"It made such a huge, positive, difference to my experience"

I needed to have a c section due to placenta praaevia to deliver my second child which was not my preference however I understood the necessity of the course of action given the risks. The midwife I was assigned through continuity of care for my antenatal care, Sarah, was absolutely fantastic throughout my entire pregnancy. She was genuine, caring, empathetic and extremely conscientious - ensuring that all my worries and any issues arising were heard. She often went out of her way to follow up on items with other medics in between and contact me outside appointments to ensure other areas of my care were going to plan and that I was feeling positive. I felt in safe hands and very much cared for as an individual.

On the day of the c-section, in February 2025, Sarah was there and was a source of great relief when I saw her arrive beforehand. I was extremely apprehensive about having surgery and she provided reassurance and talked me through the process to manage my fears and worries.

The section itself took longer than planned and I experienced a lot of bleeding and required subsequent transfusions of blood and iron. Having Sarah there as a trusted person was invaluable, helped me to remain calm through her cheery and calming disposition along with explaining to me what was happening and why at all times throughout.

This made such a huge, positive, difference to my experience during which I was very scared and really needed this support. She provided brilliant support before, throughout and after the operation itself to myself and my baby and made an incredibly stressful situation so much better. 

Afterwards, in the community, Sarah came out to visit me and my baby at a follow up appointment and, in consistent and similar fashion, was very supportive, left no stone unturned and ensured that I was comfortable and confident that I was being fully cared for along with my baby. Sarah went above and beyond the call of duty at every single juncture and I feel extremely privileged to have been assigned her as my midwife.

Despite having a c section, where the baby is delivered by surgeons rather than a natural birth where it might only be midwives, she was the most impactful and memorable medical professional from my experience, in the most positive way.

I am so grateful for her care and I will never forget it. She is extremely professional and caring at the same time, giving me as her patient confidence in both her knowledge and her conscientiousness to ensure all risks are managed for both the practical/medical aspects of care to my maternal mental health and mindset. It is abundantly clear that Sarah will and does go above and beyond for the mothers in her care to ensure that they are completely and fully looked after from start to finish even if this means eating into her own time. I have had texts from Sarah whilst she is supposed to be on holiday to check in on me etc. - she truly cares and it is palpable.

I would also like to mention a second person who contributed to my positive experience of having a planned c section. The anaesthetics doctor - Dr Wallace, who was the person by my head for the duration of the operation and conducted herself with professionalism and kindness throughout.

Although obviously busy playing her part during the c-section, Dr Wallace kept me talking throughout and constantly checked in to ensure I was feeling ok and that my pain and discomfort was managed. She was extremely calm when the requirement for her to hang blood to be transfused arose and still remained engaged with me calmly throughout.

This ensured that I did not panic when in retrospect I could see that my procedure did not turn out to be the most straightforward case. If this caused her any stress it was invisible to me at the time and she did a fantastic job of explaining each part of the section to me and how it would feel, along with which stage of the process we were at and what was coming next, which I really appreciated as it took some of the fear of the unknown out of an already scary experience which I was very anxious about before I went in.

She had a very positive impact on my care and I am very grateful for her efforts.