I defo am. Just wondering whether there's any lasses out there who I might happen to meet along the way ...

Hi

I am hoping to have my baby at Darley Birth Centre, i went for a lokk around yesterday.
When is your baby Due?

hi i am also hoping to give birth at darley dale, im due on the 12th 0f oct anybody already given birth there?

Hi, I tried to give birth there at the end of July but had to transfer to Chesterfield when there was meconium in my waters and I needed to have monitors on, so I had the baby at Chesterfield in the end and he was fine. The midwives in the delivery rooms at Chesterfield were nice, but the postnatal ward was really busy and noisy and the midwives were rushed off their feet. I transferred back to Darley after 12 hours and it was so nice there, I didn't want to go home! I stayed 3 nights in the end.

I had my own room and all the help I needed, this was really useful as I found breastfeeding difficult and needed all the help I could get. There's always one midwife and one assistant on duty and they are happy to come and help at every feed if you need it (unlike Chesterfield's postnatal ward where the midwife just gave me a leaflet on breastfeeding and told me to read it when I asked for some help).

The staff at Darley are really friendly. They took my baby away for a couple of hours on two nights so I could try and get a bit of sleep between feeds as he was difficult to settle. They'd stop for a chat in the middle of the night and bring in toast and Horlicks when I woke up hungry. It was just like a private hospital but costs nothing! The food's nice too, they have a kitchen on site. If I have another baby, I know where I'll be going.

Good luck with your birth.

Hey Charliemouse, thanks for making it sound sooo lovely! I have been given the all-clear by the consultant so as long as I make it to next weekend (when I'll be 37wks) and have no probs, I will be heading to Darley. Everyone describes it like you have, so I'm really holding out for this:-)

Don't forget, even if you can't have the baby at Darley, you can transfer there for your postnatal care from any of the local hospitals after a normal birth or a caesarean - Chesterfield, Derby, Sheffield etc. I can't understand why more people don't go there for some peace and quiet and time to recover with lots of help from the midwives, rather than staying in the big, busy hospitals with 6 women in every ward and babies crying all day and night.

At the most, you only have to share a room with one other person and there's a good chance you'll have your own room. They prioritise their single room for people who give birth there. I was in one of the double rooms but had it to myself for three nights.