"My care from labour to the after care on the ward"

As an individual who is neurodivergent and suffers with mental health, I have a lot of sensory issues and need a lot of support from my husband. My labour and delivery nurse took the time to get to know me and my history and how best she could support me. She knew me, understanding everything that was happening, helped reduce my anxiety and better manage my sensory issues as I knew what was going to happen and mentally prepare myself. She knew how important it was for everyone to explain what was happening, so she ensured she had the anaesthetist come and chat to me about the possible scenarios of if I had to have a c section, alternative pain relief etc before I was in active labour and knew I would struggle to process the sensory overload if I had to make a decision in the moment. She ensured and worked as my advocate during delivery to ensure my needs were met and while not an easy delivery she helped keep the room calm and controlled and ensured everyone explained everything before it happened to me. She turned what could have been a very traumatic experience for me into a positive birthing journey and I couldn’t thank midwife Cathy more for that. 

The only thing I would consider for improvement and this is in general; was after birth I had a grade 2 tear and was in considerable pain to the point I couldn’t hold my newborn get that skin to skin golden time and felt physically sick. I had no pain relief or anti-sickness till I was sutured as my PCA and gas and air had been discontinued post delivery. And the pain of that nearly stuck out for me more than certain points of the labour itself. This was no one’s fault and I want to reiterate the excellent and high standard of care I got from both my L and D midwives, which I honestly cannot fault both midwives are a testament to their profession.

I had just delivered baby before handover and being a nurse myself I know how busy it can be during the change from night to day staff. But being in that pain for those few hours till I was repaired stuck with me more than the labour and I think adequate analgesia and anti-emetics would have helped while I was waiting to be able to have that initial bonding time with my baby. And I got quite upset after being repaired that I couldn’t hold my baby just after birth because of the pain and I want to thank midwife Joni for reassuring me and telling me that it was ok and we would start again and she did, she made the time and effort to help me bond with baby those hours after birth. She helped get me changed and then establish skin to skin after being repaired and I also can’t thank her more enough also. 

On the ward I wished to breastfeed my baby but something I was struggling badly with. HCA Bernie came into my side ward while in the middle of another task and saw how deflated I was getting with trying and baby not latching. She took about an hour out of her very busy day to talk me through different techniques and how to improve to help me get baby to latch and breast feed. While I wasn’t successful with this while I was an inpatient and started to express milk for my baby and bottle instead, 3 days after being an impatient we have since established breastfeeding thanks to Bernie’s guidance and advice as we have since discovered baby’s jaundice was making him too sleepy to suckle. If it wasn’t for Bernie’s help and taking time out of her day and her kindness I wouldn’t have established breastfeeding at all. Thank you.