"Some great care but some leaving a lot to be..."

I have birth to my little girl at Treliske I received some fantastic care by some members of staff but consent, communication and facilities were lacking in places. I am greatful that my little girl is healthy but a lack of an afterthoughts service means that here seems the only place to pass on what happened.

Day assessment staff fantastic- reassuring when having episodes of reduced movement very professional on 3 occasions

When over a week overdue I asked a community midwife to be induced I was told that I wouldn’t be induced until 12 days overdue even though nice guidelines allow for inductions for postdates after 7 days. I expressed concern about the risk of still birth and additional complications with being left to go overdue due to the size of my baby. The midwife just said a few days won’t matter and was generally uncaring. I believe several of my issues in birth were due to being so overdue with a large baby.

Assessment in birth centre was great with a friendly midwife that was on the phone and supported me in early labour.

Both midwifes in birthing centre were very polite and supportive.

I was transferred due to a low temperature. The midwife hadn’t inserted the thermometer correctly in to my ear so got a low reading. Perhaps transfers off the birthing centre should involve 2 midwifes that see the patient. The midwife who was seeing me said she phoned someone for advice and they said I should be transferred. I was coping well in labour using the birthing pool and may have been able to avoid the need for transfer if a midwife walked over and saw me rather than assessing over the phone.

When first transferred on to labour ward they wanted to monitor me using a ctg I asked about wireless monitoring but this was not made available- this reduced my mobility and increased my pain.

Student midwife in labour- the student midwife present was very nice during labour but her mentor kept on having conversations with her unrelated to my labour. They discussed her course, what else she had to do before the end of the year and so on. This was distracting during labour and I don’t believe should have been happening in front of a patient.

Forceps- i had repeatedly expressed my preference for a c-section rather than rotational forceps to the midwifery staff. When the doctors became involved this had not been passed on. I felt pressured in to having forceps as I was not able to give a coherent argument and so felt pressured as the consultant kept on saying they were best for the baby.

Consent- doctor that gained consent and pushed me to have a forceps delivery then allowed a more junior doctor to carry out the procedure. This felt more risky than needed. It should be that the person who gets consent carries out the procedure.

Facilities in the labour ward are unsuitable. I had to squeeze past medical equipment and up against a wall to use the bathroom. The room resembled a building site.

Postnatal care was generally good but busy