Have your say
This message board is here so that you can let us have your comments, ideas and suggestions about the care you or your partner have received during pregnancy, labour or in the early weeks with your new baby. It would be helpful to us if when you post your message, you tell us when your experience dates from.
The board is public, so by posting here, you’ll be sharing what you have to say with everyone who looks at it. However, if you’d like to make some comments in confidence, you can do so by clicking the box marked ‘private’ below. Confidential comments are seen only by the MSLC’s user members (non health professionals).
Please note that the board isn’t for making complaints. If you want to complain about an aspect of your care, speak to your midwife, GP or health visitor, or contact PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service).
Please note too that we're not able to reply to messages posted here.
Messages are left on this page for three months.
My Partner Louisa and I came to the Rosie Hospital after completely losing faith in our local hospital at Welwyn Garden City. From the moment we first stepped foot in the Rosie, we were constantly delighted by the level of service and professionalism demonstrated by staff at every level. Having been told by a bored looking doctor at Welwyn Garden City that a c-section was ESSENTIAL, we were thrilled to learn that this was not the case at all at the Rosie. Louisa had given birth NATURALLY to our beautiful daughter, Harriet, within 3 hours of arriving at the hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning. The birth went very well, and with the constant strength and support of Tracey, our Midwife, Louisa was able to go through the process with no intervention or drugs. We are very grateful to all the staff at the hospital, epsecially Tracey, without whom I'm sure the experience would have been very different. She really gave Louisa the confidence she needed at a portentially scary time for her! Each member of staff we encountered is a credit to their profession. Thank you.
Catherine
I gave birth to my daughter in April this year 2007. She was small and stayed in SCBU for a week whilst I was on Sara ward.
All the staff were very caring and the ward was clean and food good but I do think that breastfeeding could be better supported.
I felt that they were too quick to suggest formula feeds rather than more frequent breast feeds when my daughters blood sugar level was low.
I also found that advice was inconsistent and confusing eg some saying I should express at night to build up supply others saying more important to rest.
On a practical note two breast pumps to share for the whole ward is not enough there were always queues. Please could they buy at least enough for one per bay.
lucie
I would love to see every hospital/maternity unit providing/selling a DVD/video of the maternity suite if their policy is not to do tours of the hospital (like P'borough). It should outline things to take into hospital and a look at the pre-labour rooms,labouring rooms and post natal wards/rooms as well as provide info for fathers about parking/things to take etc.
Annie White
I am a NCT breastfeeding counsellor in the Saffron Walden area.
I just thougth I'd feed back that I do get many reports of brilliant care and breastfeeding help from parents who have given birth at the Rosie. My clients often comment on how patient, expert, and kind the staff are, and how much effort is put into helping new mums to breastfeed. 'They could't have been more helpful' is a comment I often hear.
However, I also am asked to help many parents who were 'told' they 'had to' give their baby a bottle prior to being discharged.
These are usually babies who are not feeding and latching well.
While I understand that nurses have a duty of care towards the baby and ensuring the baby gets nutrition, it seems that options such as cup feeding, and expressing are not always promoted, and the problems associated with introducing a bottle when the mum wants to breastfeed aren't always appreciated.
I would just like to request that staff are made more aware of the importance of using alternative methods of feeding babies who are difficult to latch, such as syringe, cup, spoon or finger feeding, and promoting these methods to parents. Yes, these methods are harder and more time consuming than bottle feeding, but greatly increase the chances that the baby will eventually latch on. More mothers might opt for these methods if they understood the benefits and had they were promoted as the optimal way to feed a baby who is struggling to breastfeed,. Similarly, the mother needs to understand that introducing formula in the early days will lead to a decrease in her milk suppply, thus lessening the chances of her ever breastfeeding successfully.
Mothers who are experiencing initial prolems with breastfeeding, but who nevertheless very much hope to go on to breatfeed successfully need more help, support and education to learn to express their milk prior to discharge, thus maintaining their supply, rather than being encouraged to introduce formula milk in a bottle.
