"I felt in control, empowered and reassured"

About: Community Services - Eastern / Maternity Community Services - Eastern Maternity Exeter EX2 5DW Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Maternity Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) Maternity EX2 5DW South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust / Emergency ambulance South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Emergency ambulance Exeter EX2 7HY

Posted by ksmith24 (as a service user), 16 months ago

I found out I was pregnant in July 2023 and from the very first contact with the maternity services, they have been brilliant.
I was given the time and opportunity to discuss birthing options with a midwife before deciding. She was open, honest and happily answered all of my questions. The midwives were confident and skilled and because of this, I decided to have a home birth. This is something I never even considered pre-pregnancy.
The antenatal care was brilliant. Very professional, reassuring when I was worried and overall very supportive.
On the big day, the midwives were brilliant. They were supportive, professional and respectful of my birth wishes. They were such a calming presence, for both me and my husband.
After a long labour and signs of progression slowing down, the decision was made to be transferred into hospital for further support. The midwives also included myself and my husband in the decision making process and we continued to feel in control of the situation.
The ambulance service was quick and efficient and the paramedics were great.
At the hospital, the doctor and midwife in charge greeted us with a warm welcome. They were professional, reassuring and encouraging to continue with the natural labour as per my wishes.
A plan was made for the upcoming hour, my husband and I were included in this conversation and our home birth midwife was a great advocate for us also.
Decision was made to go to theatre for a forcep delivery. The theatre team were calm and diligent, in what could have been a very stressful situation. The calmness they bought was reassuring to myself and my husband.
Our baby girl was born and after a little support from the paediatric team, she was with me. She just wanted to enter the world with a little flare!
I was constantly updated about her and what was happening. Even in the emergency, the team continued to take on board our wishes and my husband was able to announce the sex of the baby to the room and cut the cord.
Post care continued to be excellent. We all felt very looked after. All care was timely, supportive and every midwife was knowledgeable and reassuring.
We honestly couldn’t have had better care that day; from the homebirth team, the labour ward to the theatre staff and post natal ward.
Even though my birth plan changed, I felt in control, empowered and reassured that our story continued to be a positive birth story.

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Responses

Hazel Duckworth

Transformation Midwife (Eastern Services), Maternity (Eastern Services),

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

I work as part of the Maternity Transformation project with the local maternity and neonatal service to improve services for patients and staff.

Submitted on 11/03/2024 at 08:44

Published on Care Opinion at 08:53

Hi,
Thankyou so much for taking the time to write this feedback for the Maternity team.
I am so pleased you had such a positive experience during your pregnancy and birth, especially as you required a transfer from home and a deviation from your birth plan. I think it is really important that service users are given choice and decision making throughout their pregnancy and births so it is really reassuring that you felt this had happened and your husband was included also.
I will pass your feedback onto all the teams as it is always a real boost to hear such lovely feedback.

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Deanne Hill

Patient Engagement Manager,

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 11/03/2024 at 15:02

Published on Care Opinion at 15:02

Good afternoon ksmith24,
Thank you so much for providing us with feedback on the recent service you received from us, it is much appreciated! We are so glad to hear that you were well looked after by the ambulance crew who attended you.
For confidentiality, your patient information is redacted on this platform and so we cannot find the details of your incident, we would love to pass your message onto the Ambulance crew who attended you and so, if you would be willing to share some additional information, please could you email compliments@swast.nhs.uk with your name, date the ambulance arrived, address and thank you message, we will then ensure this is passed onto to the relevant crew.
Thank you again for taking the time to feedback!
Kindest regards,
Jamie
Patient Engagement Team
SWAST

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