"Thank you for midwives"

It has taken me 6months to get time to write this but I felt today was apt with it being midwifery day & it is 6months exactly since these wonderful midwives supported me.

Back in November I presented at AMU outpatients for assessment in the early morning after my waters broke the night before. I met a lovely friendly midwife Rhiannon, she was newly qualified & I would never have known unless it came up in conversation. She told me the doctor wanted me induced, this I may say was without seeing this doctor or any signs baby was is distress. Reluctantly we headed off to the inpatient ward for the process to start. Here we met yet another great midwife Hazel, she sensed my apprehension about induction without me saying a word and decided to put me on a CTG to check on baby, look again at my contractions & then chat about induction.

From these results she felt induction wouldn’t be needed & informed the doctor of this (who again I had yet to meet, it is now 12:30ish) and they were happy to hold off and watch & see. Hazel checked on us throughout the afternoon, her care for the women also in my room was clear. Come early evening things were much the same & no signs of baby was in a rush to come see us. Hazel informed me the doctor was in touch for an update & wanted to come chat to me about induction. Hazel was due to go off shift but chatted to me about this & reassured me that I had choices & it would soon prove this chat was so valuable to me to give me confidence at this vulnerable time to not be forced into something. I cannot thank Hazel enough for being my advocate & reassure me I had a voice, it was lovely to see her the next day in the midwifery suite. She popped in to see how we had got on when down in the suite, truly showing her genuine interest in the women she cares for. 

Anyway the doctor I finally got to meet at after 8pm, who gave me two choices,

1. They told me the labour ward was currently quiet so I could be induced now or,

2. I could wait until morning for induction but they wouldn’t be able to guarantee when the labour ward would be able to take me as it maybe busier by then!!

I kid you not that was the options they gave me, my husband was there & heard it all too. Now by this point it had been hours since I had been on a CTG & they gave me no clinical reason to move to induction. I in fact asked them if there was any risk to my baby at this point as they hadn’t mentioned any reason why we needed induced. At this point they said they did ask for another CTG & checked how dilated I was. I opted for an induction in the morning, it was clear they weren't happy about it by their tone & manner. Again thank goodness for Hazel my midwife talking to me beforehand as I feel otherwise I may have felt coerced into this induction by the doctor. 

My care was now under yet another wonderful midwife call Danika, my labour started to progress quickly and I was soon moved to the midwifery suite by her, though she cared for me briefly, her words of comfort & making attempts to get me moved ASAP will be always remembered.

We then met Deborah, who was on shift alone in the midwifery suite with a bank nurse to assist her. She helped guide us through options, such as pain relief, birth pool, aromatherapy scents etc. I was left in the care of a midwife called Dawn when Deborah needed breaks & again though we met Dawn briefly, she took left a lasting positive impression on us. 

So after my waters finally break (turns out not all of them had gone) my little girl arrived very swiftly after this. 

Though a long story I wanted to convey that each midwife I met that day & my final midwife Kirsten who discharged us all left a lasting impression for myself & my husband. They listened to us, got to know us & our baby was at the forefront of their care even in the short time we met some of them. I am thankful for all of them & that because of them I didn’t feel bullied into an induction when clearly this was not required. 

Thank you and your management team should be proud of you.