"The Birth of our little girl"

One evening I received a message from my wife saying that she thought there was something wrong. My wife was 35+1 pregnant and she was fearful her waters had broke. Obviously I dropped what I was doing and headed straight home and on the way I phoned Perth Royal Infirmary to see if a midwife would see her, they re-directed me to maternity triage at Ninewells in Dundee. (Generally they rather talk to the mum but once I explained her symptoms and that she was upset they understood and did not make this an issue). They accepted my wife and asked us to attend.

I picked up my wife and we drove up to Dundee. When we arrived the midwife took us into a room straight away and listened to what we had to say. She set my wife up with equipment so they could monitor her and the baby. It turned out that my wife's waters had broken and the doctor would be coming in to see her. The midwife was clear and straight which I think helped all involved as this was quickly becoming quite stressful. The midwife said that she would be getting admitted and started on antibiotics. The doctor then came and after examining my wife explained that if she hadn't delivered in the next few days they would be looking to induce. The doctor (Barbara I think) had a lovely manner about her and made us both feel at ease.

My wife was taken up to ward 38 North and shown to her bed. She was given a couple of sandwiches and started on antibiotics. They also found her some shower gel, a toothbrush and toothpaste so she could have a shower. I was not allowed to stay so I left around 11pm. My wife did have some pain but they felt this was normal after waters had broken.

At 3am I got a message to come back to Dundee as my wife thought she was having contractions. The doctor (Barbara) had come up after my wife was complaining of pain and she confirmed she was ready to deliver.

My wife was taken to the labour suite and we were looked after by midwife Billie and student midwives Robyn and Megan. They were so good and our little girl delivered just under 3 hours later. I cannot thank them enough for the support and care they provided my wife and I. As our little girl was 5 weeks prem, her and my wife were taken up to ward 38 South where they spent the next 9 nights.

Our little girl was jaundiced and had to have 2 separate treatments of phototherapy. They focussed on keeping our little girl with us and did their utmost not to take her away to the unit. The staff at ward 38 South are a credit to the NHS and I mean that from the bottom to the top. Debbie and Lesley the healthcare assistants checked in on my wife every day and took such good care of her. Taylor, the Healthcare Assistant was a godsend! We are so grateful for the assistance on feeding our little one. She is so good at that and provides this care in a really personal manner. Thank you to midwives Pamela, Ann, Lisa and Alison who all looked after us. The care you all provided was truly patient-centred and you never looked like you were there for anything other than us. (Alison has the most wonderful way of communicating and helping. She made us feel confident in what we were doing and helped us feel better when we were worried). Our little ones paediatrician, Dr Nicoll was lovely. She treated both my wife and my daughter as individuals and involved us in all the decisions. She spoke clearly and made sure we understood all of what was going on. She didn't purely rely on machines and levels and actually looked at the patient. It was really refreshing to see. We are indebted to all of you and I am sorry for those whose names I cannot remember.

Finally, a big thank you to all at Perth Royal Infirmary who have looked after us before and after the birthday. In particular Cheryl, our midwife, who has been great to deal with in the build up and came to visit us after. You have made this whole experience very enjoyable.

Nothing could be improved really, Everything worked like a well oiled machine and we felt like people not numbers. Thanks to everyone!!!