"Every woman should have a single room"

I found out at my 20 weeks scan in Raigmore, Inverness, that there may be something wrong with the development of my baby’s heart and was sent down to the QEUH, Glasgow, and seen very quickly within 2 days! A further scan there confirmed that my baby had a heart defect and would most likely require surgery immediately after being born, if he were to survive at all. The staff within the Feotal Medicine department couldn’t have been any better in such a horrible situation. The drive back to Inverness with my husband was just 3 and a half hours of us both inconsolably crying. I had to have the rest of my scans in Glasgow which meant a lot of travelling. 

It was arranged for me to come to Glasgow to be induced at 39+1. I can’t remember if it was due to refurbishment but the ward had been moved temporarily to an area where they fashioned a makeshift ward, which wasn’t entirely fit for purpose but the staff managed brilliantly with the challenges this caused. I was admitted and induced on a Thursday and my wee boy decided he wasn’t going to come along until Sunday, despite 4 pessaries, 2 sweeps and constantly pacing the grounds of the hospital. 

When I went to the labour suite to have my waters broken and eventually give birth, the midwives and the student midwife were brilliant. They made me feel so at ease and I can’t imagine having a better labour, even despite me accidentally pulling out my catheter with the ballon intact! I have a huge needle phobia and they were so good with me when I needed to have a cannula inserted and when I was also given pain relief. I can only hope to have the same experience if I have any more children. 

My wee boy was taken away to be checked over by the neonatal team. I had to go to theatre and then had a bit of a rough time almost requiring HDU admission but was stabilised and my condition improved enough to eventually be transferred to the ward. 

This is where my experience went downhill. I was told before going that I would be in a side room as my wee boy was up on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and I would be without him. They felt it insensitive to put me in a bay with other women who had their babies with them when I couldn’t even see mine, let alone hold him. This did not happen. I spent 3 days in a bay with other women who had their babies. I spent those 3 days crying, almost as if I was mourning the loss of my baby. I had to watch them hold their babies, feed their babies, have skin-to-skin and whilst I was happy for them, it was like a knife to the heart for me that I was missing out on all of this, lying in a bed, sore and bleeding, with empty arms. If I managed to sleep, I was quickly woken up by the noise of these women's visiting family members, or during the night the babies would be screaming. The lack of sleep only fueled my distressing experience. 

To add to all this, I was in tremendous pain. It wasn’t unusual for me to have to wait over 2 hours for pain relief and having to remind staff that I had asked hours ago and still hadn’t received it. The midwives themselves were nice but some of the auxilliaries were so rude, horribly blunt and everything seemed like a huge inconvenience to them. I heard them snap at the other women when they buzzed their call bell. This made me extremely reluctant to ask for help. 

I think in maternity services, every woman should have a single room because of the sensitive nature of things. For example, the bathroom in my bay was broken and so in extreme pain, every time I need to use the bathroom, or change my blood soaked pads, I had to hobble at a snails pace across the bay, out into the open corridor and down to that corridor to another bay to use their toilet. On one occasion my pad had leaked through and so I had a big patch of blood soaked through on my pyjamas and had to walk in front of everyone for them all to see down the corridor in front of visitors, staff etc. I was mortified. 

I never want to ever be admitted to this ward again.