Thinking of having baby in 'Mount Carmel', Dublin. Any experiences?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I don't want my wife to have to share a cubicle with a stranger while giving birth to our child. Is that so strange??

Hi there, typically women don't share cubicles when they are giving birth. From what I recall, women gave birth in seperate rooms, there would be infection control reasons for this aswell, as well as comfort and privacy. It could be different now, as it is a while since I worked in Hollis St. or the Rotunda, however I'll know soon enough as I'll be with my sister in Hollis St. as she is due soon

However even with private cover, you could be sharing a room with other women post giving birth. If there is a private room available a mother will get the room if she is covered.
 

Sharing a room after the birth wouldn't have bothered my wife, but sharing a cubicle in the delivery room would, which I've heard happens occasionally. (I'm open to correction on this).

I think people should also consider the baby boom that is happening at the moment, not to mention the downturn in the economy. I'd imagine the public maternity hospitals are pretty stretched right now, and will probably get worse.

We were lucky to get a private room from the start - typically you don't get a private room on your first night in MC, but often do on subsequent nights.
 
I've being reading this post with interest, we're having our baby (first) in Mt Carmel. It wasn't a decision made lightly but one based on family and friends recommendations and location amongst other things.

A number of my friends are also pregnant and going to the Coombe or Holles St. I have never and would never judge or comment on their decision, all the maternity hospitals in Dublin operate for a reason. If they were unsafe or couldn't provide the necessary care they wouldn't be in operation.

Far from wearing MC like a badge, I hate telling people what hospital I'm going to as they automatically form an opinion of me. I generally try to avoid all conversations about where I'm attending.

If I thought my baby would receive sub standard care there's no way in the world I would attend MC. As far as I and my research can tell going private in any of the hospitals is much the same. I have chosen MC as it suits me best.

It's quite upsetting to read posts where people assume I'm going to MC so I can boast about if over coffee in Dundrum. That's another huge assumption; I'm not one for whiling away the hours in coffee shops I'm too busy working.

Please think before you post about people who may be reading this and the affect your posts could have on them. There's nothing wrong with posting facts but saying that people are putting labels before their childs health is very unfair.
 

My experience in a nutshell. Excellent post, shaking.

As I've already said, if someone told me they were "going public" and I turned my nose up at them, I'd be read the riot act. And quite right too. It's a complete double-standard and further reinforces my belief that it's some sort of inverted snobbery.
 

My wife gave birth in Holles Street earlier this year and in the past. Women dont share cubicles, whether public or private, when they are giving birth.

Most of the "public" maternity hospitals also have private wings and offer full private care with similar luxuries to MC etc. though, these services appear to be more in demand, so sometimes they are fully booked up.

My wife has always gone private, but not because of the luxuries - while they are nice, the important thing is that the baby is ok. The main reason to go private is because you have your own consultant, who has monitored the pregnancy from early stages and will be present at delivery. With one of my wifes birth, we did have a situation whereby the familiarity of the consultant with the particular pregnancy was the difference between a successful delivery and potential complications, so for us it has been worth it.
 
Hi all, as someone who has been trying to conceive for over 4 years I had to post, this is not something you can resolve as it is a personal decision for everyone and whatever they decide, you may not agree with them but let them at it. At the end of the day it doesn't matter, ALL that matters is that mother and baby (and father, sorry!) are okay and the rest is just a bonus. And no hospital is an absolute guarantee of safety just like the absence of one is not guarantee of a disaster ( my brother was born in the car!)
 
Ok first off I've never given birth.
I have 3 older sisters who have shared their entire birthing experiences with me - I have been close by in some of the instances ie in the hospital at the time.
Combination has been 1 private Ire ,I public Ire, and 1 public system UK which it appears to me to be the case for everyone there.
All had difficult experiences, worst being sister in UK. Of the two sisters in Ireland that went public and private they got the same care during labour and birth, only difference was how many they had to share with after. Sister who went private said she would have liked semi private as she thought private was isolating especially on first birth.
Interesting piece on the Hook show today about child birth/costs etc.Pointed out that you can go private and your consultant can be off or on hols when you are due and you revert back to public.

Spoke with other friends recently and one reckoned that all women should have c sections.
 
Spoke with other friends recently and one reckoned that all women should have c sections.



For the sake of a few hours pushing why on earth would they put themselves throught the ordeal of a C Section and recovery taking weeks afterwards. 'Too posh to Push indeed' !!!

I read an article once from a medical journal that the birthing process is very good for a baby because the stress of the birth prepares them very well for life outside of the womb.

I had my babies in the UK 3 public and one private and I can honestly say the care was first class in both environments.
 
That friend was in labour for more than a day.She maintains that all labours are so different that no one should decide what to do but the parents within the circumstances yoru in. I don't believe it is a case of too posh to push.
 
