Royal London Hospital birth experience?

Hi ladies, please, could you share your experience with The Royal London Hospital Birth unit? Would you recommend this Hospital or would you recommend any other hospitals ? Thank you 🙏

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Horrible, understaffed so the staff who ended up working was overworked and stress so patient care wasn’t the greatest. Put me on a word with a covid positive mum after 32 hours of labour ended in a emergency c section. I had severe anxiety about if i swaddled my newborn correctly i was look at funny by the night midwife on ward . But i did have a great experience with a lady called alice! She was amazing.

I think every hospital will have its good and bad ways dont go off what i say some mums would have had a better experience this was in 2022 x

Where are you giving birth? On the ward or on Lotus?

No idea, but I read 3 months old negative reviews so I am very anxious

I gave birth on the lotus ward it was amazing. All natural though apart from pethidine. Huge room with bath ball and loads of other things

I had my other son in the normal delivery ward was terrible and understaffed

I’m also considering the lotus birth centre that is at the same hospital. I wonder if it is possible to arrange a visit there

it's so worth it

How do I apply for Lotus Ward??

I had my baby in February in the Lotus Birthing Suite. Very large and spacious and my midwife was absolutely amazing! Vaginal delivery with paracetamol followed by gas and air.

I’m sure everyone will have had varying experiences and it’s pretty difficult at the moment with staffing and various strikes. But I had a really good experience and will be going back there in the future for my second baby

I had my 2 kids there, 5 years ago and 11month a ago.
Essentially it really depends on
who is caring for you.
I found some midwives very nurturing and empowering, some others were cold and rude.
Being under staffed and under lots of pressure does not help. But both birth went smoothly even though first one was very long.
I think it will be the case in any hospital really, so just stick to it as it is a great hospital 🏥 and just make sure you and your partner advocate for yourself in case you don’t like something. Good luck with everything !!!

😘thank you all for sharing your experience

if you are low risk you automatically go to the lotus birth suite which is midwife led, however if you are high risk or need/want intervention (epidural etc) they will move you down the the delivery ward. You don’t need to “apply” for the lotus. My care at the RLH so far has been great, I’m due mid July and plan to go into the lotus birth centre. When speaking to neighbours who have birth there in the last year they said care was good but the post natal ward wasn’t the best (I get the sense it’s like that at most hospitals). All hospitals are understaffed and it will largely come down to who you have on the day and the circumstances that arise. If you’re uncomfortable with the RLH, look into Homerton perhaps as an alternative? You’ll be looked after wherever you go but will likely need your birth partner to advocate for you and what you want, that’s just a reality.

they currently don’t do visits but they have an Instagram account so you can follow and see the rooms/facilities.

I'm going to be at RLH too. I'm a nurse locally and I've heard the worst and the best stories.. but to be honest other hospitals nearby and also very mixed in reviews.. not an awful lot of option!!

I gave birth at RL in September. I was low risk but then had to be induced at 41+6 and I ended up on the normal delivery ward not the Lotus Centre. My labour was great I laboured through the night and it was quiet they left me too it but then didn’t believe I was ready to push! So it was a very very mad rush to the delivery suite but all that was fine the midwife’s were great. I found the waiting time for postnatal ward/ postnatal ward the not great experience x

The staff are absolutely horrible, glad i had mine at St Thomas x

I didn’t have a good experience at the royal London mainly the postnatal ward to blame for that x

I had a planned csection at RLH due to breach position and had a very good experience. The team of doctors performing the procedure were fantastic, the aftercare could have been a bit better but overall I was very happy

I had an emergency induction due to having covid the nurses/midwifery team on the maternity ward where amazing
However they were definitely understaffed I was helping them upkeep safety protocols e.g getting them to test my partner everyday and cleaning my own bits so they stayed separated as some of the cleaners were mixing towels bed sheets etc but once moved onto to labour ward it was incredible the girls there were so patient and understanding amazing team
After care was a little shody

Really bad experience!

why

in our community

Anyone else up feeding their Bebe?

As above. Trying so hard to keep my eyes open

Is this normal??

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and having really aching legs and they’re all lumpy and swollen. Above the knee and behind the knee . Should I be worried ? My legs have never looked like this up until a few days ago. ??

Induction experience

I just wanted to share my experience with being induced as I wasn’t sure what to expect and thought it may help others.

I opted for the foley balloon which was inserted at 8am Saturday morning, I had to stay in hospital due to hypertension and protein urine however usually you can just go home once this has been done. The insertion of the balloon was not painful, was slightly uncomfortable as there was slight pressure. I actually found having the cervix checked prior to be worse (again not painful at this point just uncomfortable) The balloon had little effect and after having it removed I was still only 1cm. Removal also was pain free and hardly even noticeable.

I then had my first dose of the gel and definitely noticed a difference, I started experiencing period like cramps almost immediately however they were light and manageable. After 6 hours I had another cervix check and although my cervix was soft it was still only 1cm and was only open at the front. I had another dose of the gel and felt an increase in pressure and more intense cramping where I now required pain relief (codeine). After another 6 hours I had another cervix check and I had now dilated to 2-3cm however was still quite difficult to get all the way through so a third gel was recommended which I agreed to.

Almost immediately I noticed the difference and was in considerable pain, I had paracetamol and codeine however the contractions had now become intense and a lot closer together (around 3 minutes apart). After a couple of hours I had my last cervix check and was 4cm and taken down to the Labour ward to have my waters broken and an epidural.

I had been in my room for approx 20minutes when my waters broke by themselves and I was now 10cm and actively pushing…. There was no time for the epidural and my beautiful girl arrived into the world within 2 minutes of pushing.

All in all I would say the cramps/contractions were manageable up until the third gel where it became pretty unbearable however it was for a very short time a gas and air helped take the edge off. The worst part about any of it was actually the later cervix checks where after stimulating the cervix my contractions were at their most painful.

If I had to be induced again I would skip the balloon and opt for the gels immediately as thy had a quicker effect and I would have been out a lot sooner if I had done this to begin with.

One more thing, I’ve never believed when people say “you forget the pain once they’re here” but I can honestly say this is true. It’s been 4 days and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Gave birth (vagina) 5 days ago and yesterday morning and this morning getting lot of pain in my right bottom side and lower back

It’s my birthday tomorrow.

Ok so I am going to be 35 years young. I can’t believe how much this life has thrown at me but it’s okay I’m a survivor. I am truly blessed to be alive. 🥳🧁🎂 The only downside is I won’t be celebrating my birthday because my man can’t take me out. So many emotions right now.

Exercise 6 weeks after c section

What movement did people start to introduce? I won’t do anything too vigorous until I’ve seen the pelvic physio as I don’t want to compromise anything that may have been extremely weakened through pregnancy! But just wondering what types of classes/movement people started off with?