Booking in appt yesterday - feeling rushed into choosing hospital

[Toni_Win]

Hi Everyone,

Had my booking in appointment yesterday with the Midwife attached to my GP practice. Part way through filling in the paperwork she just said 'I assume you're having the baby at Dewsbury?', to which I replied that I hadn't decided yet. Dewsbury is the nearest hospital to me, but it doesn't get the greatest reviews. I know the maternity survey data is out of date, and things could have got better since then, but I wanted the chance to see for myself before making any firm decisions. Calderdale Hospital in Halifax is only about 10 miles away and we should be able to get there in under half an hour. It's the best rated hospital in our local area and I'm really swaying over to that one.

Any way when I said that I hadn't really decided where I was going to give birth the midwife assistant pointed out that she'd just filled out all the paperwork for the blood tests for Dewsbury and if I wanted to go to Halifax I'd have to have the tests etc there. I felt like it really put me on the spot. So we compromised and decided to have my bloods done and have my scans and antenatal classes at Dewsbury, then if I don't like it I can change and give birth at Halifax. I know I want to be in hospital, and probably need to be as I have epilepsy and will need to be under consultant led care just in case.

Did anyone else have a similar experience at their booking in appointment? I thought that they would discuss the options with me and give me time to make a decision so all my care could be in the same place with the same people, but now I feel like I've been rushed into something.

 

[Dee83]

I din't even know that we had a choice of hospital, i thought that we had to go to the one nearest to us?! Sorry that i can't offer much help but didn't want to just read and run! xx

 

[Georgie0]

I think they just like to have somewhere to send you from the start - i changed my mind. Was going for Lincoln, now i'm giong to the maternity led unit at Grantham and they have been fab about it. Don't feel pressured, tell them if you are unhappy.

 

[charliebear]

Apparently its fairly easy to change the hospital you give birth at, its just a case of transferring records.
But yes they do need 'a' choice of hospital for scans etc even if it isnt your final choice

 

[pinkyprincess]

We got told that we had no choice and if we registered with another hospital we'd just get sent back! That may be as it's west london. Luckily the hospital was our first choice!

 

[banksy1309]

You DEFINATELY have a choice. Every woman has the right to decide where to deliver their baby. I asked my GP at my very first appointment (5 weeks) and he said I didn't need to think about it at that point and I should discuss with my MW at booking appointment. He gave me the no. for the midwife and off I toddled. 2 weeks later at first MW appointment..... 45 minutes into the long list of questions and I just happened to mention I wanted to have my baby at the hospital I work at and the MW went mad! She told me all we'd discussed had been a complete waste of time as she'd just "booked me in" to deliver at my closest hospital (only 10mins closer to home anyway). She actually took all the leaflets, advice sheets etc off me and literally sent me packing! I told her the GP had told me to discuss with her but she said the GP should have known better and he knew to refer me straight to my chosen hospital. I came away quite upset as I'd been looking forward to my first MW appointment. I had to get a referral sent from my GP (turns out I could have self-referred which no-one told me!!) then await a 2nd booking appointment.

I'm sure experiences are differrent in different areas and with different GP/MWs but I wanted to warn others to think and ASK early if you want to deliver somewhere not immediately local to you (ie not in your home primary care trust). I made this decision as I completely trust the hospital where I work, it has better reviews, a brand new birthing centre with birthing pools and my little sister-in-law was born at the other hospital prematurely and her delivery wasn't managed well. She now has long term health problems. That has obviously put me off that hospital in question.

Well that's all in the past now and I'm awaiting my dating scan in just over 2 weeks

 

[Susanne]

Like the other girls have already said, you certainly have a choice which hospital you want to go to, and you can swap at any time during your pregnancy - even the day you go into labour! So maybe best to just get your blood tests and scan etc done - probably doesn't matter where those are done, does it? - and then make up your mind later on. If they really want to waste their own time and repeat everything if you decide to swap then at least you'll get an extra scan out of it!

 

[BethR]

Hi,
I know this thread is a bit old but I noticed you are going to Calderdale hospital & wondered if you ever did have any appointments there?
I am due to have my first appointment there next Thursday (had my booking appointment in Cleckheaton with another midwife) but I am just wondering what they will do. Apparntley they're not going to do a scan and I'll have to book that while I'm there (and go back around the next week) - which I don't think is very good as I can't get to the hospital all the time - even if work have to give me the time off (my fiance can't always get time off work and I would hate it if he wasn't at the scans!)
I will be 11 weeks pregnant next Tuesday.
Hope you can help with this if you did go there!
(I didn't want to go to Dewsbury either!!)

 

[roxane 1985]

just give them a hospital to shut them up lol then go have a look round what hospital you want, its very easy to change,my friend changed hospital around the 30th week as she was fed up of the other one

 

[DeeLT]

I self referred to my hospital of choice which is totally out of my area. It has a fantastic reputation and has been wonderful. My GP hasn't been supportive but I'd rather travel on the London underground to my appointments and have a healthy baby and feel cared for than be a number (which I was at my local hospital who lost my notes!). I just called the hospital I wanted to go to (UCLH) and they were really helpful. It us absolutely worth looking around and making sure you are 100% happy. I've just ignored my pushy GP! xx

 

[BabyBrain]

I chose our local hospital because for 1 it's all been refurbed and is much much better than it used to be, also we can be there in 30 minutes even with heavy traffic....the nearest other one could be up to 2 hours away xxxxxxx

 

[beckyboo1]

I'm also in west yorkshire - but Leeds I was given a choice, but did have to pick one as they needed to know for the scan dates. As I'm new to the area (used to live in Sheffield) I didn't really know the difference between the hospitals.
Just going to go to my scan and LGI and the nsee what I think. I had a choice of 4 but have no clue!!

 

[Toni_Win]

Hi BethR, we've actually decided to stick with DDH for now, so not been to Calderdale at all, so I can't help with your queries I'm afraid. We've decided to use Hypnobirthing and the midwife that is giving us the classes works part time at DDH, and has given us a bit more reassurance about the place. We also decided that given we're due in early January we didn't want to risk having to travel in snow.

Good luck with your appointment and your pregnancy x