Hi all!

We will hopefully be having a bub before the end of 07 and I am researching the different hospitals in adelaide to try and work out which one i will use...
What are everyone else's experiences with the different hospitals (private & public)?

hello i haad both my boyz at the lyell mc in the birthing centre they are great there i wouldnt go anywhere else

i have never heard of any one i know had problems i guess it depends where you live

you dont want to be to far away just in case
good luck

I think it depends where you live.

There are good hospitals on all sides of town.

Lyell Mac are great

Yep had all mine at Lyell McEwin

Great birthing experiences, no issues, great midwifes

I had a great experience with Calvary. I found them to be quite good.

I was born in Calvary

I have had all 3 of mine at Flinders. They have been fantstic each time. With DD1 there were a couple of complications but they have a level 3 neonatal ward, so in the event of any problems they are right there.

With the last 2 I went Birth Centre and that was FANTASTIC!!! The midwives are absolutely lovely and now they have whats called "southern Midwifery Group Practice"which basically means it's the same midwife who follows you through from 1st appt till birth. Which is great as it really gives you a sense of familliarity!

Hope that helps a little bit. But like some of the others have said, it really depends on where you live as you don't want to have to be driving for an hour when you are in labour!!!

Ive had both of mine at Lyell Mac and cant say a bad word ! They were fantastic ! ANd now with all the upgrades, everything is new !!!

I had my first two at womens and childrens. They were fantastic! Just lovely. My third was at flinders- never again............ hated it from the start. IF we have another I will go back to womens and childrens.

I had Evie in Flinders labor ward. They soooo lovely and helpful from delivery right through to helping me breastfeed.
I couldn't and don't have one thing bad to say bout them!!!!!!
I'll be having my next one there that's for sure.
Gazpachosoup, sorry you had a bad experience, I guess it depends on the midwives.
You can have bad experiences no matter which hospital you go to!!!

Good luck with your search.

I think everyone is different too..

I had both mine at Lyell Mac and loved it...

My auntie had her bubs at the same time at Womens and Childrens and had a shocking time.

Sorry to the PP who had bad experience at Flinders.

I have had all my children there, including induced birth of my stillborn twins and on all accounts I couldnt have asked for better care/attention etc.

Still had my own room and not a bad word to say. The midwives are wonderful and wherever you go you might the odd cranky one however ave never had this. The midwife that delivered my 7yr old daughter was right there with me for the twins and DS and then DD, of cause over this time she had become a family friend, is DS's godmother and with last DD she actually came in on her day off as my 2nd support person.

The ONLY thing I didnt like too much was the huge long delays for my antenatal appointments at the womens health clinic!! EVERY time I went in the sign "sorry we are running late" was up!!! Even at 9am in the morning!!!

Cannot praise the care/delivery of my babies more.

I had my DD at the Womens and Childrens..loved it. I had great mid wives.. nothing to complain about at all..

Would go there again

I had both my sons at Burnside. Fantastic care, midwives were great, food was the best and the rooms are so spacious. I didn't want to go home. I'll definitely be having #3 there.

Afternoon all,


Anyone had their babies at Gawler Health Service??
I've booked into this public hospital but as a private patient. Haven't heard any bad news and so far love the
mid-wives I've dealt with.

Beck

I had my DS at North Eastern Community at Campbelltown and couldn't fault them at all. Many girlfriends have been there too and have never heard of any complaints (& a coulple would complain if anything was wrong!) They were very attentive, supportive and willing to give you space when you needed it.

Cheers!

Beck, i've had all 3 of my children at the Gawler hospital and will be having number 4 there as well. I've got nothing but praise for the hospital. The midwives are fantastic. When are you due?

We're off to Ashford in July - I can let you know then

lyell mac here I think the care was fantastic and I will go back there next time

My sister had her daughter and womens and childrens, she said that the prenatal and birth care was excellent, but after she actually had the baby and was in the ward the after care wasnt that good.

I have also had a friend have 2 babies at Gawler and cannot fault it, only thing is they seem to have more 'shared' rooms there.

I had two babies at Gawler and was really happy with our experience.
With #1 I was in hospital for 7 days and managed to have a room to myself the whole time.
With #2 I was in hospital for 3 days and got a single room (double bed) which was great.
I dread the thought of sharing when #3 is born (also at Gawler)

Hey Victory, I just wanted to say congratulations on your pregnancy, hope you have an uneventful few months!!!

Hi there I had DS at NECH and it was great apart from one midwife. The only thing I can fault them on is they never provided information on post natal services at the hospital, ie I never knew there was a clinic that ran three times a week for feeding support etc and also my form was not faxed off to Child & Youth Health, as was my friend's who also had her bubs there. We were waiting for a call from C & YH and they had no idea we had our babies already.

Other than that, the other midwives were fantastic.

Morning ladies,

*Tanya* : I due August 4th (so almost 12 weeks) with my first. I've booked in as Private patient but don't know how much of a difference this will make. Haven't meet any of the Dr's yet but mid-wifes are all lovely.

Beck

I had both of my children at the womens and childrens and both were very different experiences!

