St Vincent's Private (Melb) v's Freemasons

[fingersxxed]

Hello everyone,
I have just found out we are expecting. I am trying to decide between St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne and Freemasons. Does anyone have any feedback on either of these hospitals, good or bad?
Thanks:smiliedance: :yelclap:

[Carla]

I'm booked into the Freemasons to have our first sometimes in the next two weeks. We've done the tour and it all seemed ok. I haven't been to St Vincents (only emergency room for someone else), the only other one I've been to was Frances Perry and it was good too - I think it's much if a muchness these days.

[winniethepooh]

the dif bw freemasons and st vs is
Freemasons food good st vs v average(they bring it in)
freemasons staff in delivery suite and post natal fantastic
st vs staff in delv suite fantastic, post natal not so good.
rooms at freemasons 6 out of 10.
rooms at st vs 8 out of 10.
both have the park hyatt option.
frances perry is ok but hard to get it into and hard to get to for doctors coz its in carlton unless there rooms are there.

[Number2HereWeCome]

I am new to Melb so when I was choosing I asked the receptionist of my OB. He doesn't have a preference as to which hospital I chose but said similar things to WinniethePooh.
Basically she said that given Freemasons now do the Hyatt option she said she would go with Freemasons - her logic is that they have nicer food.

[Mamaduke]

From my friends who've had babies at St.V's this one comment time and time again...
"the food is absolutely shocking!"

[msiccita]

I've had both my children at St Vincent's and i can't complain about the food or the service......they've been fantastic both times and would have my next one there in a heart beat.

The food might not be of highest quality but remember it is a hospital not a restaurant.

In my opinion, the thing to look at when choosing a hospital, is the service and quality of the hospital in regards to comfort etc......if you don't like the food, someone can always bring in something nicer.

Good luck anyway......

[JE's Mum]

I had my son at St Vincents and don't intend to go back. Most people I have heard say its good have not had any post natal difficulties or difficulties with their baby. We had difficulties getting breastfeeding going because my son wouldn't attach to the breast. St Vs has NO lactation staff and the nurses were hopeless and had no time to help (were completely run off their feet). We ended up being discharged with a baby not feeding properly and me as an emotional wreck expressing around the clock. Not only that my discharge sheet actually says I was discharged breastfeeding which is a complete lie (which angers me given it goes towards their statistics!). I ended up at the Mercy Hospital breastfeeding clinic at day 5 in order to get breastfeeding going and they were wonderful (highly recommend them if you have any difficulties - we ended up breastfeeding for 15 months after their help).

While the delivery staff at St Vs were fantastic their post care was terrible. Frankly, delivery staff at most major maternity hospitals are going to be pretty good. In the scheme of things the delivery is over pretty quick. Its the assistance with your baby that's most important in those first few days. Personally I wouldn't go back to St Vs after my experience and fully intend to go to the Freemasons next time.

All that said, if you don't have any baby difficulties I am sure St Vs would be fine. All the best with your bub. :hugs:

[msiccita]

Sorry to hear about your experience JE's Mum....

I too had difficultly with my first son, as he wouldn't attach and i had trouble attaching him...he was 10lb 03oz.

But i got great assistance from the staff and they did have a lactation consultant available for me. It actually got to the point, that i had too much fussing with all the help.

i suppose it all depends on the staff, and i must admit both times I've had good staff, they were still around when i had my second and remembered our family and the new staff members we dealt with were even better.

I hope your next experience at whatever hospital you go to is better than the last.

[JE's Mum]

Thanks Msiccita. I expect next time will be different because I will know better myself. I think the removal of professional lactation consultants is a fairly recent thing at St Vs and the midwives explained there had been funding cuts in that area. It also concerned me that they were pretty quick to give my son complementry formula feeds from a bottle with no explanation of why. He wasn't dehydrated and was drinking what I was expressing from a spoon and cup. My understanding is that hospitals with baby-friendly accreditation shouldn't be offering complementry feeding without a medical reason to do so.

Anyway, I might have been particularly unlucky at the time. My OB now delivers at the Freemasons so I will definitely request it next time!

[winniethepooh]

i just found out the other day tha st vs dont have a nursery either so you have to room in with your baby. which is not a bad thing but if you really need a rest or a break you cant get it. freemasons have a big nursery and if you want to leave bubs in there over night between feeds you can.

[Shellfish]

My Ob prefers the Freemason's so that's where I booked in. I have two friends who had children their and they were both happy with the staff, in general.

[~MinkeyMoo~]

You've probably choosen by now ;) But here is my 2 cents worth. Ive birthed at both.

Freemasons:

Food : resturant quality
Rooms: large and comforty
Staff: Mostly helpful, minimal agency staff


St V's

Food: Atrotious
Rooms: Smaller then Freemasons but recently refurbished (along with delivery suites. Very noisy though, I had noise from the corridor and the rooms either side
Staff: Lovely, but a lot of agency staff. This was my second bub so didnt need much help. Might be a bad point if it is your first.

