Outstanding care.

I was unfortunate to experience a miscarriage at 10 weeks. Upon admission the nurses and other staff were excellent but the doctor who explained my diagnosis and options, particularly regarding the options for treatment, did so very poorly and made us more confused than anything else. The nurses were excellent and went some way to make up for this and followed up with me a few days later at home.

John Slevin is amazing!!!

Dr John Slevin for his remarkable care and attention I received throughout my pregnancy, thankfully mine was straightforward but if I had any hiccups along the way I would not doubt for one second that I would not have been looked after by him. He had such a warm friendly manner I would 1000% advise all my friends to attend him. Thanks to all the nurses that looked after me in the delivery room and on the wards. Thanks to Dr Slevin's private rooms for always accommodating me with appointments Verona his secretary and Annamarie his midwife. I am already planning my 2nd baby.

I went privately to Dr John Slevin and have to say the care he gave me throughout my pregnancy was amazing. He was worth every penny and delivered my little girl safe and sound, big shout out to his midwife Anna and secretary Verona who always looked after me and accommodated me at short notice. I will miss going into the rooms but I will be back.

The care I received from Dr Slevin and his team in The Moorings was excellent. Such a warm atmosphere, and he takes his time with all of his patients. Thank you Dr Slevin.

While the building is really no longer fit for purpose, the staff at this hospital do an amazing job. They work so hard but always have a kind word. Clearly more staff are needed and an early pregnancy assessment unit is required but I cannot commend staff enough.

I had three kids here. The first became an emergency c-section after 16 hours of labour; was told to push at 9cm dilated by a junior nurse and after pushing unsuccessfully for approx 30 mins, baby's heart rate went down dangerously and senior midwife entered room, and confirmed cervix had swelled due to premature pushing and emergency section was required. Second baby was nearly 10 pounds and tried a natural birth, but was again sectioned because was 'slow to progress'. Third baby was then a hospital elective. Had the displeasure to meet several incompetent medical staff along the way and some absolutely brilliant individuals. I had the same consultant for all 3, but I only met this doctor on the last baby. An absolutely dreadful experience. My blood pressure was high and the doctor informed me (in front of my husband and the registrar) that I may have a 'strokey-wokey' if I did not get checked in. After the consultant left, I asked the registrar to never speak to a patient in such an infantile manner and she assured me it would never have crossed her mind to.

A midwife named Dawn stood out in her treatment of me during my first miscarriage. A lovely midwife named Mary was also helpful. However, I found that not all the staff were that considerate or understanding or supportive during a very upsetting and difficult time.

The bed sheets had holes in them. No pillow slip covers for pillows, no clean sheets available following my C-section. I had found dried old blood on one of my pillows the day I arrived on my ward. Not enough wonderful nurses to keep up with my pain meds. Not the staff's fault as they are run off their feet due to the shortage of nurses.

Doctor Slevin was my consultant, he is a gentleman, a lovely bedside manner and really explains everything to you during scans, he never rushes you.

Had my baby girl on 16th June! Hospital is great but old. I had a private room and my bathroom was dirty and needed a good deep clean! The food wasn't great but edible. I cannot praise the staff enough from the nurses to the girls who gave out the meals! All fantastic people!! Thank you.

Dr John Slevin - 10/10 for excellence. From a man's perspective I only relaxed when he was around, the minute he entered a room I knew my wife would be well looked after, he was so reassuring. We received early scans as we were extremely nervous on this pregnancy. We were able to contact his private rooms at any stage throughout my wife's pregnancy and his secretary Verona was so friendly and always accommodated us for all appointments. I look forward to returning hopefully next year again. Well done Dr Slevin I would recommend you to everyone.

Data protection and patient confidentiality not adhered to in my unit.

I have had three experiences in Limerick Maternity Hospital, one miscarriage and 2 births, all under a private consultant but I must say the level of care I received from all staff was excellent. On the miscarriage, all staff were very symapthetic and warm in their understanding of my situation. Then on both births I found the midwives to be excellent. Breastfed my first and had major problems getting her to latch on so had to have a midwife or lactation counsellor start each feed but they never made me feel like I was inconveniencing them. Then when my baby wasn't putting on sufficient weight and I was afraid that she would be kept in if her weight wasn't up, one of the night nurses asked me if I wanted to give her a bottle to see if it would get her weight up. There was no issue re bottle feeding her. Second birth was twins and again the care was excellent, I attempted breastfeeding but it wasn't working as they were premature and struggling to get a bottle into them but there was absolutely no pressure put on me by midwives re breast or bottle feeding (a girl in the room with me wanted to switch from breast to bottle about 24 hours after her baby was born and the midwife explained to her that it was their job to make sure that she was happy with her decision to bottle feed and that in 4 or 6 weeks time she wouldn't be regretting her decision to stop breastfeeding so quickly, when the girl said she was happy with her decision, then there was no pressure put on her to keep breastfeeding). With me, as often as possible, a midwife would try to help with the nightfeeds so I would get to go back to sleep quicker, this didn't always happen as sometimes they were just too busy but that's the system and not the staff or hospital to blame. I wasn't happy with one lot of meds I was receiving and once I said this to the midwife she listened straight away and my meds were changed. Hospital was always clean. The catering people were always pleasant, sometimes the food wasn't so pleasant but I survived and on my first section, the catering lady used to let me sleep on in the morning and when she'd see me awake a little later would bring me fresh tea and toast to have with my breakfast. Some of the previous reviews are so bad that I find it hard ot believe I attended the same hospital. Yes the building itself it no longer fit for purpose but all the staff I came across there were superb and credit to them for working under such arduous conditions.

While the level of care I received in the theater for my emergency C-section was second to none the support afterwards back in the ward was a JOKE! The first night after the birth was fine. But as I was bed bound and my newborn was asleep for most of it, there wasn't much care needed for me that night. The second night was where it all started to go down hill!!! I still had the catheter in after my section at this point. It filled twice during the night and was not correctly sealed so over spilled all over the ward floor TWICE!!! The second time in question was only noticed by the nurse coming on in the morning. When the catheter spilled the first time they basically gave out that I didn't notice it and call them before it spilled. They rushed the new one (and clearly didn't correctly seal it again) and barely cleaned the floor all the while making annoyed sighs. I also needed help lifting my baby in and out of the crib with my wound. They refused to help with this throughout the night as well. For the whole night I was made feel like I was a burden to them when I needed help for genuine reasons. They didn't even give me water that night while the other two ladies in the ward did get there water jugs refilled. Furthermore I was left that night go past the time when I was due my pain meds. Now ten - 20 minutes I can deal with if they are busy but I was left for an HOUR AND A HALF past when I should have gotten it. Plus I rang the bell twice in this period because of the pain. Once when it was a half an hour and then 50 minutes again. When I rang the bell a second time I could hear the midwife in the corridor saying to the assistant nurse 'Oh what does she want now?' I only rang the bell twice that night, both only because I was in such pain. After night two I stopped looking for help and got my partner to come in earlier and stay later to help me. The night staff had ruined any trust I had with looking for help in this hospital. Day three - had the catheter out and was walking around. I had suffered with pelvic griddle pain since week 20 of my pregnancy the whole way through and it remained after my section with the added pain of my incision. During the day was fine to get up and out of bed and go to the bathroom because I had my partner and family there whom I trusted to not make me feel like a burden. But when night came it was the same thing, the midwives refused to help. I only rang the bell once on night three. I needed help to get to the bathroom as I genuinely couldn't move unaided. The midwife came and listened to my request and just left saying she would get me pain meds. I had to make my own way to the bathroom and the only way I managed was to cry with the pain the whole ten steps. The midwife did not return with the pain meds she said she was leaving to get. Day four! I had had enough at this stage but was luckily turning a corner with the pain in getting up and around. However, this was the day that I realised breastfeeding was not for me and my baby. It just wasn't working. I really tried and tried. Kept asking for help and sure enough my baby would do everything right when the lactation nurses were there but the minute they pulled the screen back and left my baby would stop and no amount of me doing the exact same methods as the nurses would get my baby to latch on. My the end of day 4 I knew my baby was hungry. Breast feeding was not working and even with that hunger wouldn't latch. I had a break down and demanded a bottle for him. I was met with we will try to latch the baby for you. The midwives refused to listen to me and kept trying to force breastfeeding. I had had enough and said no. They then produced a bottle and refused to let me feed the baby. They then made me pump into bottles to keep up my supply and when it was time to feed the baby with the breast milk in the bottles they refused to let me feed the baby. Day Five: I had made up my mind to switch to formula at this point myself. No one was going to change my mind. But of course the lactation nurse was sent into me to see the baby do breastfeeding again. I refused based on I knew the baby was hungry all the time (Baby was born with a high weight) and was not latching and taking the milk. Whether the baby did it in front of them or not the baby was not doing it for me on my own so when we got home who was going to be there to help me? No one! I was switching and that was that. The lactation nurse was like 'Okay, I will go read your file to see what the other lactation nurses have put down' and I will come back. She still was not listening to me! Still forcing breastfeeding and refusing to let me be. She came back and was like 'All the other lactation nurses have put down there has been no issues so I want to see for myself what the baby is like, call the bell when the baby is due the next feed I want to see' and left. OMG the worst support ever from ALL of the MIDWIVES in this hospital with regards to opting out of breastfeeding. They are genuinely like drug pushers with it. Nothing else will even be mentioned. EVER! I WOULD NEVER HAVE A BABY IN THIS HOSPITAL AGAIN!!!! One lady does need to be thanked! The kind MARGARET who was with the hearing test nurses. She came in after the lactation nurse on the final day. Margaret came in to find me in floods of tears because of all the stress the midwives were putting me under. I explained it all to her about the added unnecessary stress they had put me under. She hugged me and told me to stop worrying, to do what I needed to do for me and my baby and that she herself had had six children ALL BOTTLE FEED and all of them were perfect. So not to worry and do what I felt was right because those nurses weren't going to be there 24/7 anymore. THANK YOU MARGARET! The midwives of Limerick Maternity are breastfeeding PUSHERS!!!! They don't support any other options! AT ALL! They won't even mention other options in passing. They point blank refuse to say any other words relating to feeding other than BREASTFEEDING! Breastfeeding this, breastfeeding that! That don't know how to say anything else. So if it works for you then great! But if it doesn't work all the response will be is WE ARE GOING TO KEEP TRYING! and then their PEER PRESSURE is forced on you!! NEVER AGAIN in this hospital!

This hospital is dangerously under staffed and a building that is not fit for purpose. As a first time mother I could not believe the chaos. It's really pot luck who is on duty when you go into labour and how busy the labour ward is. They can barely cope with the amount of people coming through. It's horrific to think of the risks women and their babies are being exposed to due to lack of staff and a system where it's those who shout loudest get dealt with first. There was one nurse on duty to cope with a full ward of women and babies many who had complications. I can only describe my experience as traumatic and frightening especially when there isn't anywhere else you can go to.

Would highly recommend this hospital as a private patient. I couldn't have had better treatment. Everyone was supportive and had a kind friendly word from the cleaning staff to the consultants. Great job!

From the moment our baby's complication was picked up by the sonographer the care we received in the hospital was amazing. We always had the same midwives at clinic and were always scanned by Dr. Slevin. Everybody was kind and the level of care we received was second to none.

The outpatient clinic is the epitome of everything that is wrong with the HSE, terribly organised, grossly understaffed and systems and procedures that are inefficient and serve nobody's interests. There is no continuity of care as I saw a different doctor at each visit. It genuinely made me strongly consider a home birth even though I was not a suitable candidate. I was almost willing to risk it rather than turn up for my last appointment in the clinic. Thankfully my rational self prevailed and I was admitted to the hospital as planned ahead of the birth. Once through the admissions doors, it is a completely different experience. The midwives are amazing. They are so caring and on top of their game; more so than a couple of the doctors I came across. They made the experience so warm and comforting. I could happily have stayed in their care for a month. It's such a pity that they are so overworked and under such pressure. Their contribution to the service is painfully undervalued. They are an amazing bunch of people and deserve a lot better from the HSE.

I was advised to attend the hospital for iron transfusions in late pregnancy. Each time I attended I was left waiting for seven hours in the reception area outside the admissions unit before the actual transfusion started. Women who had lost babies were left sitting at reception crying in full view of patients and visitors. Nobody offered any of us a cup of tea or water all day and no updates were offered on waiting times. As a nurse myself I understand time and resources are limited but I feel facilities are completely outdated and inappropriate for heavily pregnant women and those receiving bad news. Also after receiving a transfusion I was not monitored for reactions to the drug and staff didn't listen to my baby's heartbeat. I find this hospital really scary and seriously understaffed.

I have been there every second day for the last two weeks being monitored so that they could diagnose a complicated ectopic pregnancy. The nurses and doctors are so kind to myself and my husband and really couldn't do enough for us. I have now been referred to the regional for treatment but I'm glad my follow-up will be at the maternity. I felt so well looked after and genuinely cared about.

There are too few nurses in the admission area. Its packed with people and doesn't seem to have proper order. I must say even having to wait a while to see a nurse. they are very kind and helpful. but noticeably understaffed and rushed.

Excellent maternity care by wonderful staff. Better facilities would be lovely, those that a newer building would provide. Antenatal clinic is bananas, arrive for 8am appt, seen by doctor at 12.15!

I had two very different experiences. One premature baby with a lot of health problems. I spent the best part of two months in the hospital. In that time everyone (except for one staff member in the neonatal) were amazing. They all work so hard. My second child was born with no complications and it was a lovely positive experience. I'd give the staff 10/10. I'd also like to mention the catering staff. I've seen negative comments about the food. I can't understand it, I thought it was lovely. Lovely fresh salads, homemade scones etc...They were also very accommodating to me as I'm a fussy eater. Excellent hospital. Good vibe throughout. All staff smile, say hello etc...

I had two babies in Limerick. I had two very different but equally poor experiences. Baby 1: contractions started 2 min apart, nurses told me over the phone I couldn't be in labour, I insisted in coming in when I could no longer handle the intense pain. I was literally roaring in pain when I arrived, the examining nurse started making faces mocking me to another nurse when she thought I wasn't looking. I insisted I needed to push and she begrudgely brought me to the labour ward. She made me walk to 'bring me along'. I was on the ground on my hands and knees with blood flowing out in me on a corridor when an ancillary staff offered to get a wheelchair, nurse said no need. When I got to delivery ward, I was fully dilated and ready to deliver. She sheepishly apologised. The midwife was pretty nice but totally against me trying to deliver in any position but on my back. I knew the baby was stuck on my tailbone but midwife refused to accept. She called for a forceps delivery I insisted then to try once more in my side, baby shot out, she had in delivery tray ready and gloves on. I started panicking. She made me put my hand on my baby's head to hold it in while she got what she needed. My baby then swallowed muconium and ended up in a special care unit for a week. Baby 2. Fabulous young midwife for first few hours, then shift change. I lost feeling in my leg and could not stand, I said this to nurse several times and they ignored. 2 hours of pushing, eventually suction delivery, left my baby with open bleeding cuts on head, and bruised shoulders. Next day I had no feeling in my leg below the knee. They sent me in a taxi (10hrs after delivery) without my baby in a wheelchair to the regional hospital, left me on my own in a waiting room. I was so out of it, my breastfed baby with my panicking husband. 14 hours later I was sent back in a taxi - no answers. I had no follow up care from the maternity until I pushed very had. I was on crutches, unable to stand or care for my baby due to the foot drop for over 2 months. I requested my birthing records from the hospital, initially they refused, upon getting them, there was no record of me not being able to stand or having no feeling in my left leg. Upon researching my injury I discovered it is an injury that is incredible rare since the introduction of c-sections and modern OB. I had my second baby there against my better judgement as it is by the far the closet, I would NEVER step inside the hospital again let alone have a baby there.

I was admitted to the Maternity Hospital in Limerick for weeks before my first pregnancy, I found the quality of care to be excellent. Dr. Casey was my consultant, all staff (midwives and doctors) on M3 were very professional, kind etc. The main complaint I have is in relation to the food. I was admitted because my baby was small and needed to grow, but the way food is served in the hospital meant that I could be given a salad or "supper" at 4.30pm and then nothing until the following morning. If you're trying to lose weight, one of the best ways to do it is not to eat after 6pm, so this food regime is almost like a regimental diet plan. If it wasn't for visitors bringing food in, I would have been starving every evening. I think it's the same in all hospitals, but it doesn't make any sense - when you're in hospital you shouldn't be hungry, especially when you're on bed rest so your baby will put on weight.

Had a great experience in Limerick Maternity, lovely staff. I was a private patient, wonder would my experience be different if I was public?

The maternity in Limerick is so busy however all of the staff encountered, Dr J Slevin, midwives m3 for the week starting 3rd March, were always professional and willing to help any way they could. They couldn't be faulted in any way. The reception area of the hospital and admissions area seemed a bit cramped for space as they were so busy in admissions, there were not enough seats for all of the women waiting to be seen. The reception desk was unmanned at certain times too which was not great as the phone was left ringing, this also happened once or twice in the admissions area. Overall, had a very positive experience which was because all of the staff were excellent.

I would like to thank the staff in ward M3 for the exceptional care they gave me during my five-week stay before my baby's birth. Especially want to thank Dr Burke and Dr Fahy for the care they gave me, without them I would not be here today. Also to thank the staff in ward M2, who gave me 1st class care post serious surgery due to pregnancy, thank you all.