Anyone given birth at Kings recently?

[monniemae]

Just found out I'm set for vbirth instead of c section. Trying to find out about the facilities at Kings, it says on their website that they are in the process of improving the facilities to be finished summer / early autumn 2013.

Has this been completed? Does anyone know what the improvements do or will actually mean? I was thinking of transferring to Lewisham birth centre but if Kings will truly be offering a "home from home" environment it might be worth staying..

This is what it says on their website:

"Work has now begun in King's Maternity services to create a new midwifery-led birthing unit, a new maternity assessment unit, plus a five-bedded recovery area on our Nightingale Birth Centre.

The creation of a midwifery-led unit will create a ?home from home? environment for women in labour, and the expansion of the labour ward will also improve the experience for those who come to King?s.

The preparatory works have already begun, with the project due to be completed by the end of the summer/early autumn 2013."

[sillywoman]

They plan to open their lovely, 2 bed, mini-midwife led unit in October. So if you're due much before then & that's what you'd like you might want to check out Lewisham Birth Centre?

[monniemae]

2 bed!!!! Pie in the sky chance for most women then. Lewisham has 2/3 the deliveries and theirs is 5 bed with a 10bed labour ward. *abandons hope*

[Otta]

My friends had their first child at King's a couple of months ago, and are full of praise for it.

[Privatebanking]

Very interesting thread. I am due in December for a hospital birth at Kings. Here's a link to the Kings website which suggests a 5 beded recovery ward. I wonder if this means one such ward or several?

[simonethebeaver]

Not necessarily pie in the sky. It'll presumably be a 4/6 hour discharge facility (although I know you can choose to stay overnight at Lewisham) so the turnover won't be bad. I bet access will be very restricted to low risk only, so that will cut down on use, especially as Kings takes high risk out of area women, which bumps up its numbers. Also Kings has a high rate of home birth compared to Lewisham, which takes more low risk women out of the equation.

Although this is a slightly brave attempt to make the best of what does sound like a tiny unit!

[sillywoman]

It's only so small because after months and months and months (in fact it may have been years, would have to go back through my records to be sure) of increasingly complex negotiations for a 'proper' midwifery led unit, including the expense of commissioning architect plans, the company (bank? Am trawling my faulty memory now)that owns the building housing Kings demanded so much money to 'allow' the creation of such a unit that the project became inviable. All involved were gutted. So this mini unit is an affordable compromise.

It's inevitable that access for KCH's unit will be restricted to low risk women - it's the same in most (all?) Midwifery led units. Everything simonethebeaver says is right, particularly what she says about taking into consideration the case-loading teams and homebirth rates.