Which hospital to choose

blindside88 · 06-06-2019 9:02pm #1

Hi Boardsies,

Very early posting here. Myself and my wife have just found out that we are due our first child in February 2020, we’re just starting to research and are lost in a mine of info. Trying to decide which hospital to go to (we live in Carlow). My initial thoughts would have been Kilkenny which is our closest hospital however I’ve heard some horror stories. Other options would be Waterford, Wexford and Dublin which are all within an hour (although Dublin could be far longer with traffic depending on the time of day). Is there anywhere I can read reviews for the maternity section of the various hospitals (rate my hospital doesn’t seem to have maternity specific info).

Thanks in advance

THESPIDER · 07-06-2019 12:05am

Had my two ìn Wexford. Went public. Excellent care. One emergency section. Two sisters and few friends all went Wexford also. About 20 babies in total and no complaints from any of the mammys. Can't fault it from start to finish.

shesty · 08-06-2019 11:03am

My only knowldge of them was a colleague who said to me his wife was going to Waterford as it is a teaching hospital and they felt this was an advantage.

08-06-2019 11:08am

shesty wrote: »

My only knowldge of them was a colleague who said to me his wife was going to Waterford as it is a teaching hospital and they felt this was an advantage.

One thing about teaching hospitals and going public is that you'll have more strangers looking where few people have looked before. But, at that stage you may not care less.

shesty · 08-06-2019 2:45pm

Oh that's irrelevant, you leave your dignity at the door in pregnancy and childbirth anyway.I think this guy felt there would be more of a throughput of patients (and therefore more experience) in a teaching hospital, which was a fair enough point.I can't verify it one way or the other anyway.I had my babies in the Rotunda, and there were regularly student midwives there but I can't say that really meant a marked increase in who looked and how often!!!!

08-06-2019 3:03pm

shesty wrote: »

Oh that's irrelevant, you leave your dignity at the door in pregnancy and childbirth anyway.

Good for you. But would you be open at all to the possibility your opinion might not be universal?

Cash_Q · 08-06-2019 3:22pm

Deleted User wrote:

Good for you. But would you be open at all to the possibility your opinion might not be universal?

I don't think that's a very fair reply to shesty who makes fair and valuable contributions to almost every post in this forum.

I personally think it's also irrelevant how many people are looking at you, you can't have too much maternity care in my view. As shesty says, your dignity goes out the window. This is not a fault of staff or the number of staff who attend to you, I was of course treated in a dignifying manner by all staff in the Coombe, but they were splaying my legs apart after my section as I was numb, stripping me and changing my pads as I bled heavily, and milking me as I struggled to breastfeed. That's what's meant in using that term. Whether one person examined me or ten, my dignity went out the window so to speak!

OP I attended the Coombe which is a teaching hospital and found it excellent to have groups of students at my bedside under a senior experienced doctor. I learned more about what was going on and as a teacher myself I felt it great to play a part in the student doctors education. It also helped to pass the time lol!

08-06-2019 3:33pm

Cash_Q wrote: »

I don't think that's a very fair reply to shesty who makes fair and valuable contributions to almost every post in this forum.

I'm more concerned about being fair to the OP who's looking for information.

It's not the trainee midwives that are a problem it's the tired mother that doesn't want to be prodded by a consultant showing a bunch of young trainee doctors that a few years ago were sitting the leaving cert what x amount of dilation looks like.

At least now they will be aware of it. Forewarned etc.

blindside88 · 08-06-2019 3:50pm

Thanks for all the opinions guys. Anyone any experience of Kilkenny, my wife wants to go there but I’ve heard some horror stories

jlm29 · 08-06-2019 4:25pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

One thing about teaching hospitals and going public is that you'll have more strangers looking where few people have looked before. But, at that stage you may not care less.

You can always refuse. Nobody is obliged to have students observing in a room if they’re so bothered. But TBH, shesty is right, many people wouldn’t even notice who was in the room when things are getting hot and heavy

jlm29 · 08-06-2019 4:29pm

blindside88 wrote: »

Thanks for all the opinions guys. Anyone any experience of Kilkenny, my wife wants to go there but I’ve heard some horror stories

I have friends who have gone there and heard no complaints. You will hear something bad about every hospital if you listen hard enough. People rarely take to the joe Duffy show to say good things about the hse. If you’re going private, ask for recommendations and choose your consultant accordingly. If you’re going publicly, remember that many of the doctors move around every six to twelve months in every hospital, so the doctor you heard a horror story about a year ago in Kilkenny may well be in Waterford or Wexford or Dublin now

Cash_Q · 08-06-2019 4:43pm

Deleted User wrote:

I'm more concerned about being fair to the OP who's looking for information.

