Wexham Park Hospital

Everyone I've talked to here in England has told us that Wexham Park Hospital is a nice hospital. It's the hospital where we will deliver our third child. We went on a tour there today. Maybe I've been completely spoiled having had my two other children at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I've always thought that UVRMC is a great hospital, but after having the tour of this hospital, that thought has been confirmed. Not that Wexham Park is terrible at all. It actually looks okay, as you can see from the picture on the left. It was clean, the staff seemed friendly and pretty helpful, but the services just aren't quite the same as at UVRMC, which is probably because of the country having socialized medicine.

Here's how having a baby at this hospital will work. It's slightly different for me, because we have private health insurance as opposed to nearly everyone else who uses the National Health System. For one, I will have an obstetrician to deliver our baby. Everyone else there will use the on-call midwife, unless they have complications. There are two maternity wards at the hospital, the labour ward, and the birthing centre. You can choose which you prefer, but when you go into labor, you call ahead of time and let them know so that they can get a room ready for you. If you know you are going to have an epidural, you have to be in the labour ward. It was a pretty small room, with no bathroom, but had all of the standard equipment you would find in a normal delivery room in the states. The delivery process in the labour ward seems to be as it would be in the states. If you choose to have your baby in the birthing centre, there are a few different rooms to choose from, which are on a first come first serve basis. All of the rooms have a beanbag and a big bouncy ball, one has a bathroom with a shower, one has a huge bath, one has a bed, and all have a small wheeled cart like thing to put the baby in after it's born. There is a community shower in the birthing centre. There is also a room for early labor stages, with a TV and some chairs, for anyone to go in when they want.

The biggest difference in this hospital and UVRMC is the Post-Natal units. At Wexham Park there are two Post-Natal units. One for the labour ward, and one for the birthing centre. The one for the birthing centre consists of one room with about eight beds. Each bed has a little cot for your baby to sleep in at the end of each bed. The labour ward post-natal unit has a few rooms with four or so beds, with a curtain that can go around each bed for privacy (how nice). But they do also have the Astor Suite, which is a little section that has about five private rooms for mom and baby to stay in. Of the private rooms, I think there are two that have there own bathroom with shower. In neither of the post-natal units is there a nursery. Actually, there is a room in the labour ward post-natal unit that is called a nursery, but it's just a room where you can go to change the baby's "nappies" (diapers). There is also a room for nursing. So, for your post-natal recovery, you keep the baby with you the whole time. I decided what's the point of even staying at the hospital if there aren't people that can take your baby for awhile while you get some rest. The average stay at the hospital is 24 hours. You can be discharged as early as six hours after delivering your baby, which I'm thinking sounds good. I think I'd rather recover in my own home than in a room with a bunch of other new mothers and crying babies.

The other big difference in the two hospitals is that at Wexham Park Hospital, you have to bring everything for yourself and the baby. You bring your own diapers, wipes, clothes, hats, blankets, and anything else the baby may need, plus anything you might need as well.

So, maybe I was spoiled at Utah Valley in Provo, but I think a lot of other hospitals in the states (at least the ones I've visited in Utah) are the same. If this is because of our health care system, which I know a lot of people complain about, I say I'm thankful for our health care system. I'm thankful for the nice facilities and services that are provided there.