The Queen Mother's

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Queen Mother's contact details

QUEEN MOTHER'S VITAL STATISTICS:

* Mothers deemed high risk = over 40, multiple birth, breech birth, more than 3 miscarriages, previous stillbirth, previous c/s, previous postpartum haemorrhage, chronic medical condition, assisted conception, malpresentation, diabetic, Group B Strep carrier, previous obstetric complication eg pre-eclampsia, 3rd degree tear etc

All stats obtained from IMA, Dr Foster birth unit stats 2005, Birth Choice UK& ISD 2005

BELOW ARE SOME MOTHERS' GATHERED EXPERIENCES OF BIRTH AT THE QUEEN MOTHER'S:

Jane

Birth Choices are delighted to hear from someone who attended our group earlier in the year. We gave her some advice when she asked about booking a home birth in Glasgow & we're delighted she's had such a positive experience. Congratulations, Jane, we're glad to have been of help:
I just want to say that I was prepared for some type of fight on my hands, but all the midwives have been exceptional. The community midwives, the ward midwives, the day care midwives, booking in and the midwife who was present at the birth, all have listened to me and respected my wishes. I've had no negative comments or responses from any of them. I've not been made to feel like a weirdo for wanting a home water birth.

From NetMums Website October 2007 Vicky says:
Hi I would reccomend the QMH to anyone. I was 10 days late, and had to get induced, I was in labour for 12 hours but my baby turned OP and I had to be taken to theatre for a forcep delivery, but that didn't work and I had to get an emergency c- section, the care I received was excllent and I will definately be going back there the next time. The staff were so helpful and friendly and I felt I could talk to them about any problems I had.

From NetMums Website October 2007 Angela says:
I had both my sons at the Queen Mums and would recommend it to anyone. I didnt have a good birth the first time but it wasnt the staff fault. The second time was much better. The building is not good but every where was clean and the staff were really nice. Especially the first time when I was not well after they helped me shower and did everything to help me breast feed. I was not hurried to leave and was able to stay a week. Other hospitals I have heard try to get u to leave asap but the QM is the oppostite they encourage u to stay until u are really ready to leave which is important with ur first. I also suffered a miscarriage between and found the staff at their early pregancy unit very good and understanding. Everything was done to help me cope even though they are understaffed & busy

Rachel

At my booking appointment at the Queen Mother's I told the midwife that I wanted a home birth and she said 'well, you may change your mind about that when you find out more about it'.  [What the hec is their problem? So Rachel's going to be put off when she finds out that home birth lowers the rate of intervention, caesarean section, pharmaceutical anaesthesia with all its harmful side-effects & post natal depression, but actually increases the chances of a normal vaginal birth, successful breastfeeding, promotes mother-baby bonding & brings about a very speedy recovery? - Jayne] I just told her I know enough to make an informed decision, thanks.  The community midwife who came to our home to book the home birth was fine about it, and she totally reinforced the fact that it is my right to give birth at home and that I don't need anyone's permission to do it.  However, she did ask 'you're not planning a water birth, are you?'  [Nice positive use of language - not - Jayne] which seemed a bit off to me. Not so much the question, but the way it was asked.  We actually had been considering it.  She told us that none of the midwives in our area are experienced with water birth or particularly comfortable doing it.  This put me off a wee bit, but if I decide to do it I won't let them put me off!

To be honest, the health professionals I have spoken to so far about home birth have been ok - not particularly enthusiastic about it but not dismissive either.  But that may be because I was already sure of my decision - I wasn't asking for their opinion on it! 

Claire – Princess Royal Maternity (PRM) + Queen Mother's (QMH)

So, the glorious PRM. I knew from reading the lit, the night before my booking-in appointment, that I wasn’t going to get anywhere [with my request for a home birth] since I’m not in their catchment area. (pre-requisite for home birth consideration at the PRM, they tell me, is living within an area which has been registered as the local hospital). However, made my request anyway & Jesus….what an odd reaction.

Now, I’m not particularly Bolshoi on the surface (I’m more of a wolf in lamb’s clothing) so my approach was very mild mannered – but it doesn’t appear to take much to get the sirens wailing. The midwife looked stricken & muttered ‘I’ll go get the Dr’ – she then brought in a Doc whom she obviously wanted to ‘deal’ with me but who was not really a force to be reckoned with. The midwife was obviously a bit afeared – I made mere mention of using the pool & she immediately leapt in with ‘you can’t give birth in the pool’ – like chill! I then asked if I chose to give birth at the PRM, would I be allowed to take in my own pool? This made her even more uptight & she growled ‘we don’t have facilities for that’. Inside my head I was thinking ‘what, you don’t have a tap?’.

