rotunda, coombe or holles st?

amira

Hi all,

well, i'm pregnant it seems and suddenly i'm faced with all this questions and decisions. Went to my GP yesterday and she asked me what hospital i was going to and i realised i don't have a clue??

Still don't know if i'll go public, semi or private.. i think i'll go public so then i'll have some money left for when the baby is here.. but now i'm faced with the decision of where??

Anybody any recommendations??

I heard the Coombe has a bad rep, but that could be from long ago?? Haven't heard anything about the rotunda and little about Holles St.

I'd appreciate a bit of advise. The GP yesterday was not very helpful. The only thing she asked me is if i'm taking folic acid... She didnt tell me anything else, just confirmed the pregnancy and to go to a hospital..

Then once i pick the hospital, will i go midwife clinic or consultant?? gosh.. all this questions, and i need to act fast coz i think i'm in an advance state.. thing is i was always irregular so is not possible to say until i get a scan, but i think i could be anything between 12 and 8 weeks already!!

January

Which is closest to work/home?

I went to the Rotunda on number 1 (had a bad birth but I don't think it was due to the docs or anything), Coombe on number 2 (and had an amazing experience. I loved that hospital but it was just too far away) and back to Rotunda on number 3 where I had another great experience.

Everybody is going to have horror stories on each of the hospitals. But to be honest, they're all much of the same, unless you go private in Mount Carmel you are not guaranteed a private or even semi private room. The care will be the same once you're in labour no matter if you go public/semi p/private.

amira

I work in the IFSC so either rotunda or holles are handy... i live in citywest, so coombe will be the closest then.. that is why i'm so undecided...

I don't think I can afford the private option, i know i'll need the money once the baby is here.. and spoil him/her a bit, as is my first!!

TwoMums2Be

I believe the Coombe has a car park...parking isn't easy in the city centre.

Living in the west that is one decision you don't have to make as there isn't much of an option

Congrats

Ginny

I'm going to the Rotunda, I could have gone to OLOL but appointment wise with work it would have sucked. I'm going public too and I can't say enough about the service I've received, I've never waited more then 1 hour, the nurses are lovely I had a scan at 13 weeks, an anomaly one at 21 weeks, which was then repeated at 25 weeks, as junior wasn't behaving the first time. Had my 28 week appointment slotted in when I went for a GTT test and had a mini scan at the 28 week appt. Heading for my 34 week appt. in 2 weeks.
Parking wise all hosp's are a nightmare, I used to work visiting the hosps, and you are better off parking in a car park and walking up, for the Rotunda if there are no spaces around it we park in the Ilac or Vue cinema. Holles St. you could get parking on the roads around there, for the coombe I'm not sure, they have a carpark but it can fill up quite quick.

Mink

As Ginny says above, Rotunda is great. I'm with the midwife led unit and I've never had to wait long. I'd recommend going with them - if any complications come up they will send you to doctor/consultant anyway.

Every hospital has good & bad stories connected with it, I just know that all the staff I've met so far at Rotunda (including when I was birth partner to my sis a few years back) are lovely. They are very very busy but all the hospitals are so you have to always bear that in mind.

I've found them to be very efficient when I've been in and it was very clean too.

January

TwoMums2Be wrote: »

I believe the Coombe has a car park...parking isn't easy in the city centre.

Living in the west that is one decision you don't have to make as there isn't much of an option

Congrats

Coombe car park is expensive. Think the first 2/3 hours are 4 euro then extra after that up to 25 euro a day.

amira

thanks everybody for the advise!! i woke up sure about holles st. Then i decided coombe and now you're making me think rotunda!!! what am i like!! will probably change my mind 40 times before i send the letter!! ha!

Rotunda makes a lot of sense for the appointments.. but for the delivery i think the coombe give me easier access.. so kind of think that's the one that makes more sense??

amira

January wrote: »

Coombe car park is expensive. Think the first 2/3 hours are 4 euro then extra after that up to 25 euro a day.

haha.. i knew this kid was gonna cost me some money... i'll sure go for public now

Squiggler

Bear in mind that the Midwife Led Units have catchment areas so you might need to check the websites of the individual hospitals to see which one would cover where you live.

