"Pre-eclampsia, induction and emergency caesaren"

Pregnancy for me was consultant led but totally uneventful and textbook until 35 weeks when I began having high bp readings. This was detected at a routine antenatal appointment by midwifes and I was sent round to be scanned by a dr as normal. I had to be the one to mention the high bp to the Dr. There was no communication at all between midwifes and drs. Given labetalol and told to check bp at home and come in if 140/90. Few days later I rang assessment and was met by being told my bp wasn't that high' and asking why I taking my bp at that time of night. Went over and medication was upped. This trend continued every few days until I was 38 weeks. I'd went from 100mg 2x daily to 300mg 4x daily in 3 weeks, and was presenting with a bp of 254/175 which wasn't lowered by a further second type of medication. Admitted again, had been for a night previous week as bp was high then but lowered with medication, and sent to 2 west. 

The next morning I was sent to induction and I can not fault the staff there. They made me feel so at ease and were really kind. After 24hrs with a pessary which didn't do much, later than same day my waters were broken and an hour later started on the drip. My midwife Stella was beyond words. Her support and encouragement is something I will never forget. She made me feel supported, heard and understood. Someone who is truly made for the job. There was another midwife who sticks out in my mind too who's name i can't remember but she was Australian and provided cover for a break i think. Both were extremely professional and kind. The sepsis 6 protocol was started on me before the shift changed but my induction went well in the sense that I progressed well and 13ish hours after arriving in delivery suite I felt I needed to push. At this time I made it clear I couldn't tell the difference between pressure in general and a contraction so asked the new midwife / student to tell me when to push. They would do this for 1 or 2 then stop. When id ask if I should be pushing they'd say do you need to, after id already said I didn't know. It was agreed to trail forceps after pushing for a while. These didn't work and I was converted to a cat 2 c section. It seemed to take a bit longer but baby was delivered and all was well with them. However I suddenly felt very unwell and when my partner had gone to cut the cord, he came back and told me someone had just told him that the dr had nicked my artery and tore my uterus - these were the words he heard. No one made me aware of this directly and after a while my partner was asked to go to recovery with our baby. We had to wait for a consultant obstetrician to attend theatre to preform the repair and I was in surgery a further 2hrs alone. When I asked what was going on, no one gave me an answer and instead would say you're ok and it wont be long. After they were finished the consultant said to me they didn't want to see you for 2 years and it will be an elective section next time - I couldn't believe it. That information was delivered so casually and I hadn't been told anything directly.

When I got to recovery baby was a few hours old and I had had a huge 2.1L blood loss so was extremely weak. When I got to 2 west that night, my partner was asked to leave quite promptly despite the trauma I had just been through to the point that I couldn't even move slightly in the bed much less lift the baby. I feel given the nature of my c section he should have been allowed to help me that night. When baby was around 12hrs old a midwife came and told me my baby needed formula as they had been given a solution for their low blood sugars (an effect of the bp meds id been on) and when I explained i was keen to bf and was emotional, i was quickly dismissed and told my baby needed it with no empathy for how I was feeling or what id been through. One particular staff member on 2 west made me feel foolish and like I wasn't doing what was best for my baby when I didn't know and wasn't given a sheet to record feedings. The same midwife/ nurse also was sharp with me and always seemed like I was an annoying inconvenience when id ring the buzzer for help. I also had to explain my birth to every midwife as no one knew anything about it and when i complained of pain, was told I was already getting pain relief.

My experience on 2 west was so poor I put on the performance of my life to get home just 2 days after my section when I truly wasn't well enough. There was one midwife who helped, getting me more pain relief than what I was being offered when I explained the birth complications.

I have asked for a debrief as I am deeply affected by my birth and was told "they are unwilling or unable to give you one at this time" by the community midwife who discharged me. I was advised to go through my hv, who told me to see my gp, who essentially said to look into it on my own. I have from then found out that debriefs are being given, so why not mine?