Giving birth in Guildford

[Isil]

Hi ladies,
We have just recently moved to Guildford and we are expecting our first baby.I'm 26 weeks now. (est. due date 13th Jan.)We are eligible for NHS, though I don't have any idea about how long the process of application will take. Besides I have heart that NHS hospitals tend to intervene during the delivery.
I want a birth as natural as possible, with the least intervention possible and I'm also considering a homebirth.
What would you suggest to me? Should I look for an independent midwife? Should I see a private doc? Any recommended ones? Are NHS hospitals (Royal Surrey) in Guildford good enough? Can I find doulas here, since we have noone from the family that would be great.
Thanks for taking your time.

[TuttiFrutti]

Isil, I gave birth at the Royal Surrey 18 months ago and am now 21 weeks pregnant with my second, and booked in at the Royal Surrey again. It has an excellent reputation locally and I would definitely recommend it.

Is it your first birth? Whether you choose to go for a homebirth or hospital depends on lots of factors, including how far away from the hospital you are - 40% of first-time mothers end up transferring to hospital, so it's worth bearing in mind how you would cope with the car journey in late stage labour.

What I would do in your situation (and tried to do last time!) is go for a natural, active birth in the "home from home" rooms at the hospital. The Royal Surrey has 2 or 3 rooms specially designed for natural, low-intervention births, so they have TVs and CD players, pictures on the walls and basically don't look like hospital rooms. There is a team of midwives who do the "home from home" labours. You can't see a doctor or have an epidural, just like a home birth, but if you really need one you can transfer to the rest of the unit across the corridor.

I had a complicated long labour ending in an emergency c-section, and had to stay in hospital for 6 days. The staff were fantastic and the midwives helped me to establish breastfeeding so by the time I left hospital I felt confident about it. The hospital food is bad, buy hey, you get that anywhere in the NHS.

Are you American? I get the impression from your comments about the NHS that you're not used to it. Personally I wouldn't register with a private doctor as they are VERY expensive and the care is often no better than under the NHS.

I think hiring a doula is a great idea. I wish I had done this. Don't know how to go about it I'm afraid, but there are loads of other mumsnetters who should be able to advise you.

[Isil]

Tuttifrutti,
thanks for your quick response.
I'm Turkish and we arrived here just 3 weeks ago.Yes, I haven't much idea about NHS and what I have read from the newspapers about the NHS hospitals weren't very heart warming ;)Though I also learnt that it depends on the hospital staff. Now I'm very happy to learn that Royal Surrey "home from home" rooms.
How much is the price if you see a private doc? I'm asking because I really have no idea about it (and in case the NHS procedure takes a long time)
As I'm a first time mum-to-be I have no idea about what the birth will be like, you know,I'm a little bit nervous about it.
Cheers

[TuttiFrutti]

I think a birth at a private hospital costs about £3,000 if it's natural and £10,000 for a caesarean. I've no idea what you pay for a private doctor as I've never had one, but I guess it might be around £100 per visit. It's a lot of money anyway!

You should go to your nearest NHS surgery and register there, and they will assign you a doctor who will look after you during your pregnancy. Once you are in the system, the hospital will contact you with details of antenatal classes.

[pupuce]

Find a doula here or CAT me as I know quite a few too

[3sEnough]

Hi Isil - just to add that I gave birth twice at the Royal Surrey (and once elsewhere) - fine both times - once in the normal delivery suite and once in the home from home room as it had only just opened...I even stayed there until going home 6 hrs later!! Lovely atmosphere, great midwives, personally a relief to have an anaesthetist on call. The only comment I have is about how low their birthing stools are - I'm sure they're a generic size but really, I'm almost 6 foot and I could hardly sit on the thing when not pregnant never mind when 9 months gone and in labour!! You'll be fine if you go there - good luckx

[arfishymeau]

Hi Isil. I had my DD privately at the Royal Surrey.

The cost was around £5,000 including a private en-suite room. It was very expensive (paid for by insurance). The fees really add up, with separate fees for blood tests, epidurals, call-outs, scans, etc.

I didn't particularly rate the private room I had, very shabby and small for the huge amount of money that wanted per night. I would have a private room again though, it was very peaceful. I also delivered in a standard NHS delivery suite there, which was fine, bit scruffy in comparison to other private hospitals, but to be honest, I didn't care.

I had a private obstetrician/anaesthetist who did the delivery and an NHS midwife (well 3 actually, labour went on for 32 hours), so can't comment on the NHS doctors, but the midwives were excellent. My obstetrician was great and a had very good care throughout.

The food was terrible and after my long labour finished at midnight nothing was available.

The Royal Surrey has a great reputation and I chose it over some of the posher hospitals, like the Portland and John & Elizabeth as it has better facilities in case of emergency. I also decided to stay with the Royal Surrey after we moved to Kingston as it's reputation was so much better.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and move to England. I hope we help a little bit

[Isil]

Thank you for your replies.
I registered to our local surgery last thursday (it was a lot easier than I thought it would be) and I booked an appointment with the midwife for tomorrow.
Cheers,