Experience giving birth at MKUH

I’ve heard a lot of negatives about Milton Keynes hospital, I gave birth and was looked after during pregnancy at Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury. If you have means of travel then I’d opt for that hospital as it’s still Bucks 😊

I have had two babies at MKUH, most recently in April this year and it was fantastic. I'd recommend giving them a call to dicuss any specific concerns you have and asking to speak with a senior midwife.

I had my baby in March in MKUH and the care and support was excellent, couldn’t fault it. I had a qualified midwife and student midwife and it was superb! The aftercare on ward 9 was also great 😊

I had one yesterday at MKUH… I’ve no words I’ve contacted red PALS. They are over stretched the actual midwife’s and dr are lovely but they don’t have the staff or resources x

The barratt seems to nearly always be unavailable or not enough staff so even if you were in the catchment you probably would end up of the labour ward as I and everyone I know did x

I had a c section at MK in July. The c section went really well. The doctors and everyone involved were amazing. Being on ward 9 however for 5 days was hell. Everyone was lovely and really tried their best but communication isn’t great. I had to ask multiple times for medication/pain relief and was told someone would be right with me but they never came. When someone did come with meds they would ask me what I wanted. I had no idea what I could take, they never explained it to me. I had an operation in Luton and Dunstable years ago now and they were so on the ball with medication and would bring them round when it was time for more meds. I assumed this was common practice in hospitals. I didn’t expect that I needed to remind nurses of medication after major surgery. I over heard one lady ask for her antibiotics one day, only to be told that she finished them the day before but someone had forgot to tell her this.

Also the evenings are horrible. I had to ask someone to ask the lady next to me to turn down watching love island on her phone at 11pm as she had it at full volume. Only to be told by the staff member that if she did that, she might be offending the lady. I was fuming, seriously, 11 at night when people are trying to sleep. Some staff members don’t know what professionalism is either. Again at night, they would talk very loudly at the nurses station about their private lives and also about their colleagues. If you can afford to pay for a private room, definitely look into it.

I had a very similar experience to Mel. My saving grace was i knew i had to get through just one night and my husband was with me the whole time. I couldnt wait to get home to be able to manage my own pain meds. I came back from surgery around 5:30-6pm, they came to see me at 8pm after shift change over and offered me toast & tea… my first time eating or drinking in 24 hours… i waited until 12am for that to arrive and as i had my husband with me, i asked if he could get it for me. We also agreed at 8pm that in an hour my catheter would be removed and i could start my urine test (you have to pass 200ml in 6 hours to be able to go home) i had to remind them to take it out at 1am. I would say you need to advocate for yourself/ have someone with you who will. I didnt sleep a wink and got discharged the second i could which was around 2:30pm the next day. I totally understand they can be short staffed and priorities arise, but there were multiple nurses sat at the station permanently.

I wouldnt say my experience was ‘bad’ per se, just could have been a whole lot better

There in march, on ward 9 for a few days it was hell. Currently looking into a serious complaint, drugs signed off yet never given, students present after I declined consent, no care of compassion form alot of the staff on ward 9, after a c section with serious complications they discharged me and left me to walk out didn't arrange a porter only a volunteer caught me struggling to walking out the hospital and did it her self. The open ward has people making noise till 4am and sneaking 2 other visitors in the ward over night on top of the one you are allowed. If you have to stay in get a private room wish I had been given that option, and be on the ball for meds etc. I even had one nurse ask had she given me my drugs that's how much they don't know what's going on 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ brought all this up at the reflection appointment and they tried to sway me not to go through pals and just speak to the ward matron (I worked on the NHS so know it's so it's not logged as complaint and kept in house 😤)

My two friends delivered in MKUH, one in November last year and the other one in June this year. They both had a wonderful experience with the midwives and staff. Had an amazing post care experience too. One friend had a C sec and stayed in for 5 days after operation. She was given the best care. I’d suggest share these concerns with your midwife to get some more comfort.