Sligo Maternity Ward

Hobbitfeet

Hi does anyone have any experience of giving birth in Sligo hospital?

Any comments welcomed

Ayla

I was there with both of my girls. Can't say enough good about them. They completely respected what I wanted to do & were very supportive. The labour rooms themselves were spacious & well equipped & the post-ward was fine as well. Take a tour (I did mine at 17 wks b/c I was at the hospital anyway) and the midwives there will be happy to answer any questions you have. If you want any more specific info pm me your questions - I could talk all day about it all!

Cottontail

I had my son there in Jan 2010 and will be giving birth to my second there this christmas, all going well! I found them very good, had a few problems after the birth but got sorted eventually. Was there anything specific you were wondering about?

Hobbitfeet

Great I will be having my first there in January. I'm nervous about everything so its good to hear good comments about Sligo

Cottontail

If my little one is late, we might end up there at the same time!

Hobbitfeet

Cottontail. Nothing really this is my first so I'm a bit nervous about everything really. I'm starting to feel better and better about it every day when are you due mine is 26 Jan. Do you know if I have to contact the hospital myself to book my scan or should my doctor do it

Ayla

Your GP should refer you onto the community antenatal clinic, which you generally start seeing around 20 weeks. The consultant/staff at the clinic will send the request for the scan to Sligo. The hospital will eventually write out to you with the appointment for the scan. My scans for my pregs were around week 22-24(ish), so don't be holding your breath.

I'd suggest you talk everything over w/ your GP as the specific schedule & procedures are quite varied based on where you are & who you're seeing.

Cottontail

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Cottontail. Nothing really this is my first so I'm a bit nervous about everything really. I'm starting to feel better and better about it every day when are you due mine is 26 Jan. Do you know if I have to contact the hospital myself to book my scan or should my doctor do it

I'm due December 25. Doing it all the first time is pretty scary alright, not knowing what to expect is the worst. And it doesn't matter how many stories you hear of what childbirth is like, I think it's one of those things you just have to experience for yourself. I definitely found it better than I expected to, and the staff in the hospital were great. The midwives and consultants were excellent, couldn't have done more for me if they tried. The midwife who delivered my son was the same lady who delivered my brother 30 years ago! My mam was able to bring her in a pic of herself, my mam and my brother as a baby on the steps of the hospital, she was delighted! She has retired since but all the staff there were absolutely lovely and really helped keep you going through it, as you do get quite tired! So I know it's easier said than done, but try not to worry and enjoy your pregnancy, you will have your little one (and plenty of sleepless nights) with you before you know it!!

Betsy18

i'm also attending Sligo. what consultant are ye under? im due in September and haven't attended a midwife clinic or anything yet. i also have to get my scans in the radiology dept instead of the ultrasound room on the 4th floor.i'm not sure why this is!! i felt that alot of the other women i met at the antenatal clinic knew the midwives and had developed a friendship with them but i havent talked to any of them! this is my first baby so im not familiar with the procedures,just wondering have any of you experienced this also?

Hobbitfeet

I havent had any contact from anyone at the hospital yet. I have another appointment with my doctor on the 28th to take blood so I have a list of questions to ask her then.
Maybe you could call into the hospital and talk to someone there it seems from comments that they are very helpful.

Cottontail

Hi Betsy18, I was with Dr Sallam the last time and i'm expecting to be with him again this time as he holds clinics in my local area. Although when it came to my labour, it was Dr Langan that delivered my son. Both of them are lovely though, I wouldn't mind being with either of them again.

I don't know why your scan is in Radiology, maybe ask the person doing the scan for you? I'm having a scan tomorrow morning so i'll let you know where it is carried out if you like.

With regards to being familiar with the midwives, my husband works in the hospital and knows a fair few of them through work, and also the girl that does the scans was a year or so behind me in school, so I do know some of them. Maybe the other ladies have had babies before, so they kind of know the midwives?

Ayla

Betsy18 wrote: »

i'm also attending Sligo. what consultant are ye under? im due in September and haven't attended a midwife clinic or anything yet. i also have to get my scans in the radiology dept instead of the ultrasound room on the 4th floor.i'm not sure why this is!!

Both of my scans were in radiology...I think this is normal procedure. Considering the high turnover of women going in for scans, I would imagine the "safer" (i.e.: healthier) option would be for them just to come into radiology (to cut down on germ traffic through the antenatal/delivery areas).

As far as midwife clinics, there's no such thing. You attend your GP & your antenatal clinic. Depending on where you're located, the workers at the clinic may or may not be midwives, and they may or may not also work as delivery midwives at the hospital. This meaning that you may not necessarily know the midwives you'll meet during delivery until you're actually there. If you would like, you are fully encouraged to take a tour of the maternity/delivery unit at the hospital, and the midwives there (assuming they're not flat out) will be able to talk everything over with you.

