Rotunda or Holles St- public / first pregnancy

_dubli_girl

Hi there, I am pregnant and wondering which of the hospitals do you recommend?
Is one of them better than another?
I've chatted to few friends and heard that holles st is new etc. but supposingly rotunda do more tests and have better care?
Is any of this true and what are your opinions?

Thestones

_dubli_girl wrote: »

Hi there, I am pregnant and wondering which of the hospitals do you recommend?
Is one of them better than another?
I've chatted to few friends and heard that holles st is new etc. but supposingly rotunda do more tests and have better care?
Is any of this true and what are your opinions?

I think both hospitals will have positive and negative reviews from people. I personally had my two kids in holles st, public first time and private second time, my first turned into an emergency situation and they handled it amazingly well so for that I will always be grateful how quick they acted and got my baby out safely. I can't comment on rotunda and don't know if they do extra tests but do know of someone who had a baby there and in all the scans they never picked up on severe abnormalities that were discovered immediately after birth. My suggestion would be go for whichever one is closer to you and pay for a detailed Nucal/anomaly scan which can be done at various clinics in Dublin.

Nekarsulm

Both are old, old buildings. Don't be expecting something from ER!
Either one will do the job, we went with Holles St. just because it was beside my wife's work, and they can give you an 8am appointment for check-ups.

lazygal

You will hear people sing the praises of both and say that they'll never darken the door of both ever again.
I've been in Holles St twice as a private patient. I know some in public who wouldn't go anywhere else and others who went to the Coombe or Rotunda after their first.
I found the tests like nuchal fold etc aren't routinely offered, you have to be informed and ask and pay for them.
Everyone I know who went public was scanned at every visit and got at least one anatomy scan. These can fail to pick up anomalies regardless.

shesty

Whereas I am Rotunda on both babies and to date on my third and find them very, very good.Have been in to their early pregnancy unit aswell on all three and cannot fault them.Rotunda first appointment seems to be earlier(12 weeks), and scans seem to be at every appointment too. I have also heard stories about Holles St! Both hospitals work a bit differently, but largely they are aiming for the same outcome really.
Most people choose based on convenience of location I think.I'm not sure what you mean by new?Both hospitals are very well established and have been revamped over the years, neither are what you would call brand new state of the art.But the staff are excellent.

TheIronyMaiden

Hey OP, I have to agree with what most of the other posters are saying here - public care is more or less the same in both hospitals. You will get good and bad reviews of both.
I'm on my second pregnancy now and both times I have gone to the Rotunda public. No complaints from me after my first time, was happy with the care I got. Actually I've found they've actually made improvements around waiting times for this pregnancy so that's a bonus.
But honestly Rotunda was just the handiest for me to get to so I went with that!

Cakerbaker

Depending on where you live one of the hospitals may have a midwives clinic in your area where you could have your appointments instead of going to the hospital (generally has shorter waiting times). You could also avail of the early release scheme where you can leave the hospital early but midwives visit you at home. Different hospitals cover different areas so it may be something to check out if you think that’s something you’d be interested in.

PhoenixParker

+1 to cakerbaker, if you're low risk try to get into the midwife led scheme with early transfer home. It depends on your catchment area.

catrionanic

Had my baby publicly in Holles St last year and I could not think of a bad thing to say about them! Wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else next time around.

Digs

I can only speak for Holles Street, have no experience of The Rotunda. Two babies, both public, booking apt at 12 weeks, scans at every appointment there after. Noticeably shorter waiting times for appointments on my last baby too. I wouldn’t go anywhere else if we have anymore.
I’d imagine there’s not much between either hospital, same goes for the Coombe so when it comes down to it I’d decide based on location. You’ll hear negative stories from both.

+1 to cakerbaker

firebird84

I had my first publicly in Holles Street nearly 3 years ago. No issues with my appointments, all fairly brusk and efficient to get through so many women but I was low risk so it never bothered me, plus always got a mini scan. The midwives I had for the delivery and on wards are absolutely amazing people but the hospital itself was extremely crowded (6 bed ward converted to 8 to accommodate so many women) and you can definitely feel the age of the hospital. But having said that I haven't been to the Rotunda or Coombe so I've nothing to compare it to.

Moonbeam

If you are a normal low risk pregnancy then it doesn't matter.
I had my 4 in Holles St.
I would highly recommend the midwives clinic in Holes Street.
I never went public through the consultants clinic but the place was crowded and the waiting times long.

GavMan

Moonbeam wrote: »

If you are a normal low risk pregnancy then it doesn't matter.
I had my 4 in Holles St.
I would highly recommend the midwives clinic in Holes Street.
I never went public through the consultants clinic but the place was crowded and the waiting times long.

I have to say my Wife has had a couple of appointments in the public consultant system and it has been good so far. Times have not been too bad. From arrival to exit both have been 2.5 hours and 2 hours respectively. I think thats reasonably good.