Regards,
Annie White
Monica Horn
My daughter, who is 2 weeks away from having her baby, had booked a tour of the Rosie. We set off in lots of time, reached the roundabout near the main hospital, followed signs to the Rosie that then petered out. We went on and turned left as had been directed a long way back and finally found signs for the hospital again. We were directed to park and again, no clear signs where to go. Eventually we found our way round the main hospital, miles from the car park and arrived too late for the tour which had left 5 mins. before. Eventually after 30 minutes looking for them, we gave up and spoke to a very helpful porter. We explained that if she had been in labour we would have been frantic. He said it was simple and we should have been able to park in front of the hospital by reception. He had to help us find the way back to the where we had parked. So thinking that we had missed a sign or been stupid, we retraced our steps so that we would know where to go when she is ready to be admitted, but we still couldn't find it. I can see how to do it, or think I can, by looking on the map on the internet. However, this bears no relation to the signs on the ground. We have only just moved here, maybe you take it for granted that everyone knows where they are going but we certainly had a bad experience and my daughter missed the tour.
Dan
My wife has been diagnosed as suffering from gestational diabetes and is therefore something of a special case, possibly requiring caesarian section if the baby grows too large for a normal delivery. While the diabetic nurse is excellent and diligent, we are struggling with the obstetric clinic and our local midwife unit. Having been promised to see the consultant, my wife saw a registrar who had obviously not bothered to read her notes - she asked questions that could have been answered by a cursory look at the notes - and made no examination. Meanwhile, at the local midwifery unit, my wife has only been seen by a student midwife. At no point has she been properly assessed by an obstetrician and no-one is giving us information or clear answers. We have no point of contact to guide us, beyond a student midwife and an apathetic registrar. This is our first child and there are genuine health concerns, but we feel disempowered.
Silvia Ferdin
Hello!
I am 7 weeks pregnant and am thinking how I could find a community midwife supporting water birh. I had a very nice and competent midwife with my first child 5 years ago (Mrs Gillian Pett) and the birgh experience was absolutely perfect but am not sure she is still working and am now with a different surgery and living in a different part of Cambridge. I know a good midwife can make a big difference!
I tried to look on Internet but could not find list of midwifes.
Thanks very much in advance for your suggestion.
KATE SHERWIN
After having my first son in 1997 and bottle feeding him I decided with my 2nd I was definitely going to breast feed him. However when he was born in feb 2005 after a traumatic birth I started to breast feed him and soon my 34b breasts swelled to what page 3 girls would have been proud of! I was so sore, bleeding and cracked. I was crying when feeding him and after asking on midwifes and nurses for help they assured me that someone would come round and dress my breasts and help him latch on properly. This never happened I was left with a hungry baby, I felt like a failure and it was left to me to ask another mother on the ward where to find the bottles, teats and milk! I can understand that they are extremely busy and have many women to look after but I would have thought the most important job of theres would have been to help the mother feed her new born baby! My son was only 6lb 1oz when born 12 days early after a placental abruption. I feel really let down that this chance of breast feeding was taken away from me and the last of support that was given at this crucial time.
anonymous
i gave birth in 2005, unfortunatly the care i recieved while i was in labour was very poor, i felt mine and my husbands wishes were not taken into account and i felt very unwelcome and felt no-one believed that i was in labour, i was made to feel like i was wasting their time and was taking up a bed unnecessarily.
fortunatly the shift changed over and when i did give birth just a few hours later the midwives who delivered our baby were a lot better and once i had given birth the care i recieved on lady mary, apart from my 1st night was good, although i think there should be more support for bottlefeeding mums and less pressure to breast feed, i was made to feel a bad mum because we chose to bottlefeed. it is such a shame the attitute of some staff ruined what should have been a happy occasion. i suffered PND and still cant come to terms with my babys birth.
Lucy
The care at the Rosie was very good when I had my son there recently. But please, could the ward provide water jugs for the bedside? and someone to refill them for those who are not up and about yet? Hinchingbroke does this, and it's very much appreciated (my first child was born there). Also, there needs some more coordination when an emergency c-section has to be carried out under a general anaesthetic. My partner was given the impression that there was a problem with me during the operation, and spent 20 minutes waiting for news, when in fact there was no problem. The midwives could do more to communicate with the father waiting outside to prevent undue anxiety. Apart from that, the care was very warm and professional at the Rosie.
Fiona
After reading other peoples comments I am not surprised although I seem to have problems with the Sara ward rather than the Lady Mary.
