"My birth experience"

I recently gave birth at St John’s hospital in Livingston and I just wanted to put in about how amazing and supportive my midwife, Melissa, was. She was the absolute best midwife that my partner and I could have ever had and I need her bosses etc to know how amazing she is because oftentimes positive experiences don’t get shared and my experience with Melissa was so beyond positive. 

I would say I had a pretty quick and intense birth and Melissa took over from my first midwife half way through my labour when things were really challenging for me and gave me a morphine injection straight away like I had been requesting and comforted me. I don’t like change but I honestly feel like Melissa handled the change over really well and straight away she made me feel comfortable and safe. I think a change in midwife made all the difference to my birth and helped to turn my experience around. 

I ended up losing quite a bit of blood and my baby had to be taken away straight after birth because the morphine injection had caused her to need some oxygen since she was born quite quickly after taking the morphine. Melissa and all of the other nurses/doctors etc were amazing at keeping my partner, my baby and I safe and comfortable while this was all happening.

After everything had ended, Melissa gave us so much attention and care and she really went above and beyond to look after all three of us while helping others in the ward whenever calls were put out. She felt like a friend plus midwife wrapped into one, she was so professional but also so caring and friendly that I almost forgot that I was sitting in the room with a medical professional and felt like I was relaxing with my friend at the end of the night. We ended up staying in the labour ward for nearly 24 hours and throughout her entire shift she made sure we were well looked after and informed about everything that needed to happen/be done such as putting in a catheter etc. 

I really struggled to understand how to hold my baby/breastfeed at the beginning and Melissa took the time to show me how to express, showed me different ways to feed my baby that worked with my breast shape/size and helped me to collect colostrum in syringes to feed my baby when I was struggling to continue latching. She also taught my partner how to change our baby’s nappy etc and looked after him just as much as me and made him feel special and involved too. My partner and I are first time parents and we felt 100% comfortable and powerful when we were in Melissa’s care. Because of the information and support she provided for us we have come home confident and ready to look after our baby. I really believe some people are just made for certain professions and I think Melissa was born to be a midwife and a spectacular one at that.

I get slightly emotional thinking about my birth but funnily enough, despite the fact that it was scary at times with the fact that I’d lost a lot of blood and my baby had been taken away at the start, the emotions actually come from how special my post birth experience was. My partner and I haven’t stopped telling everyone about Melissa and how amazing she was and I will think about her fondly for the rest of my life for how much kindness, compassion and love she showed all three of us. I honestly can’t write enough positive things about her and I hope she has a long and prosperous career in midwifery (also if so, I hope I’m lucky enough to either get her or get someone of her standard for every one of my births!). 

Also, almost every midwife we came across in St John’s was amazing. Sandra, Jacqueline and the midwife who induced me were all so lovely and helpful.

Finally, I’d like to say that my community midwife, Elaine (Simpson medical group), is another example of a fantastic midwife. She has been so informative my entire pregnancy and helped my partner and I to make informed decisions throughout my pregnancy. Whenever I had any issues she would go out of her way to do any research so that I could know all the information needed and she has always treated us with so much kindness and respect.