Scotland's Maternity Units

[Amygdala]

Hi girls!

I've been trying to find some information on different maternity units online and found next to nothing. It seems that nowhere tells you the really interesting stuff, like what are the delivery rooms like, how many beds per room in the postnatal, can you have a waterbirth, are dads allowed to visit/stay as long as they like, what's the food like...

Anyway, I thought this might make a useful thread for on here. If you've given birth in a Scottish hospital, could you tell us where and give us some info? Stuff I thought of includes

Name and location
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)?
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time?
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand?
Is there a birthing pool?
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there?
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)?
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned?
Did you feel well informed about what's going on?
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours?
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth?
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer?

There's probably other stuff that's interesting to know, that's just what I could think of now. Personally I'm interested in Glasgow hospitals but I thought this would be useful to have for other people as well, so it'd be great if lots of Scottish mums could give us a summary, whereever they gave birth.

Thank you!!!

 

[xkirstyx]

Name and location -stirling royal infirmary
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)?yes- NHS and pysio
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time?-i always had 2 they only changed over at the end of shift but one stayed a bit longer and at one point i had 4 lol
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand?-no
Is there a birthing pool?-yes
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there?-yes you can give birth in it
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)?-haha i would say no but when ur in labour its not comfortable!, there was a bed a ball a sofa and a cd player in my room
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned?-they didnt let OH cut cord didnt even ask but they put baby on me b4 he was cleaned
Did you feel well informed about what's going on?-yes
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours?-there is visiting hours
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth?-4
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer?i was kept in for a day and sent me home when i asked

 

[feisty_filly]

Name and location - border genral
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)? dont know
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time? i had the same 2 through out
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand? nope
Is there a birthing pool? yep
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there? not sure
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)? it was nice, i had a tv (with freview) sofa, ball, cd player
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned? yep they were fab
Did you feel well informed about what's going on? yes
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours? not aloud to stay overnight but could come and go all day
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth? 3but there were beds for 6
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer? i got sent home when i asked

 

[AP]

Name and location EDINBURGH ROYAL INFIRMARY
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)? NO IDEA
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time? THEY CHANGED. THANK GOD!
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand? NO
Is there a birthing pool? NO IDEA
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there?N/A
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)? YES
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned? MY WISHES MEANT BUGGER ALL, ALL I CARED ABOUT WAS MY BABY SURVIVING
Did you feel well informed about what's going on? YES, WHEN THEY EVENTUALLY REALISED AFTER HOURS I WAS ACTUALLY IN LABOUR.
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours? HE COULD STAY AROUND WHENEVER
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth? I SHARED WITH ABOUT 3 FOR AN HOUR, HAD A BIT TO EAT TIL I WAS MOVED TO A ROOM MYSELF
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer? MY INTENTION WAS TO GET OUT QUICK BUT IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES I STAYED FOR A WEEK IN THEIR RESIDENT ROOMS.


I always heard shitty stories about the Royal Infirmary. I intended on diving to Livingston. But if I had, my LO prob wouldnt have had a chance.

I had no idea just how much support premature babies have at the Royal, no idea the neonatal was there. If I knew how great it was there, I'd have gone there, no question.

I will however, shoot down the MUPPETS that just monitored me and didnt bother with me, when in fact I was in labour. Maybe they could have stopped it, or gave me steroids sooner, but they fucked up big time. My OH found one of them crying once it was made official that I was in labour.

They let me stay in the resident rooms, which are nice and have kettles, double beds etc.

The neonatal have some lovely rooms too, it was like a hotel!

 

[ellie27]

Name and location - Glasgow Princess Royal Maternity
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)? - yes, antenatal, visit and physio
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time? - changed
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand? I had a c-section so no.
Is there a birthing pool? - yes
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there? - think its just for labour
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)? - saw them on the visit and they looked really good. Private with own shower room.
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned? - I had a c-section, we had baby in arms within a minute of baby being born.
Did you feel well informed about what's going on? yes
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours? partners can stay from 10am-9pm.
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth? rooms with up to 6 beds.
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer? After a c-section I was home within 48hrs - very happy with that!

