"Birth at Forth Valley"

I originally moved to Forth Valley from a different trust and received excellent antenatal care. I absolutely cannot fault this. The doctor I saw in particular was wonderful, straight to the point and cautious as  I was a high risk pregnancy. I was seen often, all growth scans and doppler checks looked good but due to being high risk I was encouraged to go for an induction at 39 weeks.

For the induction I stated that I had trama from previous hospital stays in shared rooms and also sleep apnoea so requested to be in a room alone. This was denied despite there being many rooms free. However the staff on the ward were great and caring and efficient.

The next day my waters broke and I started having contractions every two minutes. Neither codeine nor paracetamol helped the pain and I was screaming my head off in a shared room for over an hour without being moved to the labour ward because I was only 2 cm dilated. I was moved due to mine and my sons heart rate dropping with the doctor telling me I would be seen 30 minutes later to decide on next steps.

The midiwfe who moved me to the labour suite made me walk and I had contractions in a skimpy night dress in the hallway having to stop and scream, I asked for an epidural because the pain was horrific and was refused. The midwife for my labour had no compassion, or even tolerance by the feel of it. The gas and air did not work and I asked for an epidural again as by this point contractions were every minute, and I asked where the doctor was, I was told in handover.

My birth plan which was never read, very clearly stated I did not want opiates whilst in labour, the midiwfe seemed to be getting annoyed at me that I did not want it, despite me crying and saying I was scared of taking it due to mine and my son's heart rate dropping. I was waiting for 90 minutes before the heart monitor was checked again after being told 30 and I was told our heart rates were still dropping.

The doctor was lovely, they were clearly upset by the level of pain I was in and asked how long it had been that bad. They then explained that my labour was not progressing and the induction was failing and due to the distress me and my baby were in they could not administer oxytocin so I just asked for a c section because I could not cope with the pain any more. I then told the midiwfe I needed the bathroom and was told I couldn't move due to the monitors. I lost control of my bladder on the bed, which seemed to annoy them. Then they were annoyed that I wanted a shower before going to surgery, so my mum and husband had to hold me in the shower and wash me as I had contractions and struggled to stand up.

The c-section was great, even though it was not something I would have wanted outwith duress considering my husband and I are on a limited time frame for having a second child, which we may not be able to now due to recommendations for waiting after a section.. All I wanted was effective pain relief because a failed induction feels like your insides are being ripped apart. I broke two bones in my lower leg last year, the tibia broke through the skin and that was far less painful. And I was in that pain for 4.5 hours. Despite me begging for an epidural for 3 of them.

The surgery team were fantastic, the main anaesthetist in particular was brilliant. They kept me calm, they were funny, professional, and caring. The surgery went extremely well, my son and I were safe. After I was in the labour ward for all of 30 minutes before being moved to postnatal at midnight. There was no asking how I was, nobody saw to me until around am the next day. They had missed my blood thinning injection, not offered pain relief, and my 2 litre catheter bag was about to burst. The rest of the day was fine, but the next day one midiwfe kept fully opening everybody's curtains so all half naked women and awkward partners could see each other. I could not get out fast enough. 

I had wrote in to thank the anaesthetist and had said their care was the only positive experience I had and the community midwives did call me to follow up and offer me to attend a clinic for traumatic births, so that was good. 

So all in all pre-natal care fantastic, labour throw your dignity out the window, c section best part, aftercare non existent during nightshift, ok during day depending who you get.