"Postnatal care in ward"

After the birth of my daughter I was moved to the postnatal ward.

My daughter spent approx 12 hours in NICU due to breathing problem at birth and received good care. The care I received on the postnatal ward was I felt inadequate.

Post c- section (which was my second) I received minimal help to get out of bed and eventually once I pushed to get assistance so I could visit my daughter in NICU ward I managed into a wheelchair. I had a catheter and the nursing staff advised as I was now able to get out of bed I could wait to empty it down the toilet myself- I found this inappropriate as it was quite heavy with urine already and I was not at the state of being able to walk to toilet, hold a catheter bag and empty it into a cardboard tray, this essentially felt like I was doing the staff's job for them to be frank.

When my daughter got discharged from NICU to be with me in the postnatal ward I got very little support for breastfeeding. The staff regularly just said I was doing everything right but then my daughter wouldn’t latch and was unable to feed. They suggested formula feeding regularly instead. It became so poor the support that in the end my daughter was screaming for food and the nurse that came into the room who I buzzed for help said she would return once medication round was finished only for 4 hours to pass and no one helped to the point I had given up in my expectations of any meaningful support for breastfeeding and gave formula as my baby was screaming and I noticed had begun to develop mild jaundice which again went unnoticed by staff until I pointed it out and they decided to do a check to ensure no light therapy was needed.

Throughout my stay I felt there were numerous interuptions- usually when I had just settled my baby who then would get become unsettled or when she was screaming and the staff would persist in the information they were giving - eg physio/ hearing checks/ anaesthetist: paediatrician. - this felt like it was relentless throughout the day then in the evening the numerous observations by nursing staff would takeover. At no point was I offered anything like a cup of tea or a drink if water and had to ask for a water jug to be filled for it to be forgotten about to point I just started doing it myself once I was mobile.

Also during the admission the domestic staff did not clean my room in terms of mopping the floors/wiping the table/ cleaning the toilet. The only thing they did was change a bin bag once. I felt throughout my stay in the postnatal ward that it was a self service attitude and basically apart from medications you are expected to do everything for yourself which is surprising whilst you recover from major pelvic/abdominal surgery and begs the question of what exactly the staff are doing and why are the patients being kept in.

In fact regarding discharge I had to ask a out this and got told I could go home that day and indeed was discharged shortly after but there was no mention of this plan the day before to help prepare me, which if this was the first time I had been an inpatient for this reason would not have helped with any forward planning I may have needed to get home eg transport etc. i think the level of care in the postnatal ward in the Princess Royal Hospital Glasgow leaves alot to be improved upon not just clinically, infection control wise but also attitudes from staff.