"Very positive experience"

CGH often comes in for some criticism so I was very keen to add to the generally positive reviews of it's maternity service following the birth of my baby at the beginning of September. From the antenatal care to the delivery and postnatal service, I had a consistently good experience. The only grumble would be the wait in the antenatal clinic (I had an underlying condition which meant I was there a fair bit!). It was quite unpredictable and on one occasion I sat for 2 hours. That aside, eveything else was fab. Worthy of mention were the midwives in the Valley Team who gave me excellent care beforehand. I met most of them during my pregnancy but never felt pushed from person to person and had continuity towards the end, seeing the same midwife a number of times. I also did the hypnobirthing course offered by CGH (at extra cost) and would thoroughly recommend it. My midwife was brilliant, supporting me through some tough times even after the course had finished. The combination of learning the hypnobirthing techniques and understanding the process of pregnancy and birth generally were really useful, especially for a first timer! Although I did NCT, I got much better information from this course. The birth itself was in the Juno Suite and again went as well as I could have hoped. I was the only one there and was able to use the pool as planned. Construction works are ongoing to install more pools in the delivery suite and Juno which will be much better as it will take away any uncertainty on availability for those looking for a water birth. Contrary to what Id been told by friends, the midwife and her student, took time to look at the birth plan and respected my hypnobirthing, getting involved only when necessary. I cant speak more highly of them and the other midwives I met there during my labour. I left the same day out of choice and returned to the Valley midwives who continued to provide brilliant support postnatally. One deserves a special mention for being a real rock during those early weeks. I will never forget my experience and would not hesitate to recommend them to others.