St Helier not being helpful
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When I did my referral it was within a few days. I have received great service from them so far so there must be something going on! Maybe pop down there to speak to someone. I know how you will be feeling as finding out your pregnant is a really uneasy time. I had no help from my GP when I first found out I was pregnant. However, don’t panic there is very little to be done at 8 weeks, so long as you are seeing someone by the time you are 12 weeks then you will be fine. Some people don’t even know they are pregnant till much later. For our area I would stick to st Helier personally. I am under 2 hospitals but the other is far away and only due to my complex needs.
That's really standard, unfortunately. I didn't have my first appointment until 10/11 weeks. NHS maternity services are really stretched. But it's not too much of an issue as there's nothing they can really do or check on with baby in the very early weeks anyway.
I gave birth at st Heliers and it’s the biggest regret. Only did it because I live a walk away. I would go to St George’s next time. St Heliers were awful the entire time. During birth and after birth. Q
St Helier has gotten alot of press nationwide about being one of the most underfunded hospitals in the UK. I opted for Kingston and although it's a drive to get there I had a complicated pregnancy and the service was outstanding. I know a few people who went to St Helier and either had birth trauma or switched to St George's.
It’s not necessarily unacceptable at this stage no. The norm ranges between 8-10 weeks for first appointment. 12 weeks for first scan. My first appointment was just over 9 weeks. If it goes past that and you haven’t been seen then I would get the hump. St Helier was a wonderful experience for me I had amazing midwives throughout and when I gave birth.
Thank you all. I guess i am just worried the lack of interest will continue once i am bigger.. i would hate them to treat me like this later on in the pregnancy when i will need more support. I think more than not receiving an appointment, my concern is the way i was spoken to and the lack of interest… Maybe i should go to Epsom or George’s but i just didnt want anywhere too far and even St Helier is about 10-15 min drive to me.
Like I say, I am under them now and have received great service.
well only you can decide that. I can’t speak for how you were spoken too maybe you caught someone on a bad day or maybe they were just rude you just don’t know, but like I said I wouldn’t be bothered unless you were past the 10 week mark and hadn’t been seen. Like I said my service was great under them for my first pregnancy. My second I found out in early jan this year but sadly had a MC on the 26th at 7 weeks. I still hadn’t had a letter either, when I phoned to check my referral she said she would call me back if their was any issues and if she didn’t call back then my referral was received an in process of a letter being sent out. She did also apologise and say they were inundated with pregnancies at the moment to get though. Although not the greatest circumstances this time for me I was seen quickly after I raised my concerns and cared for well in the early pregnancy unit going through my MC.
I was seen at 11 weeks as my 8w appointment was cancelled. It’s literally the most boring appointment so while I totally worried like you do, it was fine in the end
I’m under them now, they were late getting my appointments out so I rang them weekly after 7 weeks as the post around me is awful! I still had my appointments on time 9wks and 12wks for the scan and the rest of my appointments have been booked in already for the rest of my pregnancy (I’m only 13 weeks) so quite organised when you get over the first hurdle! I also had my daughter there a few years ago and it was a really positive experience x
Obviously go with your gut but I had my girl at St Helier and they were incredible the whole way through, really helpful and the midwife I had during birth was fantastic x
I had great experience at St Helier and I can’t fault my birth and care from them.
If I was you, I’d go for epsom, I’ve heard nightmare stories about st Helier so went for epsom with my first even though I was living in sutton and I had the best experience x