Otherwise it would be a good idea to research the hospitals and their policies and determine which one best suits you, and the pregnancy/birth experience you would like to have.

If you want to be scanned regularly and frequently then the Coombe seems to be the best - they do early and anomaly scans and mini scans at most consultant appointments.

If you want an actively managed labour, albeit with an increased risk of intervention, then Holles St might be better, though they do not routinely do the early/dating scan.

Also, you may want to consider homebirth as an option, or consider using a self employed community midwife for Antenatal appointments with a hospital birth. In Dublin the HSE will pay the SECM directly so there may be no cost to you, or minimal cost (and private health insurance will cover the balance) with the advantage that appointments are in your home with little or no "waiting time" and where you can be comfortable.


Don't rush into a decision, particuarly not when it comes to choice of hospital.

January

Can you actually do that Squiggler? Have all your appts in your home and then go to hospital for the birth without even trying for a home birth?

Squiggler

Yep, of course you could - as long as you qualify (under 35, no previous unexplained losses, no previous complications among other things). Under the terms of the homebirth MOU you MUST also register with a hospital, and if you feel at any stage that you don't want to go ahead with the homebirth you can opt for hospital birth.

As most mums know the likelihood that you will be attended by strangers during labour/birth is high even if you've attended the hospital throughout the pregnancy. At least with the SECM model of care you've had consistent Antenatal care (and you'll have your notes to bring with you to the hospital) throughout.

Planning a homebirth doesn't guarantee you will have one, or commit you to having one. Just gives you additional options, which I'm personally in favour of.

missis aggie

To avoid unnecesery induction, being pushed to take epidural every minute, no help with breastfeeding and being treated like I don't owe my body I choose homebirth this time. I know its not an option for everyone. First time I was in Coombe.
I don't try to scare you, I believe some people have good experience it depends. It's just my personal opinion
Good luck with your pregnancy

Ginny

I know the Rotunda has a Dominions scheme, I think it covers Dublin 7 and 11, it also has outreach midwife led units in Swords, Blanc and Coolock, I don't think any of these will help you though.
The Rotunda also offer scans at 12 weeks, an anomaly scan at 20 weeks and so far I've received a mini scan at the other appointments too.

Lola18

I went public to the Coombe and found it brilliant, they gave me my first scan at 13 weeks and my big scan at 22 weeks. I also had a small quick scan at every appointment that was in the hospital.
I really thought the care was great, they never rushed me and took time to answer any questions I had. I'm also living in citywest and found it so handy to get to.

Congrats btw x

amira

Well, i think that's me out of homebirth then.. i'm 34, will be 35 next month.. i'm an aul one!!

John Mason

Ginny wrote: »

. Holles St. you could get parking on the roads around there, .

there is a small multi-storey carpark at the back of Holles Street and it is 10e for 12 hours parking

TwoMums2Be

You're not old I'm 34 too and I have had a very smooth pregnancy with little to complain about so far - I'm currently 33 weeks so not long left!

Good luck with the hospital choice - it doesn't seem like an easy choice

How Strange

I'd say choose your hospital firstly on its philosophy; Holles St do active management of labour so you're on a clock from the moment you go in (12hrs) and if you haven't delivered in that time they'll intervene. 12 hours isn't a long time for a first birth. You get one scan around 18-20 weeks in Holles St.

The Coombe give you 24 hours. I had my son there and I have nothing but praise for it. You get a dating scan and 20 week scan, lots of mini scans and a weight scan in the Coombe.

I'm not sure about the Rotunda but I've heard very positive things about it.

Then choose based on where you live because you may go into labour during the day so consider how easy/difficult it would be to get to the hospital in rush hour traffic. That kind of rules out the Rotunda if you live in west Dublin because you have to cross town to get there.

