"The great care received during and after labour"

In April I gave birth to my little girl and I wanted to take the time to thank ALL the staff who looked after me during this time.

My experience first starts when I was brought in via ambulance as I was unable to get to the hospital via car as my labour has progressed so quickly and I was unable to walk down the stairs. The paramedics who took my into the hospital could not have been nicer and more professional. At this time I had been trying to deliver my baby at home (unintentionally) for a couple of hours I was very tired and in a state of undress when they arrived into my house. Their presence was very calming and professional they made me everything was ok and best of all they came with gas and air. Most importantly they made sure I had some sort of dignity in a moment I felt I had already lost it all.

Once I arrived in the hospital I was greeted by the midwife who had I been talking to when calling triage. She was so happy and gave us a great welcome as if she was our friend is the only way I can describe it. She instantly made me feel at ease and assured me I was in the right place. This was great as bringing a child into the world should be such a great feeling at this did help.

My midwife for the evening was Natalie. I was very tired and confused by the time I got into the hospital and hope I have not got this name wrong. I would like to say a special thank you to her. She was so professional and relaxed throughout the labour which was great in keeping me calm. When she identified she required assistance to deliver my baby no big deal was made of this although she did let me know baby was getting tired and was great at explaining what was going on and when they had to intervene she clearly described what they would be doing in order to deliver the baby. When my baby was delivered she had to be taken from the room in order to get help breathing. I am sure she was not out of the room for long but to me in that moment it felt like a lifetime! In this moment her calmness really helped and was needed.

After birth I required stitches. I will once again come back to dignity for this time. At this time I should have felt completely exposed and vulnerable. However, Ashley who did my stitches had such an incredible bedside manner that this was not the case. I felt I had dignity in a time I was so exposed. Her conversation was so natural and she was able to make the right level of jokes with myself and my family. This was really appreciated and it made was she was doing so much more natural and took my mind of what was being done.

A couple of hours after I gave birth I unfortunately had a haemorrhage. I had pressed the buzzer twice whilst in the bathroom as I had become faint. After the second time when I was on the bed I felt myself losing a lot of blood. I pressed the buzzer and a full team of staff very quickly filled the room. The doctor did a great job at explaining what was going on so that I understood what was happening. In order to resolve the haemorrhage the doctor had to contract the uterus to ensure the clot would be cleared. This pain was truly worse than labour. The doctor was so patient with me during this process. I had to request a pause twice whilst he did this process. He was great at identifying I needed this but explaining to me that he would have to do it again and apologising for the pain he was causing.

Once everything was under control one of the midwifes took the time to sit with me and explain exactly what was done and why.

It has taken me a while to write this thank you as I have been adjusting to life with a little one. The are instances in this I have missed but I truly would like to thank all the staff I came into contact. They made this experience the great experience it was by helping me through some of the worst times I have ever had. Please can you pass on all my thanks to those who helped give me such excellent care.