who is going to the coombe need advice???

Hi there ok I want to try and have an iddea where I am going for my first doctor apt friday. I was first of all thinking of Kilkenny hospital - as I am living in carlow. But I haven't heard any real stories from there and no one I know personally has gone there, so I am a bit weary. I was then thinking alot of my family has gone to the coombe and found it great. Even though it is a bit further to travel, it might be the best option for me. Ok so can you give me some advice does the coombe have a lady midwife??? I have VHI plan b so I would be able to go semi private I think! When do they do your first scan there or can you get your scan in your local clinic?? Sorry for all the questions, it is just a bit daunting???? x

Hi MS, my sister had her baby there 8 months ago. She had a male midwife (im sure there is women but i donth think you can chose). She was on VHU Option B but paid extra to go semi private. I can find out how much extra it was. She was due her first scan at about 22 weeks but she thought it was too long so she said she was getting pains or something and they brought her in earlier for one. TBH she didnt find them good, the nurse doing the exams on her was very very rough, she regularly came home bleeding and very upset. The after care was disgraceful, she was told nothing, they let her home without her doing a bowel movement and she ended up with the most terrible constipation. She was in agony and had to go back to hospital with baby in tow for 2 more days. Now this could just be her bad experience but she is going to Portlaoise on her next.

oh god that doesn't sound good....oh I am so confused. Now even though I have not heard many stories about kilkenny either but most seem to be good if even a little busy but every hospital is going to be like that. Think I might just talk to my doc and see where he recomends!

Mamasugar the coombe has dozens of midwives. Most are female, some are male. You will have two assigned to you, a fully qualfied one and a student one. I went through two shifts of midwives and all 4 women I dealt with were lovely, and extremely professional. That last post is very vague, especially the part about the "nurse dong the exams on her was very rough, she regularly came home bleeding". I'm sorry but that doesn't make sense. What exams? You only see a nurse for your first booking in appointment, and scan. After that it is your consultant or one of their team. There are no internal exams until towards the end if things aren't getting moving, or earlier if there is some complication. They are not carried out by a nurse. Internals will always be uncomfortable, how could they be anything else? Also my first scan is at 12 weeks..... I do agree that the aftercare is not great, but that seems to be the case everywhere. Once you have had the baby the level of care decreases. I would recommend the coombe to anyone......

Hi MS, ask your doc and see. I remember looking at a baby book and it had a list of all the hospitals at the back and all incidents of epidurals, caesarian (sp), and it had types of pain relief, water births, etc that each hospital use. I though it was good cos you can make an informed decision and see if the hospital would suit you. Good Luck.

Hi, sorry didnt mean to be so vague. My sister said she had a couple of internals and she said the nurse ( she said it was a nurse) doing them was rough with her, she would bleed afterwards. She was scared by the bleeding but they said it was normal, but it was quite heavy. I didnt question the amount of internals cos i didnt know what was normal or not. I hope i didnt scare you MS i didnt mean that, people will always have different experiences and opinions. I just wanted to let you know her experience, she said she wouldnt recommend them. Anyway just wanted to clarify and best of luck with your choice.

Hi girls, I am booked into the Coombe at the mo - my mother in law is a nurse there so there really was no option ha ha! Anywho she told me to make sure i went private, that the treatment there for public and semi-private was basically the exact same, and the only way i would get good care is to go private. I am booked in as private now, and I have to say so far the staff have been excellent. I am only 23 weeks now, but have to say that I am more than happy with them so far. xxx