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Pregnancy Information Evening at Lewisham Hospital

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Having been fortunate enough to complete tours of the Birth Centres at Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth hospitals previously (see my earlier blogs for my viewpoints! QEH Lewisham ) I was interested to attend the Pregnancy Information Evening at Lewisham hospital. These evenings (which are also held at QEH) are aimed at expectant mothers, where they can find out about a wide range of maternity services in their borough and surrounds and include a brief tour of the Birth Centre and Labour Ward. The evening takes place at 7pm on the first Wednesday of the month at Lewisham Hospital and on the 3 rd Wednesday of the month at QEH. I decided to attend the Pregnancy Information evening at Lewisham hospital on Wednesday. University Hospital Lewisham I arrived at the Women’s Health Centre around 15 minutes after the evening had started; it is straightforward to park in the local streets and parking restrictions have lifted at that time in the evening (at the date of posting). I was buz...
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My first birth

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When I fell pregnant I was ‘only’ 22 and in my third year at university. I was the first of my friends to embark on the journey of pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood. In the ensuing (many!) years I have encountered plenty of women who chose to start their families in their early 20’s with a supportive partner (often husband) and network of family and friends nearby. Things were quite different for me; all my close school friends were also away at university and the World Wide Web had not infiltrated West Dorset with its potential for virtual, online connectivity and seemingly infinite information. I felt very isolated and alone. My pregnancy was not planned and I deliberated for a long time over whether to have a termination. Once I had decided to ‘keep the baby’ I dropped out of my degree course at university for the year and returned to the family home 130 miles away. My parents were supportive and my mum agreed to be my birth partner. Before I was pregnant I knew very littl...
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The Lewisham Birth Centre at Lewisham Hospital – a Doula’s viewpoint

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If you are pregnant and live in one of the South East London areas such as Lewisham, Greenwich, Catford, Blackheath, Mottingham, Hither Green and New Cross you may be considering birthing your baby at the Lewisham Birth Centre. This is an option for women who have had straightforward pregnancies and are expected to be able to birth their babies without medical intervention. It’s a really good idea to look at the Which? Birth Choices guide to where to have your baby, and do a tour yourself, but to give you another point of view, this is the second in my series of reviews of birth locations in South East London from a doula’s viewpoint.   The Birth Centre opened in 2010 and offers tours on Thursdays at 10am and 1pm. I attended the 1pm session and there were 4 pregnant women, two of whom had brought their partners. Parking on the hospital site is limited and rather expensive so I parked in a side street with a RingGo meter. When women arrive in labour, their partners are advis...
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Why I became a doula

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Since my eldest daughter was born over 20 years ago (gulp!) I have loved hearing other women’s birth stories: the dramatic ones, the scary ones, the fast ones, the marathon ones… I will never get bored hearing about all the variation in duration, pain relief, positions and coping strategies. There are no ‘ordinary’ births; every one is special and unique. What I began to notice though, in too many, of the birth stories was the sense of lack of control that many women experience during childbirth, and the lack of help afterwards. What often stayed with me is the feeling that so many women feel abandoned, ignored or dismissed by medical professionals during their labour and perinatal period. It is an unfortunate truth that maternity services in today’s NHS are underfunded. When a woman arrives at hospital for the birth of her baby, she is often taken to the labour ward and left there. She may have her partner for company, but they may not see a midwife for several hours. I have ...
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