I think plenty of women do have good birth experiences on the nhs - what I was trying to say is that I don't think the way our maternity hospitals are run - target led etc - do anything to enhance a woman's birth experience. I just remember overwhelming feelings of being out of control.
Oh I see what you're saying, yes, sorry. As a teacher I would probably draw a similar parallel with state schools (ie there are lots of good ones but the target-led culture and staffing issues in some areas/subjects do their reputation as a whole no good at all).
I bet that for every bad experience there are hundreds of good ones, though - but people so rarely seem to take the time to officially record these in the way they do complaints. It's such a shame!
I don't think I would, but again that's based on my experience. My birth was hideous but the midwives were great. I actually trusted them more than the doctors... Can you hire an independent doctor?
No I wouldn't. I had a complicated labour but the midwives were wonderful. I had one with me all the time pretty much. She was lovely!! The only fault I had was the after care. They were clearly understaffed though tried their best. I ended up taking painkillers from home and didn't get much help when I was struggling to breastfeed. Although next time I would just be more prepared for that.
I bet that for every bad experience there are hundreds of good ones, though - but people so rarely seem to take the time to officially record these in the way they do complaints. It's such a shame!
I totally agree. My mum used to be a swimming teacher and at the pool they had a comments box and all they ever got in there was complaints. Once a mother came up to her and thanked her for being so good with teaching her child, and my mum asked her if she would mind putting that down on a slip into the comments box, because it would be so nice having a nice comment rather than all the complaints xx
Coco25 - yes you can hire a private (independent) Dr, they will have privileges at a particular hospital. It is VERY expensive though. However they usually have their own midwives (included in the fee) and it covers all your scans etc too. You would get a lot more personal attention but not sure it would be worth the huge fees tbh - we looked into it but quickly realised it was waaaaaaay out of our league!
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Oh I see what you're saying, yes, sorry. As a teacher I would probably draw a similar parallel with state schools (ie there are lots of good ones but the target-led culture and staffing issues in some areas/subjects do their reputation as a whole no good at all).
I bet that for every bad experience there are hundreds of good ones, though - but people so rarely seem to take the time to officially record these in the way they do complaints. It's such a shame!
I bet that for every bad experience there are hundreds of good ones, though - but people so rarely seem to take the time to officially record these in the way they do complaints. It's such a shame!
I totally agree. My mum used to be a swimming teacher and at the pool they had a comments box and all they ever got in there was complaints. Once a mother came up to her and thanked her for being so good with teaching her child, and my mum asked her if she would mind putting that down on a slip into the comments box, because it would be so nice having a nice comment rather than all the complaints xx