"Not great postnatal"

I first arrived at the hospital at 2 in the morning March 2017 having very painful contractions every 2-3 mins. I was told I was 1cm dilated and sent home. I knew the labour was progressing quickly and as soon as the taxi returned us to our door I had my husband ring the ward. There was so much resistance - we were told if I came back in but wasn't in active labour my husband would have to go home and wouldn't be at the birth. When we returned to the ward 20 mins after the first visit- I was 4cms dilated and admitted.

birthing pool was unavailable, which was disappointing, but was expected.

I gave birth at 9 am after a short but tumultuous labour (baby was wrongly thought to be in distress due to a 'blip' during monitoring - he was posterior and I had episiotomy and 2nd degree tear)

The midwife who helped my son into the world was fantastic; calm, warm, gentle, respectful of our wishes, everything you hope a midwife will be- and that makes the memory of the birth very special to us.

Postnatal ward was not so good. I struggled breast feeding my son straight away and asked if he might have a tongue tie - i was told it was 'too early to tell'.He actually had a 75% tie that had to be revised - twice privately (or wait through 6-8 weeks to get done on the NHS)

Despite the tie he was feeding well, he had lost about 6 oz of his birth weight which was well within normal limits - but this became part of the non existent 'feeding issue'

There were small amounts of urate crystals in his nappy - which we now know is completely normal for breastfeeding babies, one midwife told me all of their children had these and it was not a concern. The infant feeding team were amazing. They told me my baby was feeding fine- taking enough milk and to trust my instincts. The midwives however, were inconsistent and just wanted me to give my baby formula. With one midwife telling me I have a very hungry baby and he needs food (to which I broke down- hormonally). I gave my son a bottle of formula despite him being full on my milk and he proceeded to vomit the contents right back up. I instinctively knew he was getting enough from me but my instincts were denied. I was told to supplement with formula which I resisted, so had to supplement with expressed milk after feeds which caused my baby to vomit often, as he was obv full already. The same midwife told us our baby would be in 'a light box for some time' because he was jaundiced? He was mildly jaundiced- again normal when bf, and after many excruciating heel pricks, we were told he was well within normal limits.

Despite paediatrician being happy we were held hostage over the urate crystals in the nappies and 'allowed to leave' when the midwife was happy with his wet nappies

I slept about 2hours in the 4 days we were there due to constant noise levels/ cleaners barging into the room. I felt unstable due to lack of sleep. It completely ruined the birth experience.

midwives need consistent training on bf