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Whipps Cross University Hospital 2016-03-30 Person 4 5 0

My wife experienced strong regular contractions for 3 days with the interval of 5-8 minutes slowly decreasing to 2-3 minutes and then increasing up to 5 min again. We visited Whipps Cross maternity unit 3 times – once on day 2, then twice on day 3. First time the cervix opening was 1cm. Second time we arrived in 12 hours and the opening was 2 cm. We asked a few questions to understand the possibilities we have in case cervix won't open and my wife becomes too exhausted. We were told to go home anyway, but then suddenly were given a wrist label and routed to 2nd floor Maple ward _without any discussion with us_. When we asked why we are going there - the explanation was very short - because you said you are exhausted. We refused and returned home. When we arrived 3rd time we waited for about 1 hour to be checked. My wife was seen by a midwife student and then by a very professional midwife. The midwife suggested us to stay in a private room for 1 hour to see how it goes. The opening was still 2 cm. We stayed for about 2 hours in the room and then suddenly we were routed to 1st floor Lilac birth center. We were glad we came here, but the lack of discussions with us was unpleasant. At the lilac birth center it was a truly fantastic and only positive experience. My wife and I would like to say thank you to all the staff again. The midwife that assisted the delivery did it very professionally. We were given an option to use a pool. It was a very good room where we stayed for about 8 hours. Then we moved to another room for the delivery. The room was good too. I did not expect private rooms at NHS hospital at all. My wife delivered our first baby in St Thomas Hospital in private maternity suite that costed us quite a lot. I would say the experience was comparable with a free service in Lilac birth center. My suggestion is to be more open in discussions about the delivery plans in the maternity triage unit. A big thank you to the midwife in triage that routed us to Lilac birth center.