"Birth of baby"

My waters broke at around 2pm on a Monday and my contractions started almost immediately. They were manageable but I asked my husband to phone the MAU later in the evening to make them aware to expect us over the next 24 hours. 

The midwife on the phone, although had been told I was in labour, was pressuring my husband to allow them to book me in for induction the following day. He declined. 

At noon on the Tuesday we contacted the MAU again to tell them I needed to come in as labour had progressed. 

Arrived to MAU to have to wait over 15 minutes to be seen (while in labour and contracting). Senior midwife we were seen by was very cold and unfriendly in their demeanour. A urine sample of a previous patient had been left in the bathroom of the assessment room we were shown to. 

Senior midwife did not listen to me when I tried to tell them about my contractions. They were quite insistent that my waters had not broken and the only way to find out would be to perform an invasive examination. 

Midwife wouldn’t even look at the timings of my contractions when I handed them my phone, just glanced at it and then handed it straight to my husband. They told me I wasn’t in labour at about 1330-1400ish. At least 4 times during this exchange they mentioned the infection risk of PROM, but a statistic was never given. They were very pressuring to book me in for an induction of labour. Interestingly no mention of all the risks that come along with that. 

I left the unit feeling extremely vulnerable and disheartened. 

We then had to travel back to the unit as soon as we arrived home and were very fortunate to not birth the baby on the way to hospital. 

I arrived back on the labour ward at 1600 and our baby was in our arms by 1637. 

I feel the treatment I received by this senior midwife was appalling and a disgrace. What sort of world are we living in if we cannot trust women to know their bodies? I found the medicalisation of birth within D&Gs midwifery services absolutely shocking. The constant push and fear mongering to book an induction, but not once during this time were any risks about induction discussed. Woman centred care… in my experience this is not being prioritised. 

The disregard for infection control too. Another patient's urine sample being in the bathroom, that’s very poor. 

Overall, I had a positive birthing experience, as I was able to advocate for myself with the help of my husband. I’m writing this review for the women who cannot advocate for themselves and will experience trauma through this over medicalisation and lack of women-centred care.