"Maternity care, labour and postnatal care"

I was recently under the care of Ninewells maternity services while pregnant, giving birth and postpartum and my experience was so positive and empowering that I think about the staff and how good my care was daily.

Under the care of the Iris maternity team, the midwives made us feel so comfortable and really connected with us so I felt I could speak freely, which isn’t often the case with medical professionals. The fact we met the whole team through the course of antenatal classes meant we were familiar with each midwife when we saw them at different points of our process. My only negative at this time was an Obstetrics doctor who felt like they were taking control of my birthing choices (due to some slight medical concerns) rather than asking what I wanted. 

Every pair of hands we passed through on the maternity wards were all reassuring and I felt very much on my side. For the birth itself, a whole team including anaesthetist explained exactly what was going to happen before they broke my waters which I appreciated (although it would have been better if they’d have asked if I was OK with a sizeable group plus students in the room). I wasn’t expecting to have a midwife in the room with us the whole time and I’m so glad we did, as I felt nothing would be missed. Albeit, it was a quick birth! I’m a first time mum and they were pushing me through every time I said I can’t do it and empowering me. Their instructions were clear and though I could barely speak, listening to them and focusing on their instruction was a lifeline. I was so caught up on my birthing preferences and how to make sure they were listened to but in the moment, I trusted them completely to do what was needed. 

After the birth, all the midwives had such genuine joy and congratulations. There was lots going on I’m sure but I was totally unaware in my little baby bubble as they quietly got on with it, but always explaining before doing something. 

I did feel slightly rushed to go for a shower after a while (understandable, lots of women waiting for the rooms) but they would have let me take my time and wait longer if I’d needed to, I’m sure. 

We spent one night in the postnatal ward which truly felt like a well oiled machine, though I knew they were under pressure. No buzz, concern, question or request felt too silly. I couldn’t believe that they would even take the babies for a time if you needed to sleep or anything. I asked for help for every nappy change and checking the latch for every feed and they were always there within minutes. 

Finally, once we were home, I don’t know what I would have done without the regular midwife visits. The hormone drop hit me hard and I felt like I was going insane, but they always reassured and made sure everything was OK. When I thought it was tipping into the realm of postnatal depression, they referred me to a GP appointment immediately, hugged me and shared their own personal stories with me. Thankfully, it wasn’t PND and the hormonal emotions settled after a couple of weeks, at which point the health visitor picked up where the lovely midwives left off seamlessly.

Almost everyone I came into contact with through the whole journey was kind, reassuring, empathetic, personable, confident and clear. They built me up, held me together, and made sure to tell me how well I’d done. I’m in awe of all them and cannot thank them enough.