Don't want to derail this thread any further but it was the tone I was referring to rather than the point you were making.

iwillhtfu · 08-06-2019 4:54pm

Living in Carlow the last 10 years and the wife has had 4 kids all delivered in the Rotunda in Dublin. It began with the first, wife worked in Dublin so appointments were handy and Family are local up there we're exiled down here. I've no opinion on the other hospitals but couldn't have been happier with the staff in the Rotunda. All Labours were quite short and we almost got caught out on the second literally arrived at the front door and baby was born 10 mins later :eek:

I guess the reasoning for sticking with a Dublin hospital was in the very remote off chance something went wrong wife and baby would most likely be transported to Dublin Temple st or otherwise.

Wife went into labour one morning at rush hour and I think I was in the rotunda in about 40 mins from Carlow if not less

BriarPatch · 08-06-2019 5:18pm

Deleted User wrote: »

One thing about teaching hospitals and going public is that you'll have more strangers looking where few people have looked before. But, at that stage you may not care less.

Are Student Doctors and Midwives confined to public patients?

iwillhtfu · 08-06-2019 5:19pm

BriarPatch wrote: »

Are Student Doctors and Midwives confined to public patients?

No. They will ask if it is ok if a student is present in my experience

08-06-2019 5:22pm

BriarPatch wrote: »

Are Student Doctors and Midwives confined to public patients?

1st time we went public (I was a trainee), 2nd and 3rd time private. The first time being a new experience it felt more invasive. There were no students the last two times.

TheValeyard · 08-06-2019 5:24pm

About the horror stories....

We always hear about them, but you never hear about the many, many successful happy stories.

BriarPatch · 08-06-2019 5:27pm

iwillhtfu wrote: »

No. They will ask if it is ok if a student is present in my experience

Oh I know they ask, I had a trainee doctor at my first and trainee midwife at my second.

I just wasn't aware that they only attended births of public patients but I was public both times.

road_high · 08-06-2019 5:28pm

The “horror stories” are always doing the rounds-I’ve heard them about Waterford and portlaoise especially. Portlaoise patients using Kilkenny instead. I’m sure your gp will be able to guide you. St Luke’s would be a lot handier for appointments, scans etc

iwillhtfu · 08-06-2019 5:32pm

BriarPatch wrote: »

Oh I know they ask, I had a trainee doctor at my first and trainee midwife at my second.

I just wasn't aware that they only attended births of public patients but I was public both times.

Mine were

private
Semi private
public
public

Asked about students each time and wife had no issue the kids have to learn.

Loveinapril · 08-06-2019 5:54pm

iwillhtfu wrote: »

the kids have to learn.

This is how I feel. I have a medical condition so attend hospital regularly (also a teaching hospital) and have no issue with students being present. If my willingness to be open, answer questions and allow them to examine me helps them become better doctors or nurses then I am glad to do my bit. I had to do placement during my (non medical) degree and appreciated that I was allowed to learn in a practical way. I had a student midwife present at my son's birth 18 months ago and literally could not have cared less. It actually helped keep myself and my husband distracted as we chatted to her about her course/ experience etc.It was a LONG labour so we actually had two separate ones on different shifts. They are often eager, enthusiastic and I wonder does it keep the midwife/ doctor in charge on their toes as they are being observed and are accountable for someone's learning.

08-06-2019 5:57pm

Loveinapril wrote: »

This is how I feel. I have a medical condition so attend hospital regularly (also a teaching hospital) and have no issue with students being present. If my willingness to be open, answer questions and allow them to examine me helps them become better doctors or nurses then I am glad to do my bit. I had to do placement during my (non medical) degree and appreciated that I was allowed to learn in a practical way. I had a student midwife present at my son's birth 18 months ago and literally could not have cared less. It actually helped keep myself and my husband distracted as we chatted to her about her course/ experience etc.It was a LONG labour so we actually had two separate ones on different shifts. They are often eager, enthusiastic and I wonder does it keep the midwife/ doctor in charge on their toes as they are being observed and are accountable for someone's learning.

That sounds okay, I was referring to a team of junior doctors outside of the delivery room.

Loveinapril · 08-06-2019 6:12pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That sounds okay, I was referring to a team of junior doctors outside of the delivery room.