I've had Dr. Langan - she is a lovely woman, very nice. I personally found her sore on the antenatal exams (literally, meaning I found her internal & external exams to be rough). But otherwise I couldn't fault her. I didn't need a doc at either of my deliveries, and found the midwives wonderful.

Betsy18

thanks for your advice ladies, i'm completely new to all of this so havent a clue what to expect!! i'm under a Dr Ismail i havent heard of anyone who has attended him or has had any experience of him. its good to know im not the only one getting my scans done in radiology but i will ask at my next scan! i would love to have a walk around the maternity area so i might mention it to the dr at my next appointment. the lady i was speaking with at my last antenatal appointment had been attending a midwives clinic so im not sure where it is but i hadnt been aware there was one either!

good luck with your pregnancies, i've found mine to go in pretty quick so far!!:)

Cottontail

Had scan this morning, it was in ultrasound room on level 4. It doesn't really matter what department it is done in though, as long as you get one and all is Ok with bubs!

I'm sure you'd be able to get a look around the maternity area, if you do ante natal classes there is usually a tour done of delivery suites etc, although I didn't get it the first time because of the swine flu scare at the time.

Good luck with yours too, i'm 12 weeks now so I can finally start telling people, yay!!

KayTee

Betsy18 wrote: »

i'm also attending Sligo. what consultant are ye under? im due in September and haven't attended a midwife clinic or anything yet. i also have to get my scans in the radiology dept instead of the ultrasound room on the 4th floor.i'm not sure why this is!! i felt that alot of the other women i met at the antenatal clinic knew the midwives and had developed a friendship with them but i havent talked to any of them! this is my first baby so im not familiar with the procedures,just wondering have any of you experienced this also?

Hi betsy, cab you check with your gp if they have sent a referral letter to the hospital? I'm also due in September in Sligo. My first consultant visit was quite late - 20 weeks. They have written to gp's to try to move first visits to 12-14 weeks as they feel 20 weeks is quite late. I got my scan within a week. This is my 3rd baby and I am attending the midwives clinic for all my antenatal check ups until my due date. I am under dr Langan, who I met once last time, she wasn't present at the birth. If I go overdue I will go back to her automatically. The midwives clinic is great in that there is no waiting around- it's bp, urine and weight check, baby position etc, and they tell you when to make your next appt for. I'm not back with them until I'm 30 weeks, seeing my gp in between.

Both my children have been delivered by the midwives and I could not fault them. My son was in distress and when he was born there was a team of paediatricians waiting to give him a full check over as soon as he wad born. They were very good for explaining everything yo us, and respecting any wishes we had. I had a private room first time around and stayed 3 nights, but was on a public ward last time. The midwives were excellent and took both my babies to the nursery on their first nights to allow me to get some rest. It's pretty hard to rest in a 6 bed ward, and I ended up staying 3 nights again due to my son having a few issues with feeding, but they gave me the choice to stay if I preferred.

I did antenatal classes on my first pregnancy and one of the classes was dedicated to a tour of labour and delivery. It's pretty daunting, but great to have an idea of where you are going and what to expect when it comes to delivery day.

Any other questions just let me know

Best of luck with the pregnancies girls!

Betsy18

Thanks for the advice Kaytee, we may be in at the same time!! just one more question as this is my first baby im not sure how to go about registering for antenatal classes. Nobody has mentioned them to me and as im now 28 weeks i thought its time i should be starting them! does the consultant or midwives tell you about them?

Ayla

Antenatal classes are not mandatory so if you want to attend some it's up to you to find where they are in your area. Some are community based, some are private & so will charge a fee. If you're not sure what's available in your area ask your GP or at your next antenatal clinic appointment. I know they had advertisements for the community classes at both of the waiting rooms when I was preg.

Cottontail

Betsy18 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice Kaytee, we may be in at the same time!! just one more question as this is my first baby im not sure how to go about registering for antenatal classes. Nobody has mentioned them to me and as im now 28 weeks i thought its time i should be starting them! does the consultant or midwives tell you about them?

I don't know where you are located but there are ante natal classes in Markievicz House, if you ring 071-9155100 they should be able to tell you when they are on. they are usually one a week for about 6 weeks or so.

KayTee

I can't remember betsy, but I'm sure if you ring markievicz house they will give you dates. I attended a "refresher" class there last time!

What date are you due? I'm the 21st so realistically, this could possibly be an October babe! Dd was 13 days over, and ds 2 days, so we'll see!