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Being penalised by midwives for changing hospital!

Hi everyone,

Bit of a LONG rant here sorry!! On my 1st antenatal appt a few wks ago, I expressed a concern to the midwife I saw re giving birth at watford gen and I wanted to know what options I had. She basically made me feel completely out of order for even asking the question, told me that if I was going to choose another hospital that to tell her then and there as she didn't want to waste her time going through the booking in and taking blood, etc.... so I felt compelled to say I'd stick with watford gen.

Anyway, after a few wks of thinking about it and doing my own investigations via people (not one good story re watford gen, including 1 lady who was in labour for 6 hours having to sit in the corridor as no beds available!! & thats before they amalgamated 3 towns to that hospital! and 1 lady who lost her baby as she kept being sent home, told she was not in labour & by time they realised she was baby had got distressed and died so she had to give birth to her stillborn baby - poor lady...) and health commission report (hospital weak in all areas) I decided why should I feel bad for not wanting to go there so I made an appt to see the midwife again.

I went on Wednesday just gone and saw a different midwife (haven't actually met mine yet!) and explained the situation. She did not hold back in making it obvious that she was disgusted with what I said and proceeded to tell me that 1stly I had to see GP for them to write and transfer me to luton & dunstable, then told me I could not have anymore antental appts at the surgery, that all my bloods would have to be taken again and that I could not go for my triple t blood test booked for jan10th as I was changing hospitals and I should wait to get everything done there!!!

Just came back this morning from seeing my GP and explained everything to her. She advised me that she does not blame me for wanting to change hospitals as she has heard many bad things also, and she was completely appalled by the way the midwives dealt with me and is going to have a meeting with the partners of the surgery about it. She told me that I am to continue all my blood tests and antenatal care that I'm currently booked for at my surgery as it could take time to transfer and I could miss the window for the triple t (which infuriated her more that the midwives told me that I could not have it done now) and that she would do everything poss to prevent me from having to re-do as many bloods/tests as poss and to see if my notes could just be transferred over from one hospital to another.

I don't hold my breath in receiving the best antental care I should prior to my transfer if my surgeries midwives have anything to do with it and fingers crossed, here's hoping I get excellent care at luton & dunstable hospital (I am proud to say that their annual reports are all above average and the hospitals actual field of speciality is paediatrics, ivf & prem/neonatal baby unit so I have good hope that me and my baby will be looked after well there!!!

Rant over and done with - ahhhh, I feel much better now thanks!!!
Eva x

Replies

  • i would put in a major complaint, thats unfair, its your choice, idiots! x
  • Hi Eva, You have been treated appaulingly and don't you let them get away with it!! It makes me sick how some midwifes think they are God. It is supposed to be a magical and wonderful experience to go through pregnancy and childbirth but the way some midwives treat you, it is hell on earth!! Just a quick question for you, how do you go about looking up stats on hospitals? I wanted a homebirth but have been told I am not allowed to and have just been given the hospital I had my two previous children in and both births were a bad experience!! I just wanted to see how bad or good they are now, sadly I only have one choice as the other two hospitals in my area have both closed their maternity units!! ( What the hell is the NHS coming to!!) Hope to hear from you soon, Karyn x
  • Thanks for the responses Carlie & Karyn. Yep I am gonna put a written complaint in as they need bringing down a peg or two!!!

    Karyn, re your question - heres the link below, if you copy and paste it then scroll to bottom of page you can either type name of hospital or your location for a list, it will then take you to a page which tells you their score in each area assessed and how they do in comparison to the national average.

    http://annualhealthcheckratings.healthcarecommission.org.uk/annualhealthcheckratings.cfm

    Like you, my local birth unit has been closed down and so the nearest option is the crap hospital I do no wish to go to! I'd rather give birth in the car on my drive to the one I'm being transferred to - and I'm actually being serious!!! LOL

    Good luck with the health check - the scores are for 2005-2006 and I think they were just done a month or so ago.
    Eva x
  • hi Eva, ive just read about your appauling treatment...i just wanted to say well done for sticking to your gut feeling and make sure they don't get away with that treatment (your doc sounds like he/she on the ball!) i just wanted to also say that i changed hospitals when i was pregnant with my daughter - and that decision probably saved her life!! to cut a long story short i was promised a late scan at 30+ weeks from the original hospital i was booked with (due to major birth problems with my first born they wanted to see what size etc. the baby was) when i moved house - which meant moving doctor and hospital - the new hospital refused to give me the late scan and said that they would be giving me a c-section and that was that (even though i didn't want one, although i'd had an emergency one in the end with my first) so i decided to move hospitals (even after getting booking in details and a tour of labour suite etc.) it was late in pregnancy to move elsewhere but i didnt have a good feeling about that hospital...so i moved and was given scan at 34 weeks which resulted in them noticing my daughters internal organs were not in the correct place (due to diaphram not forming) so i was booked for a c-section at 38+ weeks (didn't mind i was having to have one at this point as it was in my daughters best interests) so she could be taken immediately to intensive care and was operated on at 3 days old...im estatic to say she is now 3 and a totally healthy lively little girl...although i have been told that had it not been discovered at that late scan and had it not been for the amazing staff at the hospital where she was born it may have been a very different story!
    so that is why i strongly believe that people should follow their gut instincts - we know deep down what's best for us and our babies so don't let those nasty midwives make you feel bad about your choice.
    good luck ali x
  • Hi Eva, thanks for getting back to me with that link I will deffinatly have a good look later. I had a brief look and it was saying weak in all areas, so hasn't filled me with much confidence!! maybe i will try and fight for a home birth again, I also have just found out from a friend who kept a local newspaper clipping they had a terrible outbreak of MRSA last year in the maternity unit!!! Just what you don't want to hear. anyway good luck to you and thanks again. Karyn x
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