"I felt totally at ease with my baby being in their care"

In December I gave birth to my son 5 weeks early via scheduled section due to a high risk pregnancy. My care from the obstetric and cardiac team at QEUH was outstanding. I felt incredibly supported by the medical team. I was included in all decision making and never felt like there was a “right answer” during discussions. I truly feel that my team were cheering me on and championing my care. On the date of delivery I was a bit nervous due to requiring an arterial line.

However, Dr. Boussouara was so patient and walked me through the process. In the end, I had nothing to worry about! The delivery itself was so straight forward. The whole team in the theatre were warm and friendly and put me at ease immediately. Cara, Ashley, and Martin felt like fast friends and were chatting away to me. I didn’t feel like another patient on a list, rather, someone they really wanted to provide the best of care to.  

After delivery, the midwives in HDU were a continuation of the high caliber of care. They were all compassionate and supportive. They were very good at staying on top of my pain relief. They were also keen to help me express milk to bring up to my baby who was in NICU, and were great at liaising with the NICU staff. 

The NICU staff were superstars. I felt totally at ease with my baby being in their care, even though I felt a bit anxious about him needing additional support. Every nurse and doctor we spoke with was patient, kind, understanding, and gave us space to air any worries we had surrounding our son’s care. They never made us feel like an annoyance for questioning a decision they made and were happy to talk things through with us.

I had seen nurses singing to the babies whose families weren’t able to be bedside; the love that the nurses pour out on the babies is so wonderful. It made it a little easier to leave him each night knowing that the staff were looking after him as if he were their own family member. 

I couldn’t be happier with the care my son and I received at the QEUH. From my booking appointment to my son’s discharge, I was supported and felt valued. We will always be so thankful to each and every doctor, nurse, midwife, admin, and janitorial staff we met. They are incredible.