"Great midwives & maternity/fetal med team!"

I was admitted to St George’s at 33 weeks pregnant due to suddenly developing preeclampsia and had to spend about two weeks in the hospital, mostly in the Carmen Suite. I delivered my baby via c-section in the Delivery Suite and I was very pleased with most members of the maternity staff I interacted with, starting with the Maternal Medicine midwives thanks to whom my condition got diagnosed. The doctors did a great job with my c-section surgery and I recovered quickly after, something I didn’t expect. This was my first NHS hospital experience and I had no expectations but I was very impressed with how effectively they managed my condition and explained it to me. When I had concerns and doubts about certain things like taking steroids, they sent in relevant staff to discuss it with me and answer my questions. Would strongly recommend the Fetal Medicine Unit staff as well! Most of the doctors and midwives, as well as consultants from anaesthesia dept were outstanding!!! Carmen Suite: My BP and baby’s vitals had to be monitored regularly and the midwifes who took care of me were very supportive and provided much-needed comfort at an extremely stressful and emotional time. A few suggested improvements: - Warn partners/husbands/other loud midwives about not talking loudly outside the rooms. I had trouble sleeping while I was there due to this, the last thing you want is to lose sleep because of noise when you are already worried about your baby’s and your own health. - Train the kitchen staff to be less rude and more polite. Not to make a fuss when we enter the kitchen to get water bottles. - Hire more midwives for better care because sometimes there weren’t enough of them around to deliver the babies AND take care of those like me who were staying at the ward longer than 1-2 nights. Gwillim award: My experience at the Gwillim Ward was also mostly good. Staff were pleasant but very much overworked, so sometimes a wait to see them in postnatal care was inevitable. Some improvements: The private rooms need updating and the faulty windows should be fixed, especially since you are paying for them, you expect things to work properly! Staff were also overworked - definitely shows that the NHS needs more money to hire more people (and pay them well because they are trying their best to get all this work done with less staff!) Also, it takes ages for them to open doors when you ring the bell to enter the wards, as they have to buzz you in, even if you are a patient there. Maybe get a fridge and microwave into the Carmen Ward too so that patients don’t have to go back and forth into Gwillim as much?

Overall I would recommend this hospital.