how would you rate gong hospital?

[jen0023]

im due to have my baby in wollongong hospital in december just wondering how wollongong hosp is? iv heard some bad storys.

[naebie]

I haven't yet been there to have a baby (I'm due in October) but so far I have found them to be pretty reasonable for all of my prenatal care (I go through the antenatal clinic) and on the 2 other occasions I have been in there as a patient I have not been able to really fault them.
It kind of makes it hard that there is no other option for mothers who have to go through the public system!

[veebee]

I just had first bub at w'gong hospital in July 2008. I found it to be great. I was in the Midwifery Group Practice so had regular meetings with my allocated Midwife who was fabulous. She was present at my induction and during labour, when there started to be some complications a doctor was called and took over. The midwives in the maternity ward were super helpful in helping me adjust to being a new mum, feeding, washing, settling bub and my health. The only gripe I had was the food, it was pretty bad (especially compared to Figgy private) and you have to go and collect it yourself also when my bub had to see the paediatrian a nurse came to my room requesting bub (day after I had him) I then had to wait in a line with others for over 45 mins to see them, I was sore and tired and not very happy especially as this was during afternoon visiting times and I had a room full of visitors wanting to see me and bub. I also had to stay in longer due to high blood pressure, they wouldn't let me go home until it was lower. They were very thorough with me having regular monitoring of BP, blood tests etc before they released me. So overall it was a very positive experience.:yes:

[jen0023]

im in the midwife group and i love the fact i see the same one everytime. my last pg down the coast i saw a different one everytime then at the birth it was one iv never met b4 thanx for your feedback

[GraceUnhearing]

terrible!!

i could afford a homebirth i'd never set foot in there again!

they treated me like cr@p
the shared care antenatal service is woeful! you sit around there for 2 hour then see a dr who wont answer any questions.

during labour they didnt listen to a word i said!
DS ended up in NICU for a week (where they were great)

the midwives/nurses on the maternity ward were nasty!
it was my first baby and obviously i had no idea.
no one came when buzzed, no one showed us anything.

it was terrible!!!

[GraceUnhearing]

the only good thing there was when DS went into NICU

the nurses there were wonderful.

but DS should never have had to go in there in the first place if they listed to me!!!

[missie_mack]

terrible!!

i could afford a homebirth i'd never set foot in there again!

they treated me like cr@p
the shared care antenatal service is woeful! you sit around there for 2 hour then see a dr who wont answer any questions.

during labour they didnt listen to a word i said!
DS ended up in NICU for a week (where they were great)

the midwives/nurses on the maternity ward were nasty!
it was my first baby and obviously i had no idea.
no one came when buzzed, no one showed us anything.

it was terrible!!!

:iagree: I had a similar experience. I was even put in a single room as a CS and private patient whose toilet didnt work and I had to walk down to the visitors toilet to go. They forgot to feed me the first day where I was on a special diet. When I was able to eat normal I would trundle down to the food section and they would be late (which is rough after a CS) They weighed DS early 3rd day and told me I couldnt leave with him the next day as he had lost 11% of his birth weight. They then told me that because my milk wasnt in properly on day 4 I had to supp feed to leave (after I stomped and declared war over the weight thing) Then they sent in a councellor because I had cross words with one of the midwives who asked me about my boyfriend :confused: (I am married and never once said I had a boyfriend!) then she asked about my financial status and education level before deciding I must be ok :confused:

The midwives in the labour ward however were nice enough (well one was great, some mediocre and a few terrible) I would never step foot in there again if needed I would pay to go to Figtree out of my own pocket!!

However I think if you were giving birth without complications naturally and leaving early you could get by.

[jen0023]

wow iv heard some bad things but hoping they werent true but after reading your storys im scared to go there now ahhhh i was in a great hospital with ds much smaller than the gong i think thats why it was good.

[GraceUnhearing]

oh Missie_mack you reminded me of something else i forgot to write

cause DS was in NICU i had to get cold meals and heat themup cause i could be in nicu when meals were served.

the stupid cow next to me kept stealing my meals!
i complained about it cause i was going hungry cause my son was in nicu and this crazy b!tch who hadnt had her bub yet was stealing my food!

the midwives on the war didnt care.
they told me i had to comeback during mealtimes to get my food.
which was something i couldnt do which is why i was getting cold meals in the first place!!!!!

horrid hospital!

[GraceUnhearing]

OT but your bub is due the same day DS was due too!
i hope theres nicer people on this year around christmas time!

[missie_mack]

wow iv heard some bad things but hoping they werent true but after reading your storys im scared to go there now ahhhh i was in a great hospital with ds much smaller than the gong i think thats why it was good.

Sorry :o

Really I think if I had given birth naturally and was only in there a day I wouldn't have given a rats. But because I was in there a week I was tired and cranky with the experience especially as I (or my health fund anyhow) were paying them nearly $1000 a day to have me in there!

