Idea after watching Undercover Mother last night....

[Jen & Her Men]

I dont know if any of you watched Dispatches - Undercover Mother last night. It was about the state of the antenatal care in the NHS and the shortage of midwives. Some of it was a bit sensationalist and I think possibly over done in terms of scaring people but it did give me an idea.
I am going to be a first time mum in Feb and giving birth in a hospital I know nothing about as I have moved to a new area recent, this makes me a little anxious as Im not really going to know 100% what its like until Im there in labour! I am sure there are lots of ladies out there in the same boat as me or who havent been to the hospital for a few years and want some reassurance that the service is ok.
I was thinking that if we set up a new folder like the "First Trimester - weeks 1 - 12" which was named "hospitals" or "nhs care" or sommat like that, then mums who have given birth in the past 6 months can list as a topic the name of the hospital and then write their opinion and experience in the topic. Then if another lady has a baby in that same hopsital, she can reply to that thread and so on, so that a picture is given of as many of the hospitals as possible to help mums make a decision where to go to get antenatal help. If it worked and was a success, it could also be used as evidence to the government to show them what us mums all over the country think of their maternity services etc etc. Its just an idea and probably needs a lot of tweaking!!! What do you all think??

 

[Chrissy1]

I watched that programme to and I think it's a good idea.

I do think like you that the programme had been a bit sensationalised....would have been a rubbish programme if everything had run smoothly! but TTC for the first time it did make me wonder what to expect from my antenateal care when I do fall pregnant.

Would be nice to hear from ladies all over the country and hear what their experiences are in different hospitals.

good thinking batman

 

[lisa&alex]

i think its a good idea..

however.. there are a lot of women who have recieved care simular to that lady..me being one of them.. i just am thankful i didnt have a csection or epi.. as i was able to sort myself out.. i still had to wait 24 hs to see a baby dr..- which u have to do if u have a hospital birth... i had a mcdonalds after charlotte was bron as i missed dinner by the time i was cleaned up and that.. i couldnt get out of bed to go to the canteen and noone saved me any food.. so i sent family to get me some..i think its a great idea to have other mums reports on hospitals.. however if they have terrible experiences then women could be scared to give birth..

perhaps it would be a better idea to put into ur mind, if i need help then im gonna use my buzzer, and im gonna get my family to bring me food. if the woman on the program had used her buzzer then she would have got the midwives attention quicker.. or had her curtain open may also have helped. im gonna have a home birth this time if i can, if not im going to hospital prepared... im taking my mobile, and if im not happy im gonna discharge myself.

 

[Jen & Her Men]

Thanks for your responses. I do understand where you are coming from when you say that women may be frightened of giving birth if they hear horror stories, but from my perspective, I am more scared of the unknown than anything else. I think I would feel more empowered and in control if I knew what other women had experienced because I could go in with my eyes firmly open, and know that I would have to stick my neck out a bit and ring buzzers etc to get care and I would do it safe in the knowledge that I wasnt being awkward, but that I was doing it because if I didnt, I would be like the poor women whose stories I had read. Does that make any sense??!! After all. I suppose its a choice of mums to be whether they want to read the posts - they dont have to click on the topic if they would rather not know but at least its offering the option to those of us who do.

 

[AllieW]

Hmm. I think it's an interesting idea. But I think it would be important to include information about what women can do when they're dissatisfied with the care that they're receiving. For example, that you can change hospitals or that, during labour, if you have a personality clash with your midwife you're entitled to ask for a different one etc. That way any horror stories would be tempered by empowering information which will allow us to challenge anything we don't understand/disagree with and to get it changed where necessary. (I'm reading a brilliant book called 'Blooming Birth' at the moment which includes a lot of this sort of information. It's from there that I discovered that you could ask to swap midwives if you end up with a witch.).

 

[Jen & Her Men]

Hi Allie, I agree with you completely. Thats why I think this could be such a powerful thing. Because not only does it give mothers to be information to inform and enpower them, but I also think it could be a powerful tool to show government bodies such as the NHS etc about the level of care women across the country are getting. The Dispatches show last night covered only a couple of hospitals mainly in the South of England, where as if this really took off, it would be a much more thorough source of information and evidence for not only bad service, but good service too and it could really help get things changed or improved. Obviously thats a while away, but in the meantime, if it helps mums to be like us collate information about hospitals in our area so we can make an INFORMED choice over where we want our antenatal care, or to watch out for certain pitfalls in the hospitals we have chosen, then so much the better!

 

[Pregnopaws]

Hiya J-Do! I have sent you a pm regarding this

 

[enn]

i havnt seen anyone from my neck of the woods yet

but it is a good idea

 

[paradysso]

i missed the program, was wondering which hospitals did they cover, as my experince from giving birth in Princess Ann Hospital in Southampton was awful and regretted giving birth there.

I would be more then happy to provide a review, my bad experince was really from the after care once on the ward, the actuall labouring time was good, but i was being looked after by student midwifes and i think they make more time for their patients

 

[beanie]

The onlty thing I can think of would be possible legal rammifications on the admin if a member of staff or hospital recieved a really bad reiew.

 

[okiegirl]

i havnt seen anyone from my neck of the woods yet

but it is a good idea

im from sunny devon too!

 

[Jen & Her Men]

The onlty thing I can think of would be possible legal rammifications on the admin if a member of staff or hospital recieved a really bad reiew.

I think that if we put in a disclaimer then that would negate any legal issues, also, its not dissimilar to hotel review websites etc where hotels get write ups on service levels etc etc and star ratings from people who have visited the hotels previously.

Lastly, I dont think that specific midwives need to be named - just a general overview of the care that was received and whether there were adequate staffing numbers etc - that sort of thing.