"Maternity services"

I gave birth to my son 8 weeks ago in the Glasgow Queen Elizabeth Maternity Unit. Our antenatal appointments (growth scans & consultant appointments) I really couldn't fault. The midwife in the outpatient clinic went above and beyond to make our experience the best she could, put us at ease with any worries, and really took her time to get to know us and appreciated how we were feeling.

However I don't believe the growth scans were accurate enough to be the reason I needed to be induced.

On the induction ward the staff members were lovely, however the fact only paracetamol is offered as pain relief (Morphine as a last resort but you are told it can pass through to baby) is terrible. Especially when you are in a bed bay with potentially 3 other women, who may have been there for other reasons. I found it extremely difficult to manage my pain and try to be quiet when having contractions, as I didn't want to scare or annoy any of the other girls (or any partners / visitors ) in my bay. If better pain relief was offered, or even gas and air to manage contractions, it would have been a whole lot easier.

I also don't agree with the fact I was induced and when my I was ready to be taken to the labour ward I was told there was no beds. I understand emergencies happen, and it's no fault of the midwives on shift, but this is where the system fails. If someone is booked in for an induction, there should be a labour room available for them at any time. Who knows how long after being induced the baby could come? If this is such an issue, then the induction ward should be better equipped with adequate pain relief and equipment that the labour ward also has. I was told it could be days before I had a bed on the labour ward.

So i had no option but to wait it out, having frequent contractions, with paracetamol as my pain relief, with 3 other women in the bed bay. I also overheard others in the bay being told that, after being admitted, their induction would not be starting for another 6 hours - that it would be reviewed by hospital management at this time and maybe go ahead then. Why was this not thought of sooner, and these women not allowed to go home and spend the night in their own bed? 

Luckily my waters broke soon after being told there could be a 2 day wait for a bed, and sure enough there was a bed 10 minutes after. I'm so lucky that my 3 day long induction process didn't end up in an emergency section due to being so tired from the delay in getting to the labour ward, as I know many do.

The midwife and student on the labour ward were beyond amazing, I honestly couldn't have done it without them, they are earth angels and an honour to the NHS. Being in healthcare myself, I understand patient centred care and they both went above and beyond to make my actual labour experience amazing, despite being so scary.

On the post natal ward, I felt the staff were overworked and had no time to do anything they needed to do. Again in a bed bay with 3 other, now families it was very overwhelming. Especially with how small each of the sections were.

I was very lucky to have my partner by my side the whole time, however the way I saw another woman who was on her own being treated was awful!

She had had a c-section and had no family with her , she pressed her buzzer for help to the toilet. Bearing in mind she had just come back from theatre and probably hadn't mobilised herself yet. A member of staff quickly told her that she would be getting no help and she had to mobilise herself - then left her to it. I heard her cry on the phone to a family member and I just can't believe that attitudes like this would happen on a post natal ward. That someone in  their most vulnerable state was refused help to do the most basic of things, the toilet, I can only imagine how she must have felt.

A lot needs to be done to fix these maternity services, and I genuinely don't know where they should start!