"Please advocate for yourself during your birth experience"

I was midwife led until about 34 weeks when my community midwife recommended I go for a growth scan as baby had changed centiles. This is when it all started to go wrong. 

We went for the scan & waited way over our appointment time. The doctor didn’t even introduce themself, did the scan, told us everything was fine but we had to come back in 4 weeks. In between this time I went back to my community midwife who was really lovely. When we went back for the second growth scan we waited 1.5 hours past our appointment time. I was so uncomfortable and spent the entire time panicking that something would be wrong. When we eventually saw the doctor they did the scan & told us baby was measuring big but I would still be able to birth in home from home if I wanted to. They then started talking about induction which I declined. At the end of the appointment I said I appreciated their time but I’d prefer to stay under the care of my community midwife. After they spoke to the consultant, they told me I wasn’t allowed to do this. I left in tears. 

My waters broke at 39 weeks and I went to EOU to be checked. They booked my induction for 24 hours after this, without asking me. I spent the next day in full anxiety mode about being induced that my labour didn’t start. I went for the induction (never should have done this) and things went from bad to worse. I ended up in an emergency c section the next morning. I have PND and flashbacks as a result of the “care” I had.

I later found out that my c section was unnecessary as baby was fine. I had a debrief with the consultant midwife a few months later which helped but she said she would follow up with me and never did. The whole experience still affects me daily. I had input from the perinatal mental health team which did nothing but re traumatise me. 

I had heard great things about the Ulster maternity team but sadly that wasn’t my experience. 

If you’re reading this please advocate for yourself during your birth experience so you don’t end up like me.