"Giving Birth"

I arrived at the hospital for an induction where a midwife attempted to do this via a Cook Balloon. This wasn't successful in the end but as part of this, we learnt that contractions had started and I was 1-2cm dilated so I went through to the labour ward to be placed on an oxytocin drip.

All the staff on the labour ward were excellent. On the whole, things were explained really well and I was looked after extremely well. I ended up requiring a c section and felt the charge nurse and anesthetist were particularly good at explaining everything. I think the only comment I would make is that I was monitored very closely and couldn't move around much from the very start with no down time from staff and at the start, this felt too much. I felt like I had tried to say I wanted to move a bit and had been told I could. Overall, the staff were great, all involved in the surgery were excellent and the immediate aftercare was good.

When I moved to the ward after, things were trickier. It started off OK but after my partner left and the night shift came on, I had some negative experiences. 

I firstly overheard a midwife talking disparagingly about the doctor's recording of the drugs I had been given and then they pulled open my curtain to ask me to confirm what I had been given. I couldn't remember and found this unprofessional. 

My baby was quite unsettled at night. I was doing my best and while overwhelmed, was happy to be caring for her. I asked for help once to allow me to go to the toilet post catheter which had to be done by a certain time.

The same midwife came in and told me my baby was, in their words, frantic. They sat on my bed where I had spilled a small amount of water and they made me feel terrible by asking someone to change the seats because they couldn't possibly sit on this. 

They then without checking my feeding intentions, told me I should give my baby formula to knock them out because my baby was frantic. I was made to feel like what was happening was unusual and that something was wrong. I wanted to breast feed only but felt pressured to give formula. I was asked what kind of formula and I said I didn't know and they told me they are all the same so just pick one. I started crying and they said they thought there would be tears.

My baby continued to cry and the midwife came and said they could take her away and that I needed to sleep. I didn't want this but felt pressured to agree. My baby was taken away and I didn't see her for 4/5 hours. I couldn't sleep anyway thinking about her and was too scared to buzz to get her back. When she came back I was advised they had given her a bath because of the meconium and that they hoped this was ok. I didn't have a choice by then. 

I appreciate my baby was unsettled and sleep was important but having read the ward information more closely now I believe my baby shouldn't have been taken away from me and better listening should have happened to avoid me feeling pressured. 

I ended up asking for an extra night in Dr Gray's as I felt really low on confidence having not really done a proper night with my baby. The staff there were excellent and encouraging. 

Overall, I had a good experience with some excellent care given but some of the aftercare left me feeling vulnerable and I found it unprofessional. The other staff I encountered in the ward were great.