It’s all really irritating because the whole point of home birth for me is certainly about options – there will be a pool available, I will know the doula, I will be able to eat etc etc. I did like the sound of the Midwife Led Unit (MLU) at the PRM but I was told it would only take 2 women at a time & they can’t guarantee the pool will be available. Dismissing stuff like taking a pool in out of hand seems stupidly inflexible.

Anyway, next stop the Queen Mother’s to transfer. I didn’t really get anywhere for a few days until I happened to get a Lead Midwife on the phone – I have to say, she went out of her way to make sure I got an early booking-in appointment & bent the rules / procedures a bit to do so.

However the next midwife appointment (at my home) was as bemusing as the first. She was a nice lady who wanted to do a good job. Paradoxically, she was also pretty negative & presented her personal opinion as professional analysis.

On waterbirth I would say she was being honest when she gave her reservation as being inexperienced in it. However, she also said ‘do you know the baby can shoot out & hit its head off the side of the pool’? (Implied & start breathing & drown), that the pool could end up with a lot of faeces in it & therefore be unhygienic (1: I know about the faeces and 2: swimming in my own faeces is probably more hygienic than sitting in a typical hospital), that there would be excessive monitoring & again, you can only use it for the early stages of labour. [oh.my.god. - Jayne]

Other pearls of wisdom I was treated to: ‘I wouldn’t rush into getting a doula’ and ‘I wouldn’t have recommended you for a home birth because it’s your first’ (face facts, I thought, nobody is ever going to recommend a home birth!), and ‘labour can be very long but I won’t go into that just now because it might make you feel quite defensive’.

Now, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but both my Mum & sister had 5 hour labours with their first births & there is supposed to be a correlation between mother & daughter birth experiences – my sister was traumatised by her natural birth because it was so fast. This point was ignored.

At no point was there any comments along the lines of ‘your body was made to do this, I believe you can do it’ which is what I want to hear. I would expect to be questioned about my knowledge of the risks & then to be spoken to positively about home birth. This suspicion of home birth & manipulative attempts to throw a dampner on it are, to me, a totally unnecessary & unhelpful stress. Working in a field which has a strong empowerment culture, I find it totally astonishing that these people think it’s OK to tell you what to do or think in this manner.

If this is the attitude of individuals, I think it would be far better for the QMH to have a communication policy on home birth – e.g. require a standard leaflet to be used by their staff so that midwives don’t feel the need to improvise.

I now feel I have to horse-whisper my midwives. However, for me, it’s probably going to be more important to minimise potential stress connected to the birth than to fight for this particular right.

Julie

[edited personal information] I write to you not to mope, but to highlight a catalogue of errors I experienced at the hands of the midwives & doctors in the hospital (QM). I do not want more women (particularly those who are not in a position to question hospital protocols) to encounter the unsanitary conditions, sheer incompetence & low morale I discovered & would greatly appreciate any advice you could provide on how to challenge this [edited personal information]…….For example, the fact that I was told to go & have a bath in a filthy bathroom with no supervision, dosed up with morphine & having contractions every 2 minutes; first having to wash out the bath with bleach, run the bath & clean it out afterwards. All this time the midwives on duty were sitting in the nurse’s station eating toast! [If you have been traumatised by your birth please contact the Birth Trauma Assoc for support & if you want to challenge your hospital trust regarding your poor care please refer to the Assoc for Improvements in the Maternity Services (AIMS) - Jayne]

Kate

I found this hospital aloof & unfriendly. I was fully dilated & was sent home to ‘have a bath’. I asked to be kept in as I was in so much pain but was advised if I stayed my husband would have to leave & I would be alone. I arrived home & delivered my baby 15 mins later. When I contacted the dept they were rude & accused me of secretly planning a home birth – nothing was further from the truth. I was completely traumatised. I was brought in & sent to theatre because I had a retained placenta. In all an awful experience helped along by rude & at times incompetent staff. I was delayed surgery 3 times because of fundamental mistake made by the duty midwife…fingers crossed for baby number 2 – not looking forward to it at all.

Evelyn

I gave birth there 10 weeks ago by emergency c-section as my baby wasn’t breathing [this Mum must be confused as babies in the womb can't breathe - Jayne]. When I arrived at hospital they were fab but after labour stopped halfway through, I was put on a ward on my own (full of morphine) & my hubby was sent home! One hour later I crawled to the toilet, no midwife or nurse about. That’s the last I remember as midwives had to get me out of toilet & into labour suite. The staff during labour were fab & wasted no time when my baby was in trouble, only problems were there was no one there when I woke - I didn’t know where my baby was or what had happened. A Mum on the ward came to me, hugged me & got a nurse to take me to see my baby. Thank heavens for other Mums. The hospital is understaffed & crumbling.

Tina