I probably rubbed a few nurses the wrong way because I don't like to do as I am told simply because I was told. I like a good explanation.

If you are in group care with the midwives practice I think you might get along better too. I hated it when I was using the midwives clinic and was ecstatic when I got into a OB to get away from there. I would sometimes sit there for hours when I was using the midwives and it was really rough when I was taking time off work to go (work was really unimpressed) and of course being a public service you get all types in there and they arent always the type of people you want to be associated with :o (like the woman who was using the f word in regular conversation with the child she brought with her and was telling someone else she had to hurry up to go to the meth clinic :o)

[indigoin0z]

my first two DS were at the GonG.

both cs tho.

i do remember the ante-natal clinic was ALWAYS running late.. by at least an hour..

nothing nice jumps out of me anywhere about either of my experiences there, but that could be bias as i was going through alot at both times.. i was extremely anxious & just wanting to get out of there.. i hated having to share rooms with others.. i needed my own personal space.. of course also with #1 bubs, they always assume you know nothing, so you are open to even more patronising & condescending.. i remember that vividly.. especially about breastfeeding with my G cup j u g s!!:hissy:

both the surgeons who ended up 'doing' me tho, were lovely... :yes:
one was a dutch lady.. rough but lovely.
& the other
was a guy from St George Hosp in Sydney..
he said he would let me vba2c if i went up his way the next time....

oh gosh.. :(how im regretting not following him up on that offer for DS3!!!:crying:

as with everything in life, what might be good for one might not be another..
but that doesnt mean yours will be negative..

check it out for yourself & feel the vibes..:goodvibes:
AND ASK QUESTIONS!!! you'll know if its right for you...

GOOD LUCK!

[JATS]

I had an elective c/s there July 2005.

My surgical team were the absolute best!
Post op care was excellent.
All but 1 of the nurses were wonderful and the one who wasn't wasn't a maternity nurse, she was brought in from another ward to fill in for someone else. Nasty old bag thought she knew better than the midwifes. :no:
Breastfeeding never really posed a problem for me, I was lucky it was so easy but even so a lovely midwife would regularly check on us, helped out where she could.

The food left a lot to be desired, I remember thinking how unhealthy the stuff they were feeding us was.
1 night was some sort of casserole I couldn't find any meat among the gristle. :barf: Another night was crumbed fish and chips like you get in the freezer aisle at a supermarket which we deliberately don't buy because it's greasy and horrible.

Lunches weren't a lot better, but I guess hospital food is hospital food wherever you go.

So yeah, the care was (despite one nasty old bat) brilliant, and I owe my wonderful recovery to them. If I ever went there again though I'd be getting DH to bring dinner in. :laughing:

I had my own room, it was a 2 bed-room but no one else needed a room while I was there so I had it to myself.

I'd go back there happily, but we live in Brisbane now. Long trek when you're in labour.

[indigoin0z]

....The food left a lot to be desired, I remember thinking how unhealthy the stuff they were feeding us was.
1 night was some sort of casserole I couldn't find any meat among the gristle. :barf: Another night was crumbed fish and chips like you get in the freezer aisle at a supermarket which we deliberately don't buy because it's greasy and horrible.

Lunches weren't a lot better, but I guess hospital food is hospital food wherever you go......

:laughing::yes:

yes i DO remember this!!!

i recall living on Sparkling apple juice from the cafeteria & subway down the corner...
DH ate the cr@p (cr@p).. i think it reminded him of his mothers cooking :devil6::D

[naebie]

After reading your stories of the maternity ward I am now definitely not looking forward to having bubs at Wollongong hospital, I'm almost thinking of moving to the other side of Windang bridge so that I can get transferred to Shellharbour following labour!

[jen0023]

my midwife said if all goes well i can go home 4 hours after birth i think i might be doing that now

[littleleos]

hey girls

I am ment to having my baby at wollongong hospital... mmmm a few days ago

I have a private ob... and hope to get out of there asap... I dislike hospitals and Im really hoping to get into some type of community midwife program... I dont wanna sit in an learn how to breast feed and change nappies... blur
I read most of my prenatal class stuff from a book...


