First time questions...

Hi ladies, first time mum to be here at 39 weeks, I'm low risk and will be going to UHW midwifery led unit when everything kicks off. I just had a few random questions that I keep forgetting to ask... I've always been concerned with the before and after cus noone speaks of it. Hope these questions don't sound silly 😅 How much stuff did you take in? Is there anything you wish you'd had? Heard stories of people taking in huge suitcases but don't know if that's true 🫣 also loads of people in the room on ward after you have to share with, which I think would be really stressful, noisy and exhausting. Is that true? Second my community midwife said now I'm full term just to ring the midwifery unit with any questions/issues rather than triage, not only labour but waters, movements etc too, I don't think I trust it's right...? Did anyone else get told this? Also do you ring them when you first decide you're in labour or just when you're driving in? I'm a bit phone-phobic so knowing when exactly to ring and things are serious is a bit daunting. I know it's meant to be when contractions are coming 2 or 3 in 10 minutes for at least 45 seconds but how close together do they get? It seems a bit late to me if they're that frequent... Thanks in advance, hope everyone's doing ok today x

Show your support

I gave birth in the midwifery led unit and had the most amazing experience as a first time mum. I took in a big suitcase but barely used anything from there🤣 Once I’d given birth, a couple of hours later they moved me, my fiancé and our daughter into a separate room with a tv and a double bed etc because we had to stay the 1 night (He was also allowed to stay the night with me and our daughter). The ward was so quiet when I gave birth and even in the separate room with the double bed it was really quiet too. The whole experience for me wasn’t stressful at all. Yes any issues now you’d ring the antenatal unit. You ring when you think you’re in labour and they’ll ask a load of questions to determine if you need to be seen xx

Hi! Hopefully not long to go for you now. I had a really positive experience giving birth to my son in May in the MLU. I didn’t write a birth plan, but if I had it would have been everything I would have wanted. I gave birth in the pool. All the midwives, students, assistants and housekeepers were so lovely and friendly. My labour was quite quick (8 hours from first twinge to him delivering) I had packed a suitcase for me, suitcase for baby and my husband had a bag. It all ended up staying in the car other than the baby case! They have amazing lights for a calming experience. Providing your birth goes to plan and you haven’t needed intervention on delivery suite upstairs then your recovering will be in a private post delivery room in MLU with a double bed and en suite that your partner can stay in too. It was so special to have that peaceful time together. My son was born 9am and we went home about 8pm that night. Ring them when you first start getting contractions. Cont..

They can reassure you. We rang a few times before I ended up coming in. Strongly recommend going for a tour of the unit prior if you can. Follow their Instagram page. They post the details of how to arrange it. It really helped knowing where we were going etc. I can send you some pics of the rooms if that would help?

I went for a tour on Monday which put my mind at ease, if you deliver on the MLU then you have a private room after (or maybe one other mum if it's very busy) but it was very quiet and chilled there. Not like a normal bustling ward

I took a small suitcase (the type you can fit in the overhead) and a couple of bags. I ended up staying in for 4 nights so I'm glad I did. Happy to answer questions on what I took Yes, tbh staying on the ward with others is noisy and I barely slept I had the Freya app to time my contractions I found it really useful. Labour can take a really long time though, even my first which was considered quick was 6 hours (my second was 2 hours)

@Ros ooo pictures would be amazing yes please, I've got them on Instagram and I know theyve got a picture of delivery suite on there... Are the mlu rooms similar? X

I overpacked massively as a precaution , which was lucky I did as I had to stay in for a week with baby and ran out of clothes for him and me and dad had to go buy more and take his other ones home to wash same with mine , had to buy more nappy’s ( for me and baby)

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