"It was a bit of a kick in the teeth"

For personal reasons, I opted for an elective section which was booked for a Friday. I had to chase the pre-op appointment time as this was not booked at the same time as my section. I was advised there were 5 for this particular day, therefore I’d expected a bit of a wait but not as long as I did.

I was told to arrive at 7:30 and not have anything to eat or drink from midnight the night before. My husband and I were checked in and on a ward where we waited and waited (emergencies were understandably a priority – I experienced this the first time around).

We waited until 4 pm when a senior member of staff told me that they didn’t have enough staff and it wouldn’t be safe for me to go to the theatre on that particular day and that I would have to go back the following week on Monday.

I’d mentally prepared myself to have the baby, and arranged alternative childcare and dog care, along with my husband losing out on earnings as he’s self-employed. Placed on a ward where 3 other people had just had their newborn babies was a bit of a kick in the teeth!

It wasn’t until I got home that I realised I hadn’t been given any more pre-op meds for Monday, so I had to go back over the weekend to collect the meds. I was also told they don’t usually do elective sections on a Monday, so I should have been seen fairly quickly.

I arrived again on Monday at 7:30 without eating since midnight. We were left all day again in an isolated room with little to no communication from staff (except they didn’t know how long it would be) until the surgeon spoke with us late afternoon and explained what was happening. Surgeon said that they were the only one operating from both the elective list and the emergency list.

I eventually went to the theatre early in the evening. I cannot fault the theatre team or my midwife; they were very thorough in explaining the procedure and what would be happening when. I was able to have my playlist of music, and I’m grateful they were (finally) able to deliver my baby safely.

The postnatal ward wasn't without its complications, either, of staff not recording vital information accurately.

There is immense pressure on staff, and after speaking to my midwife, they mentioned that they have voiced their concerns about booking a high number of sections for the same day, but they aren’t being listened to, which puts extra pressure on them as all the patients are discharged on the same day (as long as no further complications).

To my knowledge, it has been suggested by different medical professionals that there should be an elective theatre list and a separate emergency theatre, but this doesn’t appear to have happened. I hope mums in the future who opt for a section, this process can happen to make their experiences more enjoyable. Statistics show elective sections are around 50% of the total number of births.

On multiple occasions, I was informed that planned sections are much smoother than emergency sections, but I didn’t feel this was the case; it resulted in an unnecessarily stressful situation, which I feel could have been avoided if the number of planned sections booked per day were reduced to allow for an overlap of both emergencies and planned sections or unexpected complications.