"Traumatised me for life"

I had an induction 9 weeks ago on Tuesday  for my baby due to him measuring big. I want to start by saying the midwifes/nurses in the induction ward were incredible and made me feel so comfortable and supported. However maternity triage and the Labour ward needs some serious work.

I went to triage heavily pregnant with a UTI and the nurses were awful - there were 2 other women in the waiting room with me and we all agreed how nasty the nurses were. They made us feel like a burden. I was then placed in a bed with pee stains and hair all over it.

Moving on to the Labour ward - I am a pretty laid back person and the only things I wanted in my birth plan were music playing and the projector lights. Apparently these gave my midwife a sore head and I felt so uncomfortable about having them on during my labour. 

I had no confidence in my midwife. My babies heart rate dropped a few times and she “thought” it was just the machine playing up however when her shift ended and the new midwife took over (who was amazing), a doctor was brought into the room and I was sent straight for an emergency c section.

The first midwife I had was awful and I don’t say this lightly. To begin with, she struggled putting the cannula in and my hand immediately swelled up and I’m still having issues with this to this date. She had a cold and unbothered demeanour despite me trying to build rapport with her. My epidural failed and she didn’t believe me - she said there was a difference between just feeling it and it being sore. By this stage I had been having strong contractions for over 24 hrs and there was absolutely 0 empathy. On top of this I had 2 student midwife’s who helped out - they were both lovely and one in particular was so helpful and supportive. My midwife was AWFUL to them which created a hostile and uncomfortable environment in the room. 

Myself and my birth partners noticed conversations in which my midwife was not following correct procedures in recording things at the correct time and advised another midwife that it didn’t matter that she had recorded them later than she should have. 

My second midwife was the most supporting, caring and lovely human being that made me feel empowered, supported and comfortable during an extremely distressing time. I hope she is given the recognition she deserves. She is one of many midwives at the hospital who genuinely care and this review is not aimed at them. 

I cannot stress enough how much this department needs a review. There were even phone calls to maternity triage early in my pregnancy that were so cold to the point it put me off calling back with any concerns. This was my first baby and I didn’t know what to expect and I genuinely have been put off having another due to the cold and nasty nature of some of the nurses/midwives at Wishaw General. Not only was this bad enough but a colleague of mine had suffered a still birth which gave me extreme anxiety about giving birth here. I have also heard several other traumatic birth stories stemming from nurses who simply don’t care. 

I can’t remember my original midwives name however I'm happy to provide details if it helps to ensure nobody ever goes through what I went through with this hospital.