"Induction and delivery of my baby"

At 37 weeks I was admitted to PRM for an induction due to suspected preeclampsia, after weeks of gestational hypertension that was no longer being controlled by medicine. Having been diverted from the RAH that morning due to no available beds I arrived and was greeted by a midwife who asked why I had ended up there and why I was choosing an induction. After asking for my notes to be read, the induction process started at around 6pm.

By 10pm around the time my husband was asked to leave. I notified the midwife that I thought I could feel contractions. They warned me that this would be the case as that what induction does, it tricks the body into labour. As this was my first baby I accepted what they said and tried to get comfortable for the night.

The second pessary was administered at around 11pm. Almost as soon as the midwife left the contractions became much stronger and the pain increased. At around 3am my waters broke. I walked out to the nurses station as no one responded to my buzzer where I was ushered back to the bay as it was getting everywhere. At this point the midwife informed me that they would be doing no further examinations to reduce infection. They said I could have a bath and/or some paracetamol. I was taken to the bath and was there for over an hour unable to ask for help or get out as the contractions (as I know they were now) were so strong. I managed to get myself back to my bay and again asked for the pain relief which still never got prescribed.

When back in my bay, I asked the midwife what happened next and they said nothing as with early labour it could be hours. They had spoken to the labour ward but there was no beds. By 6am I was repeatedly asking for pain relief as I still had had none and was contracting every minute. My husband arrived and as soon as he did, went straight to find a midwife and ask for help. At this point, I was unable to talk through contractions and could hear the day shift midwife doing the rounds in the bay after their handover.

My husband again asked for pain relief, which we were told would be coming. They opened the bay to then tell me the same thing. By this point my body was beginning to push and they recognised this. They immediately stepped into the bay and asked when I was last examined. I told them I had only been examined once at 10pm. At this point it felt like everything kicked into motion.

After examining me and calmly telling us that our little boy's head was visible, they called upon colleagues to get me to the labour ward. I could not sit in the wheelchair given how far on my labour was.

Upon arrival in the labour ward, the gas and air tube was faulty. At this point, I was told it was too late for pain relief as I needed to concentrate on pushing. Our baby arrived, safely and I was taken to theatre shortly after. The midwife who delivered him was exceptional. They explained post birth that quick labours are very common in woman with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. 

My induction has taken a long time to process, for a long time I felt completely powerless in my experience. I was kindly invited to a discussion  post labour with the consultant that I was under at the RAH.  They were amazing in ensuring that my postnatal care was exceptional.

It saddens me that I have read many almost identical stories from other women here and I wanted to share mine to hopefully further raise concerns to ensure that actions can be taken.