With DS i was in the birthing centre for about 12 hours then had to be moved out to normal labour and delivery because of meconium in my waters. While i was in the birthing centre the care was EXCELLENT! The labour and delivery ward - the care was awful!

With DD i was in the birthing centre and it was again EXCELLENT! I would recommend the birthing centre to anyone!

Having said this i know many people who have had their babies at the womens and childrens just in normal L&D and have been happy with the care, so maybe i was just unlucky.

I had #1 at Modbury and hated it. We didnt have private and Modbury was closer to us so we decided to go there but it was just terrible. Needless to say as soon as DS was born DH organised private health so we had our next 2 babies at North Eastern Community Hospital (which is even closer to home) and WOW what a great experience. I loved it there. So good were both times I am going back again with this one.
I was also born at NECH as were my 2 sisters and brother all between 1975 and 1980!

So far i have had 2 at Gawler, and found the midwives to be fantastic, although i had them before the changes, but still the same midwives are there

Beck there are a few differences in going private, you get first dibs on the 2 nice rooms and also i'm pretty sure that the girls i know that have gone private got a different meal menu They got to choose hot meals for both lunch and dinner, public patients get a hot lunch and a lighter dinner That said the food was still lovely. I'm not sure what else is different, before you got your chosen Ob, but now you don't seen a specific Ob during your pregnancy i guess that has changed. HTH

Thanks, Saira

I had Ella at Flinders Medical Centre and am booked in there for this baby too. I can't fault them. They were great, antenatal was great, birth and post partum care was excellent. Ella was in Neonatal for 48 hours after her birth and they did such a wonderful job caring for her. It feels like 'home' when I go and visit friends there who have had babies...!

Flinders Private here.

Fantastic care from Drs and Midwives alike.

Lots of help regarding early bub care and breast feeding. Nurses are full of info but dont shove it on you.

Had DS there in 2003 and going back in March for this one

I had all my 3 at the Lyell Mac.

Ashton was born @ 31 weeks after an emergency C-section for Pre-Eclampsia and he was able to stay there in the NICU.

I couldnt have been happier with the staff etc during my pregnancy and after - they were all EXTREMELY helpful and friendly explaining everythng that was happening and why etc.

I felt so at home in the NICU thanks to all the staff which was good seeing we spent a month there

Burnside

I loved it and will definitely go back there for #2. Loved my Ob (who is based at Burnside), loved the midwives, fantastic food, great rooms.

A lovely place to start Motherhood at.

Hope this helps.

I'm another for the North Eastern Community Hospital. I had both girls there and will be having this one there as well. I have never had too many problems there. I complained about one midwife after having Hayley and never had her with Bethany. I also complained about the dr who did my spinal block and wont get him this time. The thing I complained about with him he did to others on the same day. He was a butcher putting the drip in.

My ob is fantastic and is one of the reasons for going back.

Good luck choosing.

My brother and his now wife used Lyell Mac for their son and are going back for this one.

Friends used Flinders and were happy both times,

Baby No1 at Womens&Childrens. Can't fault the midwives at all, they were fantastic. Unfortunately we ended up in the Labour ward, not Birthing Centre, still midwives on there were all fab too. Didn't like one of the doctors who attended the birth, made me feel like an inanimate object. The midwive told him off (haha) and told him to grow a bedside manner (he was pretty young). Also post birth, although everyone was very nice, they were flat out and I had to share a room. I ended up going home early as I couldn't sleep due to the noise.

Baby No2 , went to Flinders Private (had private health insurance by then). Absolutely fantastic, loved the whole experience. Fabulous Doctor (it made a real difference to me to know the doctor attending) and the midwives and other staff were also lovely. Being a bit of a luzury lover, I also enjoyed the huge family room after the birth, hubby stayed a couple of nights too - don't think he wanted to leave either!

Good luck with your pregnancy and birth, hope everything goes well!

I had both my boys at WCH. I had no problems there
This time we are going to Lyell Mac as i'm not working in the city anymore and this is closer. I'm booked into the birthing suite and it looks Fab! I can't imagine I will have much trouble with the staff.

I haven't heard a single good report about Modbury actually...I wouldn't go there even for a broken arm.

I had both mine at WCH...both elective c/s and both times were great. I got a private room both times and the midwives were great. I got one I didn't like much on my second time, but after I had a go at her, she was nice as pie.

I agree we took DS2 with a bad fever and they made us wait over an hour to be seen. Bit of a shck when you are not familiar with the hospital in the first place.

Like EJ, leah80, and yope I had my DS1 at North Eastern Community Hospital. I even travelled all the way from Canberra to go there and have my final weeks care with Dr Tamlin. (A known understudy of my Ob in Canberra).

I really appreciated that you could make an appointment with the lactation consultant before you were due and she would prep you with everything you needed to know for effective breastfeeding. It enabled us to get off the mark without a hitch.

I loved the midwives who supported me in labour (who's names illude me even thought heir names were the same ). A also loved the short lady (think her name is Bev) who was able to make me smile even when I was low about DS1 needing phototherapy.

