"A fantastic and much needed service"

QEUH - Clinical Psychology Maternity Referral

I was referred to specialist Midwife, Lisa, early in my pregnancy due to concerns I had expressed to my community midwife about my fear of birth, needles, medical environment and other factors.

My experience was phenomenal and I will be forever grateful for the support I received. I had regular one to one sessions with Lisa throughout my pregnancy and worked through a number of issues and worries I had. We also met a few times face to face and I felt so well supported knowing that when issues popped up for me, I had time with Lisa arranged where I could raise these and learn about them. She was honest, realistic and genuine with the information she gave me on topics where I had concerns such as induction. Lisa gave me a tour of the different maternity environments and explained the options to me and being able to visualise where I would give birth was so helpful for me.

Without Lisa and the service she provided, my pregnancy and birth would not have been the positive experience it turned out to be. She helped me navigate through the later stages of my pregnancy when I was past by due date and arranged additional day care appointments for me which allowed me to stay relaxed and in control of my pregnancy. From initially being terrified of birth, I went into Labour confident and feeling informed of all my birthing options. I was able to advocate for myself due to the knowledge I developed from the sessions with Lisa. I was successfully able to spend most of my time in Labour at home in a calm & comfortable environment. I went to hospital when I was 10cm dilated and after two hours in the birth pool, had my beautiful baby boy using only gas and air. I understood the process of birth and I was able to have the calm birth I never imagined or knew was possible until speaking to Lisa.

A fantastic and much needed service - I hope everyone that needs it can access specialist midwives like I did with Lisa. It is hard to put into words just how thankful I am for the support of those in the NHS throughout my pregnancy. 

Team Daisy and my community midwives were also fantastic and without Catherine, I would not have received this referral and support.