Kingston on Thames Hospital - good and bad experiences please

[ilovebeinglazy]

sorry this is long - but aren't all birth stories!

I gave birth just over 2 years ago at Kingston. Things disn't go very well. Had poor support from overworked midwifes. needed cs (not the hospital's fault -ds was in wrong position). emergency cs was great actually =the surgical staff were so nice and caring and efficient in comparison.

Then rubbish aftercare - crowded wards, nobody to explain how/when to call for help, refused to let me see breastfeeding specialist as they said I was doing fine. Then 6 hours later found ds had lost 13% bodyweight and they insisted he needed formula. Ended up discharging myself after 4 days and 3 nights as needed dh to hold fractious ds while I finally got a few hours sleep. (somewhow managed just to breastfeed for first 5 months).

Kington is so close and convenient to me and the medical care was excellent so am considering going there again. Any opinions either way?

[jeanjeannie]

Not had experience of Kingston - but an almost identical experience of bad aftercare at my local hospital. As I'm due again soonish I decided to get a debriefing with the head of maternity to talk about concerns etc....is this something you could do? Maybe worth a shot.

[wheelybug]

I had a very good experience at Kingston 3 years ago - but I had a high risk pregnancy so was watched like a hawk and was probably a priority !

That said, the hospital was v. overstretched at the time and they wanted to send me elsewhere - not local - and we live about 5 mins from kingston and had spent a lot of time there antenatally so we begged to stay there and they bent over backwards to let us stay there.

I too had an emergency c-sec after about 3 days of attempted induction. They did do everything at the time to try and get me to deliver "naturally".

Postnatally, I had a good amount of support - A couple of nights the midwives took dd off me to allow me to sleep as I hadn't really slept for literally a week.

My main criticism was b/f support - I did see the b/f counsellor but she wasn't v. good and they wouldn't let me cup feed which didn't encourage me to persevere.

[ilovebeinglazy]

thanks jura - I wanted a waterbirth at the malden suite with no pain control - this time I'll just settle for no emergency cs.

jeanjeannie - sorry you had the same experienice - how did the debriefing go - were they defensive?

Forgot to add am only 10 weeks pg

[ilovebeinglazy]

thanks wheely. Noboody offered to watch ds but maybe I just wasn't assertive enough. it's weird cos socially and at work i'm almost overly assertive but there i was out of my depth and they were so busy.

When i got home I realised they had put the name of baby opposite on my observation sheet and some of the obs about cup feeding and expressing referred to mum opposite and some on breastfeeding referred to me.

i did complain at the time to the head midwife who was v apologetic

[jeanjeannie]

Hi Lazy - well, not had the debriefing yet - but am hoping to get something positive from it. It was actually a consultant and my community midwife who recommended that it was something I should do. Both of them were horrified by the (non) aftercare I received! I've got a pretty damming case file (lots of mistakes ...) so I'm hoping that they'll take me seriously.

I'm also hoping I was just a blip - I've a mate who is fab midwife there - and I think I just got caught up in a very busy, stressful time.

[Anchovy]

No idea re the maternity side, but as an aside, my DS was rushed to paedeatric A&E there in an ambulance a couple of months ago with a serious head injury and they were absolutely brilliant.

[PortAndLemon]

I had good experience there three years ago and am having baby #2 there in around three weeks, so will reprt back (it's been fine so far). Concur that the paediatric A&E and children's ward are very good.

[ilovebeinglazy]

Hi anchovy - paeds are good I agree

Hi Port and Lemon - from what I've read if you've had one good birth experience you have an even better chance of another good one next time round - hope that holds true for you.
I will be looking out for your birth announcement thread - be sure to post all the details!!

anyone have any recent stories?

[PortAndLemon]

Well, I had emergency c-section last time (so not sure good exactly), but apart from one registrar who got right up my nose the rest of the staff were lovely and postnatal care was OK. They are being very supportive about my VBAC plans at the moment.

I agree bf support was terrible -- fortunately DS and I managed without needing any but I know that was down to luck more than anything else.

[QuintessentialShadows]

I was not so happy about Kingston.

1. The obstretic consultant (at hv clinic) did not inform me that I has Symphesis Pubis Dysfunction, and did not refer me to physio to get it under control during pregnancy.

1. I had to go in for a check up a few days prior to due date because I stumbled and fell in the park when out with my toddler. The doctor left me alone in the consultancy room on a narrow bench. I was the last patient of the day and she just left me there. As I had SPD I struggled to get up from the bench, and suddenly felt a sharp pain. Because of this they decided to keep me in overnight in fear of ruptured placenta, and the sonographer would be in the next morning so we would do a scan then...

1. After my son was born, still failing to recognise (or read the notes saying I had SPD) they did not think I needed to see a doctor when I complained that I could not raise up in bed on my own, that I could not turn over in bed, that I could not actually walk to the toilet without great pain.

1. They were so keen to get me to formula feed, that the silly cow brought in formula against my wishes, starting cup feeding my 2 day old baby saying "oh little darling, bad mummy starving you, here you go, oh so good milk, oh baby" etc.

The birth experience itself was very positive.

But I would not go there unless it was the only hospital left on this planet, and even then I think I prefer to go give birth behind a bush.

[funnyhaha]

My experience is 4 years old, so may be out of date now I had mixed experiences in pg (bled throughout, so was in & out a lot) - consultants/SHOs largely completely insensitive not hugely supportive.
Went into laboour 4 weeks early - had a wonderful mw who did her best to support my desire for minimal intervention - went and got another mw when my pushing went over the hospitals 'allocated' time, & together they coached me through so we didn't need a doctor
Aftercare & bf support reasonably dire (but less bad than St Peters, Chertsey, where I had dd)

Ime, with the second birth you're much more arsey assertive - you know what is/isn't right, you feel more confident expressing it, which makes a LOT of difference. Also, set yourself up with bf lines/local groups etc so you're not just relying on their help...

[ilovebeinglazy]

Thanks for your message QS. I'm so sorry that they were so so rubbish with your SPD. I watched a friend have this condition thru her pregnancy and it was horrendous for her and she didn't have her toddler to run after like you did. The formula stuff is outrageous but doesn't surprise me.

LOL at the behind a bush comment. I must admit that I do habour fantasies about this one just popping out in the birth in an accidental homebirth scenario.

My choices are Kingston, Epsom and St Peters. Form what funnyhaha says St Peter's isn't much cop either. I guess I just have to psyche myself up for being more assertive this time - hard when your drugged up to the eyeballs and high on happy hormones.

[ilovebeinglazy]

in the bath not in the birth - i blame those pregnancy hormones