 

[Blah11]

Name and location -edinburgh royal infirmary
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)?yes- Not sure really. I did my antenatal classes via my GP
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time?-I had 1 at the start when in the early stages, shifts changed and there was 1 main one but 2 were there for the actual delivery.
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand?- no
Is there a birthing pool?- yes
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there?- You labour and deliver in it and its your room for a good few hours after so you can spend some quiet time with baby.
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)?-Yes but for some reason they ran out of pillows?!
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned?- Yes they were fab! I wouldnt change a thing. She was delivered onto me, they asked who wanted to cut the cord (my mum did), they encouraged me to BF her almost right away, we got loads of skin to skin and alone time.
Did you feel well informed about what's going on?-yes
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours?-there is visiting hours but they make exceptions. Your partner can stay for as long as he likes between 9am-8pm or something.
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth?- 3 others
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer?i was kept in for a day because my BP went high during labour but I wanted to go home right away.

 

[Harveysmum369]

Name and location Raigmore Hospital,Inverness
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)? There are parentcraft classes at the hospital but mine were in my local village
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time? I had one midwife through my labour and a new one came on shift about an hour before I gave birth,but my original midwife stayed with me until harvey was born,even though her shift had ended.
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand? Not really,the midwife did come down and collect me from the ward
Is there a birthing pool? There is a pool but I didnt use it
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there? I think you can give birth in it.
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)? They are comfortable, there is no buzzer for when the midwife isnt with you though.
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned?Yes they considered my wishes in certain aspects,such as me wanting Dean to hold the baby first.
Did you feel well informed about what's going on? Yes I was kept informed,well as much as i remember!
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours? partners can come in 11am-late but there are set visiting times for others
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth? up to 6
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer? Harvey was In SCBU so i stayed in as long as he was in there.

 

[Abz1982]

Name and location Aberdeen Maternity Hospital
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)? Yes, they cover all stage of pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding + taking baby home
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time? Through pregnancy - yes. Through labour, I had 2, but the 2nd one was really just releaving the main one for an hour
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand? Nope, well other than OH. I did however get to meet all the team that did the c-section
Is there a birthing pool? In the midwife led ward there is
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there? Birth I believe
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)? They are as comfortable as they can be, the beds however are horrendous and you have to try and get through contractions whilst hold on yourself on the bed as you keep slipping off the end as they are angled down!
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned? I didnt have any defined, but I was out of it anyway
Did you feel well informed about what's going on? Yes and no! I knew what was going to happen, but no one told me about the side effects of the morphine and the epidural - shivers, vomiting etc. So I thought I was going into shock and going to die during the c-section and passed out and OH thought I was going to die and so it traumatised him.
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours? There are visiting hours. Some wards/midwives are more strict than others. My oh generally got to stay about 1 hour over (cos he would fall asleep on bed with me.
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth? There were 4 on the ward
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer? I was kept in 5 days, which although it sounds long I did need it.

 

[Janiepops]

Name and location: Wishaw General
Are there prenatal classes (what are they)? Yeah, loads! Parenthood classes etc
Did you have one midwife throughout or did they change all the time? One midwife throughout pregnancy, then 2 and a student at delivery. The student actually stayed on 2 hours after her shift to be with me.
Did you know the people who were in the delivery room beforehand? Nopes.
Is there a birthing pool?Yes. One on each ward.
Are you allowed to give birth in it or just labour there?Both
Are the delivery rooms comfortable (what's in there, what's missing)?They're very plain. It felt more like a hospital IYKWIM? Comfortable tho.
Did the staff consider your wishes, e.g. let you hold the baby before they were cleaned?I felt they took over quite a bit, but I was pretty out of it!
Did you feel well informed about what's going on?Yes.
Are partners allowed to come and go as they please or are there visiting hours?They can come and go between 9am-9pm.
How many other women do you share a room with after the birth?There are some private rooms, although I was in a 4-bed room.
Did they send you home sooner than you'd wished or keep you longer?They kept me 2 nights which I liked with my first, I hope they send me home asap this time!