Sandringham Midwives Care

[MiniMinstersMum]

Has anyone had any experiences to share good or bad in relation to having a baby at Sandringham Hospital? Also using their Midwives Care option?

We are having our first there in early Oct and were using GP Shared Care but have just been advised we can get into the Midwives Care program now as we'd been waitlisted for a few months.

So far have been impressed and very happy with the care and attention we received during our inital visits.

thanks:sunshine:
MiniMinstersMum

[firsttimemummy17]

hello there.
i have not yet had my baby but i am due in 5 days.
i am at sandringham hospital and loveing it.
i am under midewife care and i am finding it so much easyer than seeing a doctor all the time.
there are alot more midewifes than there are doctors witch means ur visits are alot quicker and you never have to wait more than 15 mins to see a midewife.
they are usualy on time.
the one time i did see a doctor at sandringham it tolk about an hour and a half befor i even got into see him then within 5 mins i was beeing sent out for blood tests and that was it.
i deffinately thing that sandringham midewife care is better than the shared care program and all that.

[nikki78]

Hi I gave birth there in April had an elective ceaser due to previous birth adn low lying placenta.
i started of going to GP shared care then ended up seeing Midwifes
They are great so helpful loved my experience there i have recommended the hospital to everyone i even had friends that visited and they were so impressed with the midwifes

[Purplebird]

I had both my babies at Sandringham. I had shared care with my GP as she delivered my babies, but I went for midwife care a few times. It's a lovely place - all the midwives are so supportive. I don't have anything bad to say about it. They even encouraged me to co-sleep with DS as he wouldn't settle without me :)

[ripple]

Hi,
I will be TTC soon and as Sandy is my local I am also interested in booking into the Midwives Clinic if and when I get pregnant. OP I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of q's.
If you are booked into the midwives clinic do you have to see an obstetrician at any stage?
Do you have to be low risk to have midwife care or is it open to everyone?

Thanks :)

[MiniMinstersMum]

Thanks for everyone's posts so far. All sounding good and pretty reassuring!

We have 8 weeks to go now so it won't be long until I can comment on my experience at Sandy. So far we've been really happy but have only had two appointments with midwives. One was fantastic the other was very experienced but lacked a bit of warmth and empathy - maybe she'd had a long day - felt like a bit of a number!

Ripple - I'm not sure I can answer your question but you could always call the maternity department and check.

My understanding is that the Midwives Care is generally for low risk births. If any problems or concerns show up they refer you to see one of the GP Obsetricians or one of the Specialist Obsetricians and I guess whether or not you continue under the Midwives Care depends on the outcome.

I started with GP Shared Care and only recently got into the Midwives program. So far I've been classifed as low risk and have only seen a GP Obestician at the hospital once at I think about 18 weeks but this was a requirement of doing Shared Care.

As far as I am aware the rest of my appointments are with the midwives. I don't have to see another Dr. unless there is a reason.

I haven't seen a Specialist Obs at all.

Tip: If you are keen to get into the Midwives Care suggest you put your name down as soon as your pregnancy is confirmed. I didn't enquire until the 12 week mark and I was only the waiting list until about 26 weeks before I was able to get in.

[ripple]

Hi MMM,
Thanks very much for this info, that is very useful. I went private last time with an obstetrician and would like to have midwife-led care next time. I also felt like I was being treated like a number quite often by my OB, so it doesn't just happen with midwives. If I can avoid seeing an OB in my next pg I will be very happy but I don't think I will be that lucky!

It's great that you are happy with your antenatal care so far, in my experience being happy with your care is very important, and helps a great deal with having a positive approach to the birth.

I have heard positive things about Sandy myself from people who have been there, especially in relation to the postnatal care.

I hope you don't mind if I hijack your post again and ask another question! When you see the midwives do they talk about planning for the birth at all?

[firsttimemummy17]

hay me again,,
i just gave birth at sandringham. 7 days ago and i loved it.
the rooms are nice the midewifes are great and the food aint to bad eather lol haha..
i had a fairly complicated labour but they made me comfortable the hole time..
the one on one care is great and more private than haveing 5 diffrent people..
:) i deffinatly recomend the midwifes care or shared care at sandringham.:)
deffinatly haveing my next one there 2

[RiffRaffMama]

I had my first baby at Sandy 10 years ago and it was fine. My only complaint was that when it came time to push my son out I moved into a more comfortable position but the midwives insisted I get back onto my back immediately. It's the one thing I'm still annoyed about after all these years.
After the birth though they were great. They packed as much education into my 5 day stay as possible with videos and stuff. That was exactly what I needed because I was utterly clueless! Write a good birth plan and you should be fine.