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"Overall I found this to be a traumatic experience"

About: Ninewells Hospital / Maternity care

(as a service user),

I had to be induced because I was over 41 weeks. This was something I wanted to avoid but I did feel bullied into it by the obstetrician.

I had an IV induction in labour suite and my legs were becoming swollen. My waters were broken (really awful experience) and the waters were dark with meconium. The midwife did not seem concerned about any of these things, although I was really scared. Really very little support from the midwife who only graduated a year or so ago. Labour suite is a dark place and none of the rooms have en suite bathrooms so you have to walk out through the ward past the nurses station to get to the toilet which is terrible when your waters have broken and you are in pain. I even asked the midwife if there were any alternatives and was advised that I know where the bathrooms are. 

I finally got diagnosed with preeclampsia and became confused and had to have an emergency caesarean. Everything seemed rushed at that point which was horrible to experience, and maybe if the midwife had listened to me then it all could have been more timely.

Overall I found this to be a traumatic experience and not at all how I thought my baby would be born. I would not recommend Ninewells Maternity after this experience - I feel like trauma of it has really affected my enjoyment of time with the new baby. I think more supportive midwives who kept you informed, communicated and showed care and compassion would have made a lot of difference for me.

There seems to be a total disconnect of realising that this is an important experience for women and you are not just a number on their board to be dealt with as quickly as possible. 

I have asked for a debrief and have been informed the wait time is 3 or 4 months when the midwives had told me it would be 6 weeks. This is just not good enough when the service is so poor. 

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Responses

Response from Lee-Anne Abel, NHS Tayside 2 years ago
Lee-Anne Abel
NHS Tayside
Submitted on 19/05/2023 at 14:38
Published on Care Opinion at 14:41


Dear zuluyh33

Thank you for taking time to share your story with us.

I am so sorry to hear that your experience of our service fell short of your expectations and would like to acknowledge this is not what I would have wished for you.

I would be keen to discuss this further with you to understand better your experience as there are a number of elements to be explored. I am grateful that you have felt able to share your experience as some of our richest learning comes from this type of story.

If you think discussing your experience with me would be beneficial for you please do not hesitate to get in touch with me: lee-anne.abel@nhs.scot

Warm Regards

Lee-Anne

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