You get paid time off work to attend appointments so that should be the last reason for choosing your hospital.

Squiggler

amira wrote: »

Well, i think that's me out of homebirth then.. i'm 34, will be 35 next month.. i'm an aul one!!

It won't rule you out, if you wanted a home birth.

amira

well, as january said in her first post, you hear horror stories about every hospital.. you have also all made good points on every single one of them.. and i thank you all for that.

I assume that they will all take good care of me and my baby wherever we decide to go, they're health professionals at the end of the day and we must trust them, whether we like it or not we are on their hands.

Been checking their websites, with that and all the info you have all kindly provided, i've decided to go for the coombe, also because of the 'proximity' factor.. altho i know i'm far from everywhere...

Thanks a mill again for your advise, as i said i'm a newby so i'm sure i'll come up with many more questions along the way. It's very comforting to know you're all out there willing to help..

Plus i'm sure this lil trhead will help other mums to be to make their choice.

Moonbeam

I worked in the IFSC too and Holles St is so handy.
I was born there and had my 2 daughters there.
Semi private there or the midwife led unit are the best options.

Good luck:) and Congrats:)

How Strange

amira I work in the ifsc and I used to get the luas to/from the Coombe. Fatima is the nearest stop and is less than 10 minutes walk to the Coombe.

0ctober

Regarding parking in the Coombe- you can park for free in the Lidl underground car park, it's literally a 2 minute walk from the hospital. I think they might be bringing in charges for the car park because they had signs up, but so far there's no barriers or pay machines so it's free for now!

Also- I'd recommend asking about if you qualify for the domino scheme because then you can attend Tallaght hospital for your appointments which would be much closer to home if you're in citywest. You get seen so much quicker there, I'm literally in and out in 20 mins!

Toots

I went semi private at holles st and couldn't fault it. It was €900 at the time (I had my baby last September, not sure if it's gone up since then). You can claim back some on your med1 and I am able to claim some on my health insurance also.

I chose holles st because it was closest to me out of the 3 public hospitals, mount carmel is about 20 mins from my house but was way outside my price range. Also, a lot of my friends and family had been there and had good things to report. Regarding the active labour management, I was concerned about that too, but when I asked my consultant she said that the 12 hours only start when you go in the delivery room.

When I went into labour, I started on a friday evening, late on saturday afternoon I went in to the hospital and the midwife told me that I was in labour, but hadn't started to dilate yet and they'll only put you in a delivery room when you start dilating. They said that if I was put in a delivery room, I'd be under the 12 hour clock and she said she'd be very surprised if my baby was born within 12 hours, so we had the option of going to the antenatal/labour ward until labour progressed enough to go to d/w or else I could go home for a while (we didn't live very far away and it was the weekend so no traffic) and come back when I was further along. We went back next morning at 9am, after I'd been in for about 9 hours my baby went into distress so I had to have an assisted delivery. That happened very suddenly, because I was 10cm and would have been about to start pushing anyway, they just needed to get him out a bit quicker than I would have been able to on my own.

I wouldn't bother booking SP on the basis of accommodation because depending on how busy they are there's no guarantees where you'll be put. I got a private room even though I was SP because the hospital was very quiet that weekend. On the other hand, a colleague of mine went fully private but still ended up being put on a 6 bed public ward because the hospital was jammers when she had her baby.

I had a scare at 26 weeks and had to go in overnight and the only option was the antenatal/labour ward which has 14 beds. I was dreading the thought, but it wasn't bad at all. I would have loved a home birth, but due to various complications during the pregnancy it wasn't an option.

