"Women's Unit - Induction"

Anything else?

I was 13 days after my EDD. I was fed up and my health was beginning to get a little dodgy, so I went for an induction up at the JR (even though I was very hospital phobic, the health of myself and the baby were more important to me). On being taken up to Level 5, I was surprised that I was given a side room to be induced in. Although it took a while for the induction to start, I was treated with dignity and was given all the information I needed to make an informed decision on whether I wanted the first stage to begin. At no point did I feel forced into saying yes at this stage and I could have simply refused if I had felt the risks were too high or if I was too scared. Once the induction began, things went a little awry - my baby didn't like being poked in the head by the midwife and got a little upset (as was shown on the monitors). I had to ask what the beeping meant after it went off too many times and got me upset, but once I told them about my phobia, they were a lot more understanding and didn't do anything else without informing me first. About 18 hours later, the pain was getting to a point I wasn't sure I could cope much longer, so I told them I needed more pain relief. It took almost 6 hours before I was able to be transferred to delivery suite as the midwives said it was very busy. I understood this, but at the same time, spending so long in pain during my first labour was distressing to my birthing partners and myself, to the point I was in tears asking for it to stop. When I did finally get transferred, I spent 5 minutes down there before I needed to push. Baby was in distress, so I ended up having a ventouse delivery (which wasn't ideal) but she was born about 5 minutes later. We were both happy and healthy afterwards and that was the ultimate goal. I did feel a little like I was pushed into having an assisted delivery, but I can understand that the midwives were concerned that I would be unable to get my baby out quick enough as it was my first baby and as she was back to back. Had they listened to my body however, I think I was quite capable on my own, seeing how strong my urge to push was. All the midwives, students etc I had contact with lovely, and very understanding. The problem I had was that there simply wasn't enough of them on the wards when they were needed, but that is more a funding issue than anything. The staffing issues were very apparent during my labour itself, as the pain warped my perception of time! Also, there wasn't good facilities for birth partners to remain overnight (due to my phobia, it simply wasn't an option for me to be left alone as I would have panicked) and they felt like they were being pressured into leaving that first night. I dug my heels in, and although it sucked for them, they both remained with me throughout the labour. Again, funding is at fault. Also, the food sucked. I was lucky I only had to eat it for a few days, but it was often overcooked and lukewarm. It also looked gross.