I'm technically booked at LGI (though aiming for a homebirth) and was at the parent craft classes there a few weeks ago, so my knowledge is pretty up to date. (Currently 35 weeks.)
There are two water birth rooms available in the delivery suites which looked clean and well organised to me. The birthing pool however wasn't all that much bigger than a regular bath, I was expecting something larger! The home birth pool I've hired is easily twice the size.
The other delivery rooms also seemed to be clean and well supplied, but a lot of them didn't have ensuite bathrooms, if that is important. Personally, the idea of staggering across the corridor to a communal bathroom while in labour doesn't really appeal to me.
I didn't get to see the ward itself as it's behind locked doors, but by all accounts it's not great. Tons of beds with very little room or privacy. I think the staff to patient ratio mentioned was one midwife to six patients. It's apparently noisy and bright the whole time, so sleep is next to impossible, but the MWs take a dim view on the use of earplugs.
There are four amenity/side rooms that are sometimes available, rather than going on the ward. Two ensuite and two without bathrooms, at costs of £65 and £45 per night respectively. However, they are allocated on a need by need basis, and if you manage to secure one to pay privately but a high need (CS/Twin/Etc) Mum comes in, you will get turfed out to the main ward at any time of day/night and not refunded.
Visiting hours are a couple of hours in the afternoon and a couple of hours in the evening for friends/relatives. A maximum of two people to the bed at any given time, but no children are allowed on the ward aside from your own. Partners however don't count in the visitors limit and are permitted to be around from relatively early in the morning and stay until the evening. I think it was 8am to 8pm, but I'm not sure.
The parking situation at LGI isn't good, to be honest. If you turn up during the daytime, you're going to struggle to get a parking space outside Clarendon Wing! Assuming you do get a parking space, make sure you carry £13.40 in coins with you for 24 hours of parking. There is parking on the street outside the hospital which is about the same cost during the day, but actually free after 6pm.
There's some debate at the moment as Clarendon Wing is meant to guarantee parking, due to being the dedicated wing for Children for the whole of Leeds. A lot of parking spaces are marked as being for parents with children only - but there's debate over whether or not that includes pregnant women! There was an article on BBC recently and LGI came up as the worst in the country for fining for parking, so the wardens are apparently pretty vigilant.
This isn't making LGI sound very good, is it? To its credit, the times I've been to Clarendon Wing it's always been clean and the staff have always been very helpful and friendly. There was a lot of building work going on earlier in the year, which seemed to have mostly finished when I was there last, so I think a lot of parts are freshly refurbished now.
To be honest, I'll still be sticking with my home birth if at all possible, though.
