Midwives at kings

[Belle]

Sw that is amazing news! Likeyou Anna I had a poor postnatal ward exp in 2009 but cdnt fault the labour care,- have heard anecdotally that things had improved and it's great to see more evidence of that here. I'm hopingfor a home birth this time but happy to know it'll be kings I go to if necessary.

[Fuschia]

I met the postnatal ward

ManAger this time round because of my worries and she d

Said they had made a lot of changes

And it was much much better

[Ruth_Baldock]

I had my first baby in December 2009 at Kings, and throughout the entire process, the midwives were absolutely fantastic. I had a very long, stressful (and painful) induction; we went through six midwives, and each of them were attentive, kind, good humoured and absolutely lovely. I ended up with a c-section, and the surgical team were fab, too- my husband said he was getting regular updates whilst I was in theatre (I was under a GA for almost 3 hours due to complications). My MW who stayed with me until I got sent to the PN ward was fantastic; encouraging me to BF and praising Cheeky S when he latched on and went at it like a pro. Although things didn't go 'to plan' (plan? with babies? phooey!) I couldn't fault the staff.

I had a bad experience on the PN ward; not entirely their fault, I know it's a hugely busy ward, so I am VERY pleased to hear that Partners/Dads can stay overnight; albeit in chairs. Hopefully I'll be a bit more 'with it' this time, and won't need Mr B to stay but I can imagine that extra support and presence would be invaluable to a bewildered and exhausted first time Mummy (as I was 18mo ago)

[jollybaby]

What about the antenatal ward? . . The worst part of my labour was being by myself in early labour on the antenatal ward (whilst being induced). I can honestly say it was the most miserable night of my life! In a way I was fortunate that I spent a night in high dependency afterwards as it meant that mr jb could stay with me.

Am glad to hear that things are improving as was seriously thinking about switching to at thomas' if as and when number 2 arrives.

[Mellors]

Just to put people's mind at rest even more - the PN ward was absolutely spotless a few weeks ago. In fact they seemed to be endlessly cleaning it.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Mellors; was it still bloody boiling?

[ad2000]

Ah yes - the boiling temps of the ward! Both in 2007 and in Feb this year I encountered this! Lovely and clean though. Great staff. My only gripe was the over crowding of some of the visitors (in 2007 there were so many people in the bed next to me that the curtain was practically on top of me. They brought in massive pots of food and the kids were running in and out of the curtain. The receptionist came down and asked most to leave!)

I have a lot of time for the staff at Kings - in my opinion some of the most professional people I have ever met.

[Mellors]

Boiling! And v light at night - take eye shades.

[Ruth_Baldock]

Ah bollocks. Now I have no idea what to dress baba in. Nappy and vest, I suppose. I'm taking eyeshades and ear-plugs. I shall also bring my wetnurse so that I do not need to wake up to feed the baby...

[jollybaby]

So much for 3 per bed - there were 14 visitors around the bed across from me at one point!

[Pickle]

That was the one issue I had with my 2nd Kings experience - inconsiderate fellow patients and visitors. The bed next to me had around 12/15 people visiting, including lots of kids, who were being encouraged by their parents to keep pulling my curtain open while I was attempting to get breastfeeding established with my daughter. The lady across from me was on her mobile phone at 4:30am talking at the top of her voice. Thankfully I had my baby at 2:30am and was able to check myself out early morning as I couldn't have put up with it for much longer.

First time round the other people around me were lovely, so it's just the luck of the draw.

[Fuschia]

Someone asked about the antenatal

Side

The staff there are pretty lovely too

And in fact during a total of 8 or 9 nights I had over 4 admissions pre and post birth Inc several nights in the bay on the labour ward I only had issues with one midwife

[Ole]

I am so pleased to hear about Dads being able to stay overnight at Kings now. When I had my son I was there for 4 nights before he was born, and with all the noise, lights etc I hardly slept, so when the bubba was finally born I was exhausted from lack of sleep rather than the labour itself, and although I begged to be moved to a side room or to be allowed for my husband to stay on for a few hours at night so that I could get some sleep, they refused even though I was in tears. I ended up discharging myself because I could just not cope with the lack of sleep any more - I was in there for 8 nights in the end.

[Belle]

I really think dads being allowed to stay will make a massive difference - it would have done to us, would have transformed the experience. it's tough on mums when you're knackered and have a newborn who won't be put down - I think many of us have been on the phones to husbands telling them to get in as soon as the doors open!

[Juande]

My partner and I have our first child (girl) a week ago on Wednesday 15 June, we left the hospital yesterday. Dads being allowed to stay over night was excellent, due some problems (my partner is diabetic) she spent at kings more than we expected, be allow to stay there to support her 24/7 has help me to understand what is the need of my child from the beginning and also what my partner is going through, share that experience with them has not price.

Noisy ward at night? I cannot complaint about that myself but i guess some rooms can be with babies crying in the middle of the night, however my daughter also cried few times so I felt like we all were partners in crime, nothing to be worried.

I did experience Noisy visitors and a patient on mobile phone at 4:00am telling her partner that has gave birth a boy for over an hour... However I would not spoil one of the best moments in the life of someone just because she woke me.

This is just me...

[Otta]

I think it's some sort of law that every hospital has to be insanely hot!

[sillywoman]

Just seen this if anyone is interested;

http://www.kch.nhs.uk/about/be-a-part-of-kings/get-involved/in-your-shoes

Sorry - don't know how to do clever link/word thing. Anyway, thought some of you might be interested in giving some feedback to Kings about how they can improve?