"Poor maternity record keeping"

I am currently pregnant in another area. I had my last baby in Ninewells. The experience in Ninewells was awful. It was very unwantedly interventional, and I was let down by the care from midwives and doctors. I still feel very traumatised and upset by it, and a lot of what happened felt unnecessary. Repeated vaginal examinations (against my wishes) from students and midwives, without stating they were students, and it would need to be repeated, withheld pain relief when I asked, very belittling comments, I felt coerced by the doctors on what needed to happen, lack of consent for procedures, totally dismissive staff, I could go on. It ended in an emergency caesarean for preeclampsia, or so I understood. The care was so degrading that I was undressed in theatre without consent on the lower half, and also in the corridor, it was so undignified, just really basic human compassion totally lacking. 

I have since moved area. My current doctor requested my maternity records to check what had happened leading up to the caesarean. They (and I) were shocked at the poor note keeping by midwives and doctors. My current doctor is quite shocked at this, and they volunteered that it was poorly documented. There is no record of the thought process or the conclusion of my results in the notes and what they subsequently chose to do. The epidural block was also not straightforward taking several attempts and was very uneven making the surgery difficult and none of that is documented either, reading the notes it looks like it went perfectly. 

I’m also shocked that there is a feedback form about the epidural the following day which states that I was very satisfied with the epidural and the pain relief for the caesarean, which couldn’t be further from the truth, - that wasn’t the conversation we had. I had bad back pain for months after from the number of injections. This is making it very difficult to decide in what way to aim to birth this time, especially as I would not want another anaesthetic procedure.

This is all disappointing, but not surprising from the overall level of care I experienced in Ninewells. I’m very glad to not have to birth there again, and I feel sure that any other hospital will be a better experience.