I have never heard of that happening. You have just reminded me that I did have a team of junior doctors attend my bedside during a pretty horrible diagnosis a few years ago without my consent. That wasn't maternity related so maybe it is managed differently in maternity hospitals.
Most of my friends and peers had their kids in the Rotunda and most, like me, just had student midwives at appointments, scans or at delivery, just one each time. I have never had a student do anything invasive but I have allowed them to feel my tummy to guess baby's position, etc. I am 8 months pregnant now and again have had a few present at different things but I don't know if they do placement over the summer so I may have a student free birth this time!

blindside88 · 08-06-2019 6:50pm

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Living in Carlow the last 10 years and the wife has had 4 kids all delivered in the Rotunda in Dublin. It began with the first, wife worked in Dublin so appointments were handy and Family are local up there we're exiled down here. I've no opinion on the other hospitals but couldn't have been happier with the staff in the Rotunda. All Labours were quite short and we almost got caught out on the second literally arrived at the front door and baby was born 10 mins later :eek:

I guess the reasoning for sticking with a Dublin hospital was in the very remote off chance something went wrong wife and baby would most likely be transported to Dublin Temple st or otherwise.

Wife went into labour one morning at rush hour and I think I was in the rotunda in about 40 mins from Carlow if not less

That was my concern, getting to Dublin at rush hour and being stuck. I thought about the advantage of the other hospitals near by if something went wrong. The wife works in Kilkenny so it would be handiest for scans however while convenience is importance it’s not my main concern

shesty · 08-06-2019 7:06pm

Semi-private on all three, student midwives around on all three, mainly during labour, birth and after-care.No objections on my part either, they aren't exactly taking it in turns to investigate.They are literally a second person in the room, observing and handing instruments etc if needed.Only once did a midwife ask did I mind if she checked something and then let the student check it too, and that was just to feel the bump to see could they work out the baby's position.

jlm29 · 08-06-2019 7:23pm

BriarPatch wrote: »

Oh I know they ask, I had a trainee doctor at my first and trainee midwife at my second.

I just wasn't aware that they only attended births of public patients but I was public both times.

I was private on my first, and there were three medical students and a trainee midwife looking on.

jlm29 · 08-06-2019 7:27pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That sounds okay, I was referring to a team of junior doctors outside of the delivery room.

There’s a huge difference between a junior doctor and a student. If you’re a public patient, you’re going to meet junior doctors from the team.

javagal · 08-06-2019 7:49pm

Can you not go to Portlaoise? Pregnant on my 3rd and 3rd time public there. First time was admittedly a disaster but thay was 7 years ago. No complaints since, parking is great, never huge traffic.

blindside88 · 08-06-2019 8:31pm

javagal wrote: »

Can you not go to Portlaoise? Pregnant on my 3rd and 3rd time public there. First time was admittedly a disaster but thay was 7 years ago. No complaints since, parking is great, never huge traffic.

We could actually go to Portlaoise either, hadn’t considered there, it’s about as close as Kilkenny

splinter65 · 08-06-2019 8:41pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That sounds okay, I was referring to a team of junior doctors outside of the delivery room.

But if a doctor wants to become an obstetrician then they have to start training somewhere. The more deliveries they are present for the more they learn, and we all benefit from it. You want to have experienced qualified personnel attending to you in hospital? Well, be prepared to be part of the learning experience.

08-06-2019 8:43pm

splinter65 wrote: »

But if a doctor wants to become an obstetrician then they have to start training somewhere. The more deliveries they are present for the more they learn, and we all benefit from it. You want to have experienced qualified personnel attending to you in hospital? Well, be prepared to be part of the learning experience.

I understand the hypocrisy. And the payment to avoid is worth it in my opinion. But again, I'm not talking about the delivery room, it's the run up to it.

shesty · 09-06-2019 7:46am

Doesn't really matter though.I met some seriously competent students, doctors and midwives (who also were not yet worn down by working in the system and had a great manner!).They were never solely responsible for what they were doing, there was always someone in the room with them.Don't think it makes any difference if you are public or private that way.Met a couple of trainee GPs in my GP office too.We all have to learn somewhere, once someone is overseeing it's fine by me.

09-06-2019 7:52am

shesty wrote: »

Doesn't really matter though.

Not sure what you mean. Personal experience was that going private meant there was no 'Hi, my name is Dr x, these are my colleagues, we're going to examine where you are now'.

I understand some may appreciate the extra attention or like that they are helping students/junior doctors learn. But, can you understand some others wont? It's that simple.

To reiterate I'm talking about well before the delivery room.

jlm29 · 09-06-2019 8:12am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Not sure what you mean. Personal experience was that going private meant there was no 'Hi, my name is Dr x, these are my colleagues, we're going to examine where you are now'.

I understand some may appreciate the extra attention or like that they are helping students/junior doctors learn. But, can you understand some others wont? It's that simple.

To reiterate I'm talking about well before the delivery room.

