"Terrible maternity experience"

I wasn't happy with my experiences at the Harris Birthright Centre. The building may be flashy and 'impressive', but my experience of having scans there was disturbing for the following reasons:

1. When I first went, they asked if I would take part in research, but they didn't fully explain what it would entail or how much time it would add to my appointments.

2. My scans took absolutely ages, and they had to take photos of almost every body part. I since realised that this was because I had agreed to participate in the research.

3. All of the sonographers I saw were cold and unfriendly. Also I could barely hear what they were saying, even when I asked them to speak up.

4. They didn't really seem bothered about how it may be exciting or even emotional to see your baby for the first time, nor did they make it easy to take decent photos. They very easily could send better quality screenshots, or maybe invest in a printer and give the service users a print out seeing as we are giving them pretty valuable data, not to mention our time...!!

5. All of the sonographers pressed very hard with their equipment which was painful and they continued even when I said it was hurting me.

6. One of the sonographers got a bit irate because my baby was not playing ball and shook my tummy really hard without asking for my consent or giving me any warning.

7. At my final scan, I agreed to participate in another piece of research regarding pre-eclampsia. I made sure to ask how much time it would add to my appointment, and was told it would add just 5 minutes. I was also told that I would have my eyes scanned, and blood pressure measured at three different sites, which were not revealed at the time. Unfortunately, agreeing to participate in this study added about 20 minutes to my appointment (which was already a very time consuming scan like the previous ones), and when it came to the blood pressure reading I had a monitor strapped around my arm, thigh and neck which was particularly unpleasant and slightly distressing as it felt like I was being strangled. Not ideal at that (or any) stage of pregnancy...!?

I have no idea why they don't just explain this stuff beforehand because they will save themselves from future bad reviews/complaints.  My partner and I had a terrible experience in the labour ward and postnatal ward.