"Poor communication and poor care"

I've experienced very poor communication throughout my pregnancy. It has now gotten to the point that I'm not sure I feel confident to continue my maternity care at King's.

There has been no consistency in the midwives I've seen throughout my pregnancy. I find this very concerning as this is known to correlate with bad birth outcomes for mother and baby. I feel this has likely lead to continued poor communication. For example, I have had appointment locations changed without notifying me, where I only found out the location had changed when the midwife called to ask where I was as I was 'late for my appointment'. I was then unable to find the new location and no staff were aware of where it was. I was sent from the Harris Birthright, back to the main hospital and then back to the Harris Birthright again. After half an hour of struggling to find the new location I was left crying on the road until my partner came to collect me.

The poor communication is undoubtedly punctuated by partners not being able to attend appointments. Communication is more important than ever when mothers are alone and anxious. At 30 weeks I had to attend the MAU for an emergency check due to reduced fetal movement and my partner was still not able to attend with me. When I arrived, no-one communicated what might need to happen or how long I might expect to wait. As I sat alone in the waiting room, I became more and more anxious. I was left waiting for an hour with no word on what or who I was waiting for. Eventually someone took my blood pressure and then just left the room without saying anything or telling me what it was. I was left alone for 15mins, again not knowing what or who I waiting for. Then the midwife arrived and hooked me up to a machine. Didn't explain what the machine was or what was being looked for and barely made eye contact with me. I was then left alone in the room for 15mins (still no idea what I was hooked up to but I knew I could hear the baby's heartbeat), I ended up texting a picture of the machine to my sister-in-law who was able to explain what was happening. When the midwife returned after 15mins they said I should be counting any fetal movement and that I would be attached for 40mins. I wish I had been told so that I might have had an opportunity to go to the toilet or tell my worried husband what was happening/how long it was likely to be happening for. After 45mins, the midwife took the trace and said they would be back soon with my notes so I could go. Once again, I was left alone for 25mins before the midwife returned with my notes and I could leave. 

The situation was so much more stressful than it needed to or should have been. In the end, I felt more anxious having been to the MAU than I did at home before I was told to come in for a check. Just being left alone, without a partner and without an explanation of what was happening should not be happening.

I wrote to discuss my experience, but never received a response which has done nothing to alleviate my concerns. My maternity care so far has made me feel unheard and uncared for. While partners are unable to attend appointments and particularly emergency checks, communication and empathy should prioritised. 

On my due date I found out my face-to-face check up was accidentally booked in for a few days time, rather than on my due date as I had been told when the appointment was booked in person. I haven't been checked in person for weeks and was desperate to get an update of my progression on my due date. I've now decided to transfer my care elsewhere. As it is, I'm frankly frightened at the prospect of giving birth at Kings.