My one issue was that on the last night a temp nurse didn't wake me for a minimum 4 hourly feed for him (as the heat of the humidicrib can make them loose weight if not fed regularly). Obviously, I raised this with the Nursing Head and she took it on board and kept in touch even after we left the hospital as to what action she had taken. No-one can guess how a temp-nurse will pan out though.

My SIL also had her DS there two weeks before us and certainly had a positive experience. Second time round she decided she wanted a home birth and went through Lyell Mac and was really happy with her MW and antenatal care with them also.

Good luck with your decision!!

Wow, I'm really surprised that no one has said any good things about Modbury Hospital I had both my sons there and they were fantastic both times. I had quite different births, first one was long and traumatic as there was a problem with Jordan's heart beat and I had to be fetal monitored for about 10 hours, but I found the staff to be lovely the whole time! There was some discussion about putting me in for a ceasaerian, but luckily they decided to keep up with the monitoring closely and I was able to have a normal delivery. I found their after care to be wonderful and even had a lactation consultant that came to visit me a couple of time a day whilst in there.

With Jai my labour was very nice and quick! We had an excellent midwife who I'll always remember for her thick English accent and the fact that she loved the Moby CD I bought so much that she stole a CD player from the nursery as the other ones were being used lol. She was a lovely lady with a real 'upbeat' personality that really helped with my drug free delivery. After she left as quickly as she could to leave the three of us alone which was lovely. I did dislike the time in hospital after the birth of Jordan when my DH had to leave, I just wanted to be in my own home with us all together, so I had asked for an early discharge so I could go home on the same day. The staff were excellent and made sure that I was the first on the list to be seen by the pediatrician so we could go home later that day.

I've also taken Jordan there twice and Jai once for minor accidents and coudn't fault their treatment then either.

Sorry for the long post, but I just felt that all the good things needed to be added

Congratulations on your pregnancy and wish you all the best with whatever hospital you choose!
Natalie

I had both of my kids at Flinders Private and was also there when I miscarried my first pregnancy. The care there at all times was excellent. The midwives were very helpful when I had DD getting breastfeeding established and the physio was great too as I had SPD.

When I had DS there a couple of months ago, the midwives kept complaining that I was a boring patient. They said I was too independent and I should stop making their job so easy! LOL.

hi i gave birth at the flinders 10 weeks ago and i loved the fact that you get ur own room bathroom and there a no limits to visiting hours i just loved it ( oh and the midwives couldn't help enought )

Hi there -thought I would give you a perspective from a private hospital-I had my 3 children at North Eastern Community Hospital.Facilities are great,all private rooms with ensuites,food beautiful and of course you choose and see your own doctor at antenatal appointments.The midwives, well what can I say, they are fantastic-very supportive and friendly plus the hospital has antenatal and post natal services if you want/need them.I am a little biased also because I too am a midwife there (ha ha). but seriously, I wasn't a midwife when I had my son and had only just finished the course when I had my daughter - I then weht back to have my youngest daughter and loved it!!Hope this helps.

I went to Flinders Private and I did love it but there was also not so good experiences as well. The main midwife I had during labour wasn't helpful at all, I think she thought I had DH so really didn't interact with us at all or recommend different things I could try.

After care was ok but I had such a hard time breastfeeding and each midwife told me something different. I was so stressed it wasn't funny. I asked for a lactation consultant but was told they don't have one at all midwives are trained. Any way my peadatrician saw me on the last day and could tell how I was at referred me to the Flinders Public Consultant.

It wasn't that bad cause I will have number 2 there who is due in October. I think I was just so overwhelmed with the birth and everything that I wasn't really coping and for me they couldn't find a solution to that and the breastfeeding.

This time I know exactly what I want and am more sure of myself so hopefully it will go smoothly.

Another huge fan of Gawler hospital, here I had DS there, 3 years ago, and loved it, but this time it was even better - the new service is fantastic!!!!! Prenatal care is fantastic, both mid-wives and OBs, support during labour is great, hospital food is nice (!), postnatal care is outstanding. They are currently seeking accreditation to become a breast-feeding hospital (can't think what it is called), which would make them only the 2nd in SA, behind the Lyell Mac.

The only slight down-side is that I didn't like one of the registrars much, but the head OB consultant, Dr Chenia, is brilliant.

Re the rooms, I have stayed there a total of 12 nights (had 2 emergency c-sections), and only had to share a room for one of those nights. It is extremely rare that you would have to share.

Sorry but wouldnt send a sick dog to Modbury. Had my first daughter there and they had NO idea. Next two were born at NECH and they were fantastic.This one I am going to Lyell Mac and it sounds great

Modbury is not that bad!

I had my DD there in May 2005 and I thought they were great. I was a first time mum and I think they did a great job!

Maybe they have changed but I doubt it. My 1st daughter was born there (I was 16).I was 2 weeks overdue,they induced labour, they left me all day in labour, she got stuck, forceps were used, she was black and blue.It then took them 2 weeks to find out she was blind and had CP.They were very uncaring and I was just a number to them.Sorry but my experience with them was pure hell.I will never forgive them for the way my baby and I were treated.

ETA sorry this was just my personal experience.