If you do go for a hospital that has no parking, then I'd strongly recommend getting one of the parking tags that you can top up by text. I got one and it was really handy not having to carry a load of change going to appointments, also if your appointment gets delayed you don't have to run out and top up the meter. Same goes for when you're in labour, your birth partner can just nip down the hall and text (no mobiles in delivery room) rather than having to go all the way to the meter and potentially miss the big event. Here's a link to it: https://www.parkingtag.ie/

Hannibal Smith

I went to Holles Street twice, the first time I was in for 2 weeks, second time 10 days, the second time I had gest diabetes so I was in and out of it all the time, so it was like my second home and I know it like the back of my hand

Pros

The doctors, midwives and staff are excellent.
I was completely confident with the antenatal care I was getting (though I moaned about it at the time )
When it comes to the birth, they are calming and really help to relax you. I know people are saying they actively take part in the birth, but I never felt I was getting anything but the attention I needed. I never felt pushed into anything or rushed, and when it came to the babies going into distress, there was no messing with them, out baby came.

Cons

The hospital is quite cramped. The waiting area in the semi private part is a narrow corrider and is very claustrophobic if you've to wait a long time.

Depending on the consultant you see, you could be waiting up to 2 hours in the semi private, half the time I wondered why I wasn't going public!

Being an old building the hospital is quite disjointed, so sometimes you're going to one place for ante natal visits, another for blood tests etc, which could be from one end of the hospital to the other.

There's no recreational area. I was in for what I considered to be a long time on both births and there's no change of scenery. I asked both times if I could go for a walk around merrion square, but they wouldn't let me so all I could manage is a walk around the carpark, which is tiny (my hubby was with the baby obviously).

Carparking is expensive. I always got a spot along merrion square (when you turn from baggot street up to Holles Street its the first left). But it is quite expensive for your other half. He did find a car park on Grand Canal some where though.

I don't know how the other hospitals compare with all these points and I believe Holles Street will be moving to St Vincents, but not for a while, so there will be more room eventually.

Oh also, I picked Holles Street because it was close to work, forgetting that I'd most likely be coming from home when the time came So you have to pick a balance, close to work for appointments, but close to home for delivery

LordSutch

Holles Street - Midwife/Domino Scheme - Friendly and helpful - we sware by it, and the aftercare service was top drawer too, only downside we found was the parking, or should I say (lack of), but all in all we have had two great experiences at Holles Street

Good luck.

PonyP

I had my baby ten weeks ago in the Coombe and I will always recommend it to anyone who asks. My pregnancy went very well, however there were some issues when my son was born and the staff were wonderful in the Coombe and we are still attending the BabyClinic on a regular basis due to various reasons and the staff continue to be so kind and supportive. In relation to an earlier comment regarding the parking in the Coombe, it's actually 2.50 for up to four hours parking (I was there again this morning with my son) and there are special rates once you are admitted to hospital to have your baby on the day the baby arrives. As there were complications with my son's birth, my husband was immediately given a free pass for the carpark for the duration of my stay (6 days and 6 nights).
I can't recommend the Coombe enough, however best of luck with whatever option you pick.

Mink

This thread really shows that you're not going to go too far wrong picking any of the maternity hospitals.

There'll always be the cases where mistakes are made and things don't go right, with each hospital, but they all seem to be in a lot of good books!

amira

PonyP wrote: »

I had my baby ten weeks ago in the Coombe and I will always recommend it to anyone who asks. My pregnancy went very well, however there were some issues when my son was born and the staff were wonderful in the Coombe and we are still attending the BabyClinic on a regular basis due to various reasons and the staff continue to be so kind and supportive. In relation to an earlier comment regarding the parking in the Coombe, it's actually 2.50 for up to four hours parking (I was there again this morning with my son) and there are special rates once you are admitted to hospital to have your baby on the day the baby arrives. As there were complications with my son's birth, my husband was immediately given a free pass for the carpark for the duration of my stay (6 days and 6 nights).
I can't recommend the Coombe enough, however best of luck with whatever option you pick.

I did picked the Coombe in the end. As Mink said, i'll be taken good care of in any of the maternities.. just the Coombe is closer to where i live so it does makes sense for when the day comes.. You just helped reassuring i made a good choice!!

Sorry to hear about the complications, and really hope all works out well in the end.. sure it will!! Best of luck and thanks!!