You seem to be debating public vs private, which isn’t what the OP asked. They asked for opinions on the different hospitals within a reasonable distance of their home

09-06-2019 8:15am

jlm29 wrote: »

You seem to be debating public vs private, which isn’t what the OP asked. They asked for opinions on the different hospitals within a reasonable distance of their home

Teaching hospitals, which were suggested, will also have a lot more teaching ( not surprisingly).

jlm29 · 09-06-2019 8:17am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Teaching hospitals, which were suggested, will also have a lot more teaching ( not surprisingly).

All public hospitals in Ireland are teaching hospitals. They all will have students throughout the year. There is no private maternity hospital.
You must really like Chinese whispers

09-06-2019 8:22am

jlm29 wrote: »

All public hospitals in Ireland are teaching hospitals. They all will have students throughout the year. There is no private maternity hospital.
You must really like Chinese whispers

Only what I've read on this thread where people were raving about the benefits of teaching hospitals.

blindside88 · 09-06-2019 8:46am

Can you please bring this back on track. I don’t care about your opinions on teaching hospitals, if you want to discuss the merits of such please start your own thread

jopax · 09-06-2019 9:04am

I had my 3 in Waterford, the first I went with the midwife only care which was a huge mistake from my experience. After that my next 2 I just went with the regular public route. I can't complain about the care on the last 2 times.
A lot depends on the type of labour you have, if it's very difficult one or an easy it will taint your memory of the experience.

splinter65 · 09-06-2019 9:28am

blindside88 wrote: »

Can you please bring this back on track. I don’t care about your opinions on teaching hospitals, if you want to discuss the merits of such please start your own thread

Grandnephew born in portlaoise last April, first baby for them. Everything very satisfactory.

Jasminecat · 09-06-2019 9:59am

I too would love to hear people's experiences and recommendations about where to give birth. I am 11 weeks pregnant. I am living in Kilkenny and I am apprehensive about giving birth in St. Lukes due to the high rates of c-sections for first time mothers (this is my first) Like most mothers, I would like my labour to have as little intervention as possible ie. No C-sections or instruments, unless of course absolute needed for the safety of my baby or me.
From peoples experience, why are the rates so high?? I asked my GP but she had no answers or reassurance for me.
Is it due to inexperienced doctors feeling it is safer on them to give a csection because they don't have the experience to assist in vaginal delivery ? Is it the hospital not giving women enough time to progress through labour before calling a csection to hurry things along? Is it a shortage of midwifes or experienced midwives in the delivery room to assist women through labour without doctor interventions? Is there just a culture in the hospital that its easier to give a csection in the fear of what might come up if allowed for vaginal delivery? Ie. Court cases if something went wrong during delivery etc.
Would love to hear peoples experiences or recommendations of where to give birth. Obviously Kilkenny would be much handier location but safety and peace of mind is more important so if people had positive experiences please share, I am incredibly excited about my pregnancy but slightly terrified(mhopefully unnecessarily so) at the thoughts of my babies life and my life been in incompetent hands.

Do people that have midwife led maternity care have lower rates of c-sections etc? It's all new to me and I don't know anyone who has given birth in Kk to her they experiences so all information is much appreciated.

Jasminecat · 09-06-2019 10:08am

Hi, do u mind if I ask why do u feel the midwife led was a mistake? And what was the main difference between midwife led or the regular public route?

jopax wrote: »

I had my 3 in Waterford, the first I went with the midwife only care which was a huge mistake from my experience. After that my next 2 I just went with the regular public route. I can't complain about the care on the last 2 times.
A lot depends on the type of labour you have, if it's very difficult one or an easy it will taint your memory of the experience.

Jasminecat · 09-06-2019 10:18am

I can't post links but bump2babe.is has informative info of maternity care available nationally

blindside88 wrote: »

Hi Boardsies,

Very early posting here. Myself and my wife have just found out that we are due our first child in February 2020, we’re just starting to research and are lost in a mine of info. Trying to decide which hospital to go to (we live in Carlow). My initial thoughts would have been Kilkenny which is our closest hospital however I’ve heard some horror stories. Other options would be Waterford, Wexford and Dublin which are all within an hour (although Dublin could be far longer with traffic depending on the time of day). Is there anywhere I can read reviews for the maternity section of the various hospitals (rate my hospital doesn’t seem to have maternity specific info).

Thanks in advance

shesty · 09-06-2019 10:33am

Mod Note

As requested, can posts respond to the OPs questions, rather than getting into an argument over public vs private.

@blindside, I appreciate you are trying to get the thread back on track, but can you report posts that you feel are a problem rather than replying in-thread to them.

