5000+ babies a year born in one hospital!

[Eve]

I saw this on a screen they have up near the hospital and googled it to see if I read right, St Mary's hospital by the Manchester Royal Infirmary deliver over 5000 babies a year!

http://www.cmft.nhs.u...rust/our-history.aspx

That's about 13/14 a day, amazing to think that between the time I pass it there and back every day how many new people come into the world.

Sorry, not really a question but I was just quite amazed!

[tenrec]

Can that be right?

[boxtops]

Amazing - I believe St Thomas's in London has a high rate too (guess it's because they are both city centre)

[tonyav]

A bit scary I think.

[Eve]

I wondered that tenrec so googled it in case I'd seen it wrong but seems so according to that link. I really was amazed!

I figured it'd be high for a city though we have loads of hospitals (albeit I'd say the MRI was the largest in the area and St Mary's is on the same site - it's the same building really as the main bit).

So many others about though, not sure how many do maternity but there's Tameside, Stepping Hill, North Manchester General etc... Don't know if places like Withington/Wythenshawe etc... do it but I figure a good number must!

Mind you, the reputation some of them have (Tameside/Stepping Hill) or some things, I think I'd be more tempted to engineer ending up at St Marys!).

[hc4361]

I wonder how many people die a day in the same catchment area?

[rockyracoon]

That's an interesting thought hc, one in, one out!

[Eve]

That is a strange thought! Maybe increase as I'm sure I also saw it flashing up they have the largest NICU/PICU (special care?), something like that, unit in the country I think, maybe especially as the children's hospital is now on site having been moved from Pendlebury.

I just looked up St Thomas', it reckons 1,200 babies per year:

http://www.guysandstt...ome-birth-centre.aspx

[bednobs]

6000 in the hospital phoebe was born in

[Eve]

Has here approximately 2,500 deaths per year in the hospital and local community at the MRI (http://www.cmft.nhs.uk/info-for-health-profe
ssionals/laboratory-medicine/mortuary.aspx)
and 1,000 post mortems, that sounds a lot too though maybe moreso as a larger hospital.

[Eve]

Wow, I'm just quite astounded bednobs! Considering the length of time women can be in in labour and such it must be an incredible operation!

[bednobs]

and i always thought it strange, but compared to the percentage of ethnic minorities in the area, they seemed to be over-represented in maternity care (ie when i went to the clinics, there seemed to be about 50% of people who were (on "face" value) from an ethnic minority

[bednobs]

ps that st thomases stat is wrong - that's just for the "home from home" unit

[Eve]

Ahhh, is that a separate thing? Thought it sounded a bit posh :) That would be interesting to know as the local population is very mixed. Thinking about it, I go through there somethings as my rhumo centre is by there and the pharmacy and go up that way for a coffee sometimes and it does seem to be quite unrepresentative compared to other areas of the hospital, like outpatients. Rhumo isn't really representative as conditions like lupus can be more prevelant in some ethinicities I think.

[Eve]

Wow, just looked up Birmingham Womens and they say over 8000 per year and rising!

[pdq1]

Very apt question on the 100th anniversery of Enoch Powell's birth. He predicted the outcome of racial mix all those years ago.

[karenmac60]

Is it not a result of centralistation of services though? We have a hospital right on our doorstep which had a great maternity unit and special care unit. It also covered a huge area as far up as Oban and as far down as Campbeltown for first, third and problem births, but they closed it and now all those people have to go to one of 3 overrun hospitals in Glasgow which are struggling to cope with the number of births. My friend had her son in the waiting room because they were so busy.

[grange]

Give it all a wave from me next time you go past it! I trained at MRI and did alot of gynea at St Mary's about a million years ago!!

[Eve]

Possibly so Karen, it's a huge site! I will grange :) Go past it there and back every day.

[grange]

Thankyou! Lots of memories there!

[Eve]

Done :) I figured it was the old St Mary's fronting right onto Oxford Road? It's all in the new bit of the hospital now, very swanky and bright and lots of space - new cafes and such and even a Costa! The eye hospital is in the new new bit now (there was an earlier bit of the new part opened which has rhumo, dialysis, GI investigations and such in) and the new children's hospital as they moved and closed the old Pendlebury site down. The pharmacy is there too now though a bit more of a trek now from outpatients, A&E, walk in centre etc...

I didn't realise how old some of the old bit was. I was wrongly directed, by a woman on the front desk, to nuclear medicine when going for a scan a while back and ended up in a really creepy old bit down by the morgue until some nice people helped me find it as it had moved to the new hospital.

It's a shame outpatients and places like xray couldn't have benefitted more from the new bit.

There is allsorts round there now - a little Morrisons on Grafton St and a McDonalds, Subway and Dominos on the front on Oxford Road - not uncommon to see patients in Maccy D's and Morrisons in their PJs or hospital gowns. Even a little Sainsburys and Costa on the corner too.