anyway ill post u my story... when I get out

[kazandsteve]

yeah my experience wasnt the best either
i had my daughter there in dec 2006

but the anental-clinic was like 1-2hours behind always and like someone said u always got a differnt doc each time u went

i think next time i would go to the midwifes clinic instead

i did shared care, so at least i saw more doctor reulary aswell, cause at wollongong u saw a diffent doctor each time and most of the time u couldnt understand them cause they were from differnt countries

but during the labour i did get a doc that i had spoken to before and had seen about the most of times

but my delivery wasnt the best either i was induced at like 8am and first of all they had trouble putting the drip in my arm and couldnt find my veins it took like two midwifes to do that and to get the drip going to bring on the labour

and then once the contractions came i wanted a epidural and the aneiest couldnt find the right place to put the needle in my back so while i was screaming out in pain they had to get another person to come and help him but it in my back properly which they did eventually

and then once the first epidural wore off i asked for some more, and without checking me to see how far dialted i was they topped me up with some epidural
and my partner said to them dont u think u should check how far dialted iam first and after they had given me the second lot of epidural one of the midwifes said to the other midwife did u check her first to see how far she is
and of course she didnt
and of course i was fully dialted
so then i couldnt feel anything of course they wanted me to push
and i was trying and trying but its abit hard when i cant feel anything

and they are going off at me cause they saying iam not pushing
and cause the baby has been in there too long at this stage and they want to get her out
this is like around 10-12 hours later

so then all of a sudden there is this mad rush of midwifes and doctors and specialists in the room cause they want to get her out
so they had to vacum her out
and she was lucky cause the unbolical cord was wrapped around her head like 3 times

even the doctor said your lucky
but it would have been there fault if something did happen

so then they showered me etc and after a few hours i went to a room and chelsea wouldnt stop crying so they took for abit and then after a while
one of the nurses comes back in and hands her back to me and says
shes your baby you settle her

i just found some of the nurses to be rude and i would buzz and buzz and they wouldnt come
and it would go like a whole morning shift or afternoon shift and i wouldnt see a nurse no one would come to me

was glad to be going home when i did but i had to stay longer too cause chelsea had jauncie and it was right on xmas aswell

[littleleos]

hey girls ... I have just had my baby at the gong hospital and I loved it

didnt have to go throught the clinic as I was a private patient self funding so all out of my pocket. but not that expensive in the end as medicare covered alot of it

I got induced that was my only problem as I was awake for 12 hrs (got the gel at 4 and 10pm and I reacted really bad to it) and they sent my DH home so I was left alone with fake contractions and only offered paracetamol... blur I take nurofen plus for period pain... (I was self medicating he he he)
as soon as I arrived in the birthing unit... totally different surrounding changed everything....
met my midwife he was tops... A rockie with an excelent background so I thought he was great... I think at one stage I said I would marry him

I tried the gas... but asked for an epi... they called my ob for permission and I got it at 2cm... the anethetist came really quick... I was high as a kite when he arrived... I think I added him to my christmas card list...

I then went to 10cm in about 2 hrs... and when my ob arrived he said it was time to push... the best experience ever... I could feel when to push before they told me.. and I could feel my baby coming out... I was coached through my birth soooooooooooo well
my midwide even stayed back to help for about 1hr after his nock off time...

all the hospital staff where fantastic, except for the lady that broke my waters ohhhhhhh that hurt and 1 night shift nurse that grabed aidens head and mushed it to my boobie then left... blur to her

I just loved it.... Im actually thinking of working there as I found all the nurses so dedicated, professional and helpful (even thought they where soooooooooooo short staffed) they said buzz everytime u feed and they always came...

hospital food was pretty good for hospital food ( u have prob guessed Im a nurse) I loved the desert yummy...

anyway
I hope all u girls out their have an experience like mine...

[mrsmamo]

We are booked in to Wollongong Hospital to have our daughter in Dec/Jan.

I cant comment on the stay there, but i am doing Shared Care with my GP/Antentatal clinic and have found all the ladies to be so nice and helpful. Fair enough you get the not so flavoursom women come through but i guess thats to be expected when its public (free) health care.

Even though the women dont seem that nice, i wouldnt want the baby to be born elsewhere and possibly die from not having any medical care available.

We went to see one of our friends who had a baby in July at Wollongong and the Midwives/nurses all were very very cheerful and helpful - we walked in and they knew our friend (it was his gf who had the baby) by name and she had only been on the ward for 12 hrs or so!. Our friends gf did say though the only thing that she was grossed out with was the food. That i can handle - i will get my mum/DH/MIL anyone else to bring me leftovers of dinner the night before etc etc lol.

I am unsure if i will transfer to Shellharbour as there are only 4 beds available there. but if there is, then i may do that, however i get the feeling it may be a bit of a ghost town.

I think alot of patience is required when using the public health system as there is such a demand from people of all walks of life. I personally think that i can deal with a shared room (provided a junkie doesnt steal my stuff etc) etc for a few days.

haha all this is saying it now though- i might have to eat my words after i have been there. I am not holding any expectations, therefore they cant fail. I have been pretty 'cruisy' during the pregnancy so far and intend on staying that way right through. (this is said while i have had a full night sleep in my own bed :laughing:)

:)

[DoulaGurl]

Hi Jen0023, Just letting you know that I am a Doula in the Illawarra and have a vacancy for December ~ I have had a baby at W'gong hospital and loved it. The staff were great. If you would like to talk to me, I am available on 0449 068 984. Jo @ PREGNATAL. :wave: