"Birth during holiday"

We visited York to see family and the Christmas Market in November.

My wife was 38 weeks pregnant with due date being early December. This is our second baby so we thought we were prepared. On the Sunday my wife started feeling labour pains around 10:00am. We drove to the hospital thinking we were just going for checks.

We walk in and were greeted very politely and nicely. Although we were not locals we were treated with respect by the Sister and midwives. The midwife checked my wife and said it looks like you’re going to have your baby here, which still makes me choke up when I think about it. We were nowhere near prepared for labour on that day but the positivity of every single midwife, experienced and student, as well as the consultants made us feel like it was the right place to give birth.

Labour lasted about 1 hour. Postnatal treatment was fantastic as well with willing HCAs to meet our needs and help support us. I cannot thank them enough for their interest in making us feel welcome and supportive all throughout. We were seen promptly. All and all it was a happy ending of a weekend we will never forget.

I want to share this story because it is worth sharing the positive experiences with the NHS of which there are many every single day. I bet that this was just another day for staff at York Hospital. For us it meant the world.

Thank you