"Antenatal care excellent. Maternity ..."

Dear Patient,

Thank you for taking the time to post your views about the treatment you received at St George’s Hospital. We are pleased to hear that many aspects of your experience were extremely positive.

St George’s is striving to provide the best possible care for all its patients, so it is always good to hear what we are doing well, but equally as important to know where our patients think we could make further improvements. In response to your message and the areas you would like to see improved:

All midwives and healthcare assistants at St George’s are trained in breast feeding techniques. The hospital also has specialist breast feeding counsellors who are available seven days a week to help new mothers experiencing difficulties feeding their babies.

Most of our maternity beds are situated in four bedded bays and staff do try their utmost to cause as little disturbance as possible to other mothers when responding to a patient’s needs. However, due to the nature of the care given in maternity wards this is not always possible.

Although the Trust has recently reintroduced set visiting hours between 3pm and 8pm for many of its wards, this does not affect any of our postnatal wards. All St George’s maternity units, including the Carmen Suite, our midwife-led unit aimed at mothers wanting a natural birth, allow fathers to visit between 10am and 8pm.

Like all NHS hospitals, bed space at St George’s is at a premium and patient care is our first priority, however we do allow fathers to stay overnight if their wife or child is seriously ill and requires extra support.