I had my first son 2 years ago and had a dreadful time. I was induced and no-one seemed to notice how much pain I was in, asked for an epidural and it was too early, was fully dilated in 1.5 hours and then was told it was too late - after a 5 hour second stage eventually my son was born by rotational forceps and then pulled out with forceps - very traumatic experience with stitching also my son was admitted in NICU with an infection and had fits all as a result of his birth. He is ok now, but I suffered with PND after this experience. I found the NICU staff fantastic and they helped me to breastfeed and were very sympathetic, however, the staff in the Sara ward were dreadful. Although short staffed, there was one particular nurse who was nasty and upset a lot of people. There were a few nice nurses but they were overshadowed by the unhelpful ones.
I went on to have a second son in Nov and after my dreadful experience last time I had an elective c-section as couldn't trust them with pain relief and didn't want all the problems my son and I had last time. I started in the Lady Mary ward and the staff were very helpful then my son developed feeding problems and jaundice and ended up in the SCBU and I was moved to the Sara Ward. The nasty nurse from last time was still there, and the nursery nurse lady was often very rude and totally unhelpful.
The plus side of the Sara ward was it was much cleaner than last time, as I developed an infection from the ward last time and my friends who I made whilst been there all had infections. I think as a whole the pain relief was bad, not sure if this is cost cutting measures, but I could hardly move as it was so painful afterwards, but only offered paracetamol and diclofenac which didn't take the edge of the pain. I don't think I would like to have another baby at the Rosie as I don't think the mothers get any help, however, the babies are given second to none treatment.
Anne F
I spent five weeks at the Rosie as I had placenta praevia (low-lying placenta), four of which were spent in Lady Mary Ward.
The care I received was excellent and the warmth of the ward staff and midwives made what could have been a really difficult experience a great deal easier.
I ended up having to have an emergency C-section and the doctors, anaethetists and midwives were absolutely superb and delivered our beautiful baby girl, Jasmine, at 36 weks with no problems, even though it was a difficult operation.
My only gripe was with the pain relief offered in Sara Ward after my operation - for the first, very painful, day, I was offered only paracetamol (more appropriate for a hangover than a major op!).
I made some life-long friends during my time at the Rosie and would have no hesitation in going there again in the future.
One particular issue I have is counselling - this should be more readily available to all patients, particularly those who have had difficult births. The result of understaffing means that midwives are not always able to spend a great deal of time talking to mothers and mothers-to-be about how they feel and there should be a better support structure in place.
The Friends of the Rosie charity could also be given a higher profile - I know that I would be really willing to make a donation but the first few weeks after giving birth are very chaotic and if donation forms were made readily available on the wards or given to patients on exiting on the hospital I am sure that many patients who have had positive experiences would be willing to get involved or make a donation. I appreciate that the charity is run by volunteers but feel that the good work that it does needs to be communicated better.
Mandy
I must admit that the thought of a long stay in hospital terrified me but I cannot praise the staff who looked after us enough.I was admitted to the Lady Mary ward on the Saturday at term plus 5 with high blood pressure.They decided to keep me in until baby was born as I was bordering on pre-eclampsia.I was induced on the Tuesday and had my beautiful baby boy on the Thursday at 4.50am.I was monitered at all times,when I was left they told me how long they were going to be away for and they were never far off their time.I had quite a few people in the delivery room with me and they were all very kind and helpful,even when I was unfortunatly sick all over them,twice! There was a trainee mid-wife in with me and although she couldn't do anything medical to help me she was like a second birthing partner,helping me with my breathing,mopping my brow and letting me squeeze her hand very tightly.I wish I had remembered her name to thank her personally.Back on Lady Mary ward after the birth the staff were as equally helpful and although breastfeeding didn't work out for me and my baby, I cannot fault them in their persiverance to help me breastfeed at all hours of the day and night.I realise that I am lucky to of had a good experience and I hope that if I decide to have more children that I will be treated with the same respect.
Tamsin Bryant
I had a difficult labour with my first baby and recieved excellent care from the dedicated and helpful staff. It is clear that the hospital is understaffed and some aspects of our care seemed a little disorganised as a result but this is not the fault of the staff there who did their jobs with care and enthusiasm under difficult conditions. Thank you to all of you for helping bring my wonderful daughter safely into the world.