Thanks.

splinter65 · 09-06-2019 11:48am

Jasminecat wrote: »

I too would love to hear people's experiences and recommendations about where to give birth. I am 11 weeks pregnant. I am living in Kilkenny and I am apprehensive about giving birth in St. Lukes due to the high rates of c-sections for first time mothers (this is my first) Like most mothers, I would like my labour to have as little intervention as possible ie. No C-sections or instruments, unless of course absolute needed for the safety of my baby or me.
From peoples experience, why are the rates so high?? I asked my GP but she had no answers or reassurance for me.
Is it due to inexperienced doctors feeling it is safer on them to give a csection because they don't have the experience to assist in vaginal delivery ? Is it the hospital not giving women enough time to progress through labour before calling a csection to hurry things along? Is it a shortage of midwifes or experienced midwives in the delivery room to assist women through labour without doctor interventions? Is there just a culture in the hospital that its easier to give a csection in the fear of what might come up if allowed for vaginal delivery? Ie. Court cases if something went wrong during delivery etc.
Would love to hear peoples experiences or recommendations of where to give birth. Obviously Kilkenny would be much handier location but safety and peace of mind is more important so if people had positive experiences please share, I am incredibly excited about my pregnancy but slightly terrified(mhopefully unnecessarily so) at the thoughts of my babies life and my life been in incompetent hands.

Do people that have midwife led maternity care have lower rates of c-sections etc? It's all new to me and I don't know anyone who has given birth in Kk to her they experiences so all information is much appreciated.

If you are looking for a hospital which will garuntee that your pregnancy and delivery will be trouble free and a happy experience for you, your baby and your loved ones then your search will be in vain.
Maternity services are provided by other humans who make mistakes and are sometimes careless or just not very good at what they do the same as any other profession.
I think a good starting point for you is to remember that you are pregnant, not sick injured or ill in any way, and you must continue to live your life in a healthy way and let nature take its course.
You won’t need medical treatment unless you or your baby develop a pregnancy related medical condition, which doesn’t happen in the vast majority of pregnancies and is usually spotted very early and treated satisfactorily.
Maternity care is just really the monitoring of your pregnancy by doing regular checks and building up to the delivery of your baby.
Many women expecting baby 3 or 4 don’t realize that they are pregnant until 20 weeks or even more at which stage the pregnancy is 1/2 over.
I personally would pick the hospital that is most convenient for me and will be handiest to get to in a rush, instead of trying to decipher which is “better”.
Don’t forget. There is no garuntee that your preferred midwife or doctor will even be on duty when you go into labour. So form good bonds with all the staff you meet when attending ante natal visits so you won’t be disappointed when the delivery day comes.

Clashmore · 09-06-2019 8:26pm

One thing to note with Kilkenny is they do not have a neo natal unit. So if required baby would have to moved to probably Waterford. My friend had an emergency section, baby was sent to Waterford straight away but she had to remain in Kilkenny for a day or 2 due to being to sick to travel.

blindside88 · 09-06-2019 11:24pm

Clashmore wrote: »

One thing to note with Kilkenny is they do not have a neo natal unit. So if required baby would have to moved to probably Waterford. My friend had an emergency section, baby was sent to Waterford straight away but she had to remain in Kilkenny for a day or 2 due to being to sick to travel.

That’s exactly the kind of info I’m looking for. Thank you

shesty · 10-06-2019 9:50am

I would also enquire does your choice of hospital include a 20 week anomaly scan as part of their schedule of appointments.

blindside88 · 10-06-2019 10:01am

shesty wrote: »

I would also enquire does your choice of hospital include a 20 week anomaly scan as part of their schedule of appointments.

Does this vary by hospital generally or is it just something you have to ask and pay extra for

jlm29 · 10-06-2019 10:13am

blindside88 wrote: »

Does this vary by hospital generally or is it just something you have to ask and pay extra for

It varies by hospital. Some don’t offer it to anyone, but you could go and get scanned privately if you were attending one of those hospitals. A lot of hospitals offer it to everyone, public or private

Gatica · 10-06-2019 10:17am

I thought most hospitals had 12 week dating scan and a 20 week anomaly scan as standard. When it's included, it certainly isn't charged.

I think choice of hospital based on their statistics isn't a bad idea. Sure, you can get good as well as bad doctors at any hospital but there are definitely trends, policies and culture, which influence the path your care is _likely_ to take.
AIMS Ireland has good stats section http://aimsireland.ie/birth-statistics-for-ireland/ if you're interested.
There's also different stances on breastfeeding, with some hospital being more encouraging in bf, and with others resolving everything with bottles. So it depends on your own outlook and what you want from your birth and follow-up.

Which hospital to choose

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