it as it may be that all of your appts are at that sort of time... Always worth remember that it is the midwives working day too that you are fitting into and they cannot always offer appropriate timed appts especially if they are on call.... I had my baby with a caseload team frm St Thomas' so do not have any experience of the Kings ones but would say that in this part of London it is the best care that you are going to receive so sit tight and be thankful as there is a lot of worse systems out there...

I used to use the next size up at night time and always used pampers

spalding borough lewisham hither green blackheath brockley east dulwich

we had a name and told people but i didn't call him by it until he was born and wouldn't allow anyone else to either- it just didn't seem right to me but that is just my opinion... my sister is currently pregnant and refers to her baby by her name all the time and that doesn't sit right with me (although i don't tell her that....) bellendenbear- how bl00dy rude, people are so rude, i am interested to know what this name was that caused so much debate and bad manners....