"If I thought my baby would receive sub standard care there's no way in the world I would attend MC."


I'm not sure you read my post earlier. As the priest in Mount Carmel was baptising my son, the transfer team arrived to take him to Holles St. He was dying, not just sick, dying. I discharged myself a few hours later as I could not bear not to be with him. None of this would have happened if he was born in a fully equipped maternity hospital.

Make your choices but don't dismiss reality. Mount Carmel is NOT equipped to deal with sick babies.
 

Pat you are quite good at posting comments regarding our health system without really understanding the nature of how things work. In Ireland most of our major public hospitals are specialist hospitals, for example the Mater is Cardiac, James has a burns unit, Beaumont is neurology.

In an emergency, or in certain elective cases, people have to attend their local hospital and are then transfered if required to the speciaist hospital, when a bed is available.

In Ireland, most consultants who have private beds, have public beds too. If a consultant has a high risk patient who is going for certain proceedures, the consultant can get the patient in to either private or public hospitals.

This is important, because a consultant knows an expectant mother's medical history and can advise the mother to go private in a public hospital. This is not in any way a reflection on MC at all. MC, is no different than the Bons Secours (my personal favorite of all private hospitals) , in that the hospital soley caters for elective admissions, emergencies do not often occur, and when they do the patient can quicly be transfered to a specialist hospital...
 
In the above scenario you've cited, given the choice, why would the cardiac patient CHOOSE to go to Loughlinstown rather than Vincent's?

the mind boggles why someone would post this. As pinkybear pointed out, you dont seem to understand how things work - Did you hear the one about the fella who collapsed, and the ambulanceman tried to resusitate him to ask him which hospital he'd like to go to.....no, I thought not.

For non emergency procedures people choose hospitals that have the capability to do whatever it is people want done. MC deliver babies. End of story.
 

I'm not sure you're reading the above posts carefully either. I'm very sorry that your family was put through such an ordeal, and I'm very glad he recovered, but what happened to you is a very rare occurrence and will not happen to (probably) 99% of the population.

As PinkyBear has already stated, people are transferred between hospitals all the time, depending on their specialities.

Mount Carmel is equipped to deal with sick babies, it's a hospital for God's sake... It just wasn't equipped to deal with the particular illness your child had. You shouldn't make flip remarks like this.
 
Some people "judge" mothers

Some people contributing to this thread, perhaps?

Some people "judge" mothers who choose certain private hospitals because they're not basing their choice of hospital on the quality of care they'll receive.

That's a ridiculous statement. We chose MC for exactly that reason - for the excellent quality of care.

Their decision HAS to be based on other less important factors (e.g. being guaranteed their own room, the quality of the food OR snobbery).

Issues like privacy and quality food are obviously not important to you, but they are important to others. Who are you to say what should be important to an expectant mother?

Snobbery MAY be a factor with certain people.)

As I've already pointed out, you seem to be nothing short of obsessed with the "snobbery" factor. I've no doubt those people exist, but they're idiots and are in a thankfully tiny minority.

I have to say Pat, I find it strange that you accused me of being aggressive, yet you think nothing of making disparaging remarks like this:

Some people seem to wear Mount Carmel like a Gucci bag draped over their shoulder

Choosing a maternity hospital shouldn't be about impressing the ladies over coffee up in Dundrum Shopping Centre

From what I can see Mount Carmel seems to be worn like a badge by certain people.
 
Hi there,
Essentially this debate (to me) is would you go to a private hospital over a public hospital. My preference is private.

In general, higher nurse to patient ratios in a private hospital (the ones I have worked in anyway), greater access to consultant services. Quicker turn around in terms of bloods, xrays mri scans, physio etc. In general the private hospitals I have worked in are cleaner as well.

So I would choose private, not just because of the food and decour.
 
My wife spent 20 nights in Holles St before over 3-4 different stretches during her first pregnancy (prior to birth). A good few of her fellow inmates were Mt Carmel patients (often those carrying twins) who had been handed over to Holles St as their cases were too risky for Mt Carmel to handle.
 

Hmm. I'd be very surprised if MC were not able to handle the delivery of twins.
 
Mount Carmel is equipped to deal with sick babies, it's a hospital for God's sake... It just wasn't equipped to deal with the particular illness your child had. You shouldn't make flip remarks like this.

Kitten is sharing an actual experience, not making some flip remark. I really respect her honestly and I think it was an awful shock for her to get with her newborn. If that baby had been born in Holles St maybe things would have been alot different and less serious, that's her opinion and she's entitled to it.

Kramer and Pat - you clearly don't like each other's posts - accept it and move on. Kramer, your post just giving quotes of all Pat's comments doesn't really add anything. We're all very clear from what you posted before of what you think of Pat's comments. You're both adults, move on.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.