"Excellent labour team followed by mixed experience on the ward"

I debated writing this for a while but after seeing another note their experience on the Ashgrove ward recently thought I would pluck up the courage to do so. 

The labour team were excellent. Despite complications they were reassuring even when being rushed for an emergency caesarean and safely delivered my baby boy.

Once on the Ashgrove ward however, care was not as expected. I was still unable to move with the epidural by evening and buzzed for help when my son cried as I couldn’t reach him in the cot. I had to buzz twice before someone came and was asked what was wrong with him? I explained about my anaesthetic and that I couldn’t reach him so was unsure. I noted I was happy to try but hadn’t stood up yet and couldn’t lift my legs fully. I was told huffily not to get up until morning as he was seen to.

After they left another new Mum due to go home the next day popped her head in and said if I needed help to shout for her as she felt things weren’t great. I felt before a new mum felt the need to do this it speaks volumes. 

I buzzed later to get him put back to his cot and also asked for water as I was really thirsty. This never arrived despite buzzing again later but I must have eventually fallen asleep.

 Next morning my fluids were checked and I was told I was severely dehydrated but this didn’t tally with my fluid intake. At this point I realised they had mistakenly recorded me drinking a full jug of water in the labour ward (the student fitting my cannula ended up splurting blood on this so it was taken away still full and due to ending up rushed for a caesarean not replaced) so was given quite a bit to drink after this.

I asked about going for a shower as the one in the ward was broken. No one seemed to know about this and I was told I would get told somewhere else to go but didn’t. In addition to this the light above my bed was broken which my partner had to report to get fixed. I know the new hospital is being built but basics such as this you would assume would still be getting maintained. 

That evening something felt wrong with my catheter.  I felt like I needed to urinate which I knew I shouldn’t. I buzzed 3 times over half an hour for assistance until I really felt something was wrong and decided to try and find someone to help. I stood up and blood started pouring down my legs. I buzzed again and a member of staff finally checked my catheter, flicked something that looked like it was there to stem the flow and the bag filled instantly. For such a simple fix I was surprised I had to wait this long.

Each member of staff that attended prior to the student noted they had to check with one individual on the ward before doing anything and from the attitude I saw from this person I got the impression they may rule the roost and other staff may be scared to make decisions in case they were unhappy with them. The blood was left all over the floor and me and the next morning the doctor doing the rounds asked why this was the case and got them to clean it up and fit me with new bed socks. 

This was day 3 since giving birth and I was finally told I could use a shower in another ward as ours still wasn’t fixed. The lock on the shower didn’t work so you had the added anxiety of this. 

I had been told I could go home but then was told I would need a further blood test for my sodium levels. The staff member taking this took over 15 minutes and I had to assist in the end by holding down the lock to stem the blood flow. They were perfectly nice but I felt should still be supervised if not yet fully confident with the task. With the drastic changes in my sodium levels following the dehydration I was then told I would need to stay another night. By this point I was so fed up I asked if the change was likely to be from the water levels from the day before and could I self discharge to which the doctor thankfully agreed. 

My son struggled to feed and a midwife asked with my partner there if both my nipples were inverted? I didn’t even know they were or what this meant for feeding and felt a bit embarrassed with how this was delivered in front of him. She checked then went to get nipple shields and noted that they shouldn’t really do that which again as a first time mum made me feel like a failure for not being able to feed him easily.

On my second day there it was spotted my son had a tongue tie and the infant feeding team were then brought in who were a great support but till then I kept getting told he was hungry and told to try different positions etc. all of which made me anxious and as noted felt like a failure as a new mum and I felt relieved when I was given formula when the tongue tie was spotted and he could feed.

There were some great team members and the team were busy but some of the things experienced by me and witnessed happening to others fell short of what was expected.