The only reason I changed from Freemasons was because my OB doesnt deliver there anymore. All in all I think it is a better level of service and facilities.

PS The Park Hyatt program is AMAZING. The rooms are sumptious,King size beds, the meals brought in silver service, TV over the HUGE bath and only 6 rooms (ST V's program) so very quiet (plus right next to the day spa if you have someone to come in and look after bubs. If you can I would definitely reccomend taking this option. Nothing to pay for a couple of days of shear luxury.

[mylittletwins]

I did like ST V's at the start of my stay but 5 days in i got really fustrated with them. I was there for 6 days because i had a C/S and i also came down with a fever from wearing the cathater, also my twins had jaundice.

At the start they were very helpful, but towards the end they didnt want to know about you and when they did they were rude.

I was really dissapointed being a 1st time mum and to twins no one was able to she me how to handle twins. I kept asking them and no one would help.

When i came down with a fever they took 1/2 hour to get me a panadol, i was shivering. They also tried to give me a penecillan based tablet after i told them i was allergic to penecillan.

If i was to have more kids i more than likely wouldnt go there but since i had such a great OB. Dr Amber Moore who only works at St V's that would be the only reason why i would go.

There food was great though.

Good luck

[Belbel]

I was at Frances Perry but a trying to change to Freemasons. I asked my Obs. and he recommended Freemasons because he thinks the midwives there are the best, and he said that at the end of the day that was the feature that was likely to make the biggest difference to my experience. Sounded like good advice to me!

You can do a tour every saturday at 1pm.

[Shellfish]

PS The Park Hyatt program is AMAZING. The rooms are sumptious,King size beds, the meals brought in silver service, TV over the HUGE bath and only 6 rooms (ST V's program) so very quiet (plus right next to the day spa if you have someone to come in and look after bubs. If you can I would definitely reccomend taking this option. Nothing to pay for a couple of days of shear luxury.

:thumbsup: Excellent! I was planning on taking them up on the offer, the only thing that put me off was that there is no nursery to take the baby if you are desperate for a sleep

[MammyMammy]

Hi,

We're TTC for the 1st time as soon as we O next, and we have heard that you need to decide your Ob. and your hospital nice and early. What does that mean!!!??? Does that mean that I am a "psycho" if we/I tour at the hospitals that we want to choose from (Frances Perry House, and St Vincents, and possibly Freemasons) before we become confirmed pregnant???

I've been trying to get thru to St Vincents ed centre to find out what there is to book for tours etc, its only staffed p/t so they eventually will contact me I guess.

I need some practical advice on whether to get the decisions made, and choose an obstetrician before, or after we are confirmed "P".

I've heard any number of stories where the limit of beds means that you need to book as soon as you know for sure. But I dont even know which hospital, which obstetrician yet, nor am I "P" yet. :fingerscrossed:

From a point of view of choice, I'd be choosing help over food. and of course the aftercare is just as important as the birth itself.:p

any experiences would be a great help....boohooo, so confused. getting P seemed so hard when we started reading about how to get the best chances etc, temperature, mabey baby, Ov etc!!!!... now it seems to be the easy part!!!! :yelclap:

MammyMammy

xox

[winniethepooh]

hospital beds are not as tightas they once were coz of the hotel programs.
freemasons and st vs are both now taking a lot more patients. you cant get in though unless you are booked by an ob.
obs take differing no of patients per months depending on how buy they like to be. most take between 20-35 with 2 at least I know of in melb taking up to 60 a month.this means 2 deliveries on average a day but they never come when they are supposed to. these drs are not around much so you may be seen by midwives in their practice quite a bit. all obs will try their hardest to make it to your delivery.freemasons mids are the best according to quite a few obs. some of their rooms are not as nice as fph or st vs but food is great. they have a nursery also. st vs dont. hyatt is wonderful as is sofitel. there are midwives there 24 hrs to help you at the hotel. drs will come if you need them. book in to se your ob by 5 weeks otherwise you may not get your 1st choice.some drs take patients late but not many. dr steinberg,pillay, negri and skinner I think take patients late.

[Scout]

I had a fantastic experience at Freemason's - the midwives at the birth were JUST AMAZING and those that looked after us after the birth were also great. Overall, a very positive experience. My girlfriend who gave birth there on the same day as me, had a very traumatic experience and would never go back. Another friend of mine was there a week later and loved it too.

My only complaint was that Sax had to go into the Special Care Nursery for a week and they bottle fed him first up without asking if I was ok with it. Ultimately, this led to him not ever accepting the breast. I felt like I was robbed of a choice from which there was no recovery. However, when I followed up with the Freemason's Breastfeeding Clinic, the midwife/lactation consultant who came to see me was fantastic.