"Poor Maternity Services In Taunton"

I had planned for a home birth for my second child and had all the checks and forms completed to enable this to happen. I was reassured by my midwife and other midwives seen throughout my pregnancy that they would do all they could to ensure this happened. Several appointments were cancelled or moved and referrals for scans were mislaid and had to be re-submitted. I saw a number of different midwives due to staff sickness and shortages, it was clear to see that the team is under staffed and the midwifes are struggling to keep up with demand. When it came for the time to call the labour ward and ask for a midwife to attend to me at home I was told that there were not enough staff and they would have to invite me in to hospital as even the midwife led unit at Bridgwater was closed. This is exactly what happened 2 years ago with the planned homebirth of my 1st child and I was disappointed to see that things had not improved.

I really did not want to go to hospital and ended up attending Paulton Birthing Centre in a different area. They were fantastic and I cannot thank them enough for doing the best to give me the birth I wanted. Also frustrating to see that on the NHS feedback site I cannot opt to leave this review for Musgrove Hospital in Taunton nor leave a good review for the birthing centre as the only 2 options available are Southmead or Yeovil.