"Everyone was really calm, kind and helpful"

I was recently in the RAH to be induced for the birth of my 2nd child. Things went a bit haywire when I’d had a bad reaction to my pessary, I started having heavy bleeding and non stop contractions. I found the non stop contractions for 6 hours a bit traumatic, I want to thank all the staff who helped look after me, my partner and my baby.

Everyone was really calm, kind, helpful and never made me feel like I wasn’t their priority and most importantly, they listened. I couldn’t have gotten through it without them. The birth with my second child was more traumatic but the experience of being looked after and the recovery and experience after we had our 2nd was much better than our first.

We had a midwife who was with us the whole way until her shift ended, she was so attentive to all of us and we felt relaxed and never like a burden. I’m aware how busy your maternity unit is at the moment and there is basically a queue to have a baby, at no point did I feel my post natal care was rushed to get someone else in. It was important that me and my baby were well enough to move onto recovery. Thank you to all the midwives, the doctors and there was another midwife who helped deliver our daughter, I’m sorry I can’t remember her name but she was brilliant in those final moments of labour getting me through (after waters were broken the baby was deciding it was making an appearance almost immediately, it all happened very fast!)

I was then taken to recovery where there was another midwife looking after us. Again she made me and the other patients feel looked after, she let us know where she was at all times in case we needed her, and just a lovely person who you could tell cared about us and the babies. I really enjoyed my time in recovery because of how peaceful it was and there was someone there who wasn’t going to make me feel like a burden when I needed help or pain relief. We then spent a short time up on the post natal ward again where we were looked after. I spoke to one of the midwives about how much of a great job everyone done looking after us and she said it doesn’t get said very often. 

I admit I can tell the difference in the amount of care and one on one time you receive from a midwife, compared to my first child 8 years ago in the same maternity unit. The care teams are working so hard, everyone having a child wants to feel like the midwife’s most important patient and you can tell they are trying their best but it is understaffed. You can feel the pressure on them from the recent closures of other maternity units, and the amount of extra patients there is now compared to when I was there myself 8 years ago. I particularly noticed not as much focus on breastfeeding. 

I think if I had been a first time mother I could have found this very difficult without the level of care and help I did 8 years ago, but 8 years ago there was someone coming almost every feed to make sure it was going well. That just isn’t possible anymore with the number of care team per patients. 

I hope my feedback has came across in the positive light it’s intended too, everyone on the RAH maternity unit is doing a great job. Thank you everyone for making sure me, my partner and my baby were safe and healthy, and for some good laughs when needed!

My baby was born during heavy snow. Felt festive so we (I mean I and not we as my partner hates them) put on some Christmas songs for a festive vibe!