Can you have babies at Naas General hospital?

myles79

I have just moved to Naas and found out this week that we are expecting child number 2 where is the closest hospital that caters for childbirths? Also can anyone recommend a good midwife and give me any info about maternity leave/entitlements I work full time and have done since september 07.

embee

Congrats on the pregnancy.

Your GP will be able to tell you what your nearest maternity hospital is when you go for your appt to confirm the pregnancy and sign up to combined care.

As for recommending midwives... if you go through the public system, you won't be assigned one. It'll just be whoever is there on the day. Unless you're very, very lucky, you'll have a different midwife on each ante-natal visit and then different ones again in labour & delivery wards.

Look up citizens information or the Social Welfare sites linked below for information on Maternity Leave and entitlements.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie
http://www.welfare.ie

myles79

We had our last baby in new zealand so am not familiar with the system...it is scary to think you are not assigned a midwife to follow you through to the birth!!

embee

myles79 wrote: »

We had our last baby in new zealand so am not familiar with the system...it is scary to think you are not assigned a midwife to follow you through to the birth!!

Aye, it is a pretty horrible set up that we have in Ireland under the public system at the moment. There are two Midwifery Led Units in Ireland (one in Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda and one in Cavan General Hospital) where you would have continuity of care with the same group of midwives. They are restrictive though in who can attend them - there is a list of criteria regarding your health, your weight, your height etc. and if you don't meet one of the list then you don't get into the scheme. The public system which the majority of women go through though is totally different. I never saw the same midwife twice, met the consultant obstetrician once and all other doctors I saw were SHO's or registrars (and never the same doctor twice). It is like a conveyor belt if you go public. If you choose to go private, you'll pay big money and will be under consultant-led care, so no midwifes (though midwives would be present during labour, the consultant tends to appear as the babys head crowns).

The Midwifery Led Units are a pilot scheme. There is a review of them going on at the moment and if they are found to be successful, then the scheme should be spread around the country. Won't happen in time for your new arrival though.

Mrs OBumble

myles79 wrote: »

We had our last baby in new zealand so am not familiar with the system...it is scary to think you are not assigned a midwife to follow you through to the birth!!

Congratulations .. you've just stepped back in time by about 20 years.

I trust you've noticed the adverts the govt has been running: every time a health-professional wants to lay hands on you, then you, yes unbelievably YOU, should ask them if they've washed their hands!

I've also been told that you may need to make sure they sterilise your skin every time they want to take a blood test (because apparently it's not routine over her, ffs).

And goodness only knows what else!

myles79

no way do they change the needles?? (serious question now!!!) i have additional medical issues...oh I am now really frightened!:(:eek:

Nea

Hi,
There is a midwife clinic in Naas Hospital in conjunction with the Coombe. When my GP confirmed my pregnancy I opted for the Coombe. I had my scans in the Coombe but you can then attend the midwife clinic in Naas once all is ok with the pregnancy.
It is so handy rather than fighting traffic and trying to find parking at the Coombe!
Hope this helps

myles79

going into labour and having to make it to the coombe what is it like in there I hear its pretty rough??

microgirl

myles79 wrote: »

no way do they change the needles?? (serious question now!!!) i have additional medical issues...oh I am now really frightened!:(:eek:

Oh of course they change the needles!! Come on, where on earth do you think you are - deepest, darkest Africa?!

FWIW any blood test I've ever had done (none for pregnancy, but one would assume all phlebotomists are trained the same way) they've swabbed the skin.

Talliesin

Look on the bright side, you aren't in the United States.

There's the possibility of going for a private midwife, you can claim a lot of the costs back from the state (though you have to fight ridiculously hard for it).

tallaght01

Slightly, OT, but to reassure the worried above :P

The governement campaign to get you to ask staff about hand washing in hospitals is a cynical attempt to imply that it's us who've caused the MRSA problem in Ireland.

Most audits (including those commisioned by the government) have found good handwashing levels by staff in Irish hospitals.

Most data will tell you that overcrowding and lack of beds is a much bigger contributor to the MRSA problem than hand cleanliness.

But a campaign encouraging you to ask your local TD what they're doing about overcrowding wouldn't be so popular witht he party faithful.

As someone who ended up with horrifically cracked skin from constant handwashing (when I was an intern taking 100s of bloods per week) I find it really offensive. Most docs and nurses wash their hands obsessively, because there's as much danger of us getting infected by nasties as there is of us infecting patients.

Plus, swabbing makes no real difference when taking blood. I do it, as people would get freaked out of I didn't. Bu tthe microbiologists say it makes no difference. It can make a minimal difference if you wait about 1 minute between swbabing and injecting, but very few people do that. Less than 1 minute...you may as well be wiping the area with bathwater :P

On topic, I have no idea if they deliver babies in naas hospital

ravydavygravy

OP - we live in Kilcullen (Just down the road from Naas), and chose to go public in Portlaoise General - its the closest maternity hospital, at about 40 mins drive from Naas. (The dublin ones are probably 45 mins drive with no traffic, but could take a long time with traffic - no traffic really between Naas and Portlaoise)

We found it good - the midwives are friendly and helpful, we got a scan every visit to the hospital, and generally very well looked after. We will definitly return again for any future children.

Any of our friends that opted to go private have been disappointed with the service - they get very little extra for a lot of cash spent... (only exception was one person who went to Mt Carmel, but that was mega-bucks - more of a hotel than a hospital :-) )

Dave

suesuss

I live twenty minutes from Naas Hospital and went to the Coombe clinic there when i had my daughter three and a half years ago, i had all my appointments there including my scan. I didn,t actually see the Coombe until i went into labour five days overdue at three in the morning we got there in no time at that hour not sure about rush hour though? Portlaoise is also quiet close in comparison, a friend had her little boy there recently and got on great. Not sure about Maternity benefits i,m sure it,s all changed since 04. Best of luck with everything.:)

suesuss

myles79 wrote: »

going into labour and having to make it to the coombe what is it like in there I hear its pretty rough??

I had my daughter in the Coombe a few years ago and i went semi private, i got on really well they couldn,t do enough for me. Sometimes it,s the people not the place that create a bad name, every hospital in this country is the same except the private ones.