"Maternity services - Moray."

I gave birth to my son in November 2020 at the Dr Grays hospital in Elgin and had a fantastic experience throughout my pregnancy. All the members of maternity staff that cared for me where absolutely amazing.

My community midwife, Karen was fabulous right from the outset.  She was professional, friendly and dealt with all my queries or concerns compassionately and timeously. I particularly enjoyed having a named midwife who knew me. I could call or message with any problems I had without having to explain who I was to a different midwife each time.  One of my major anxieties was what the risks were giving birth in a midwife lead unit and what protocols were in places should I have a difficult birth. Karen invited me to come into the ward and allowed me to familiarise myself with the ward and some of the staff prior to my due date. She took her time to explain all the risk factors that I might encounter and what was in place to mitigate them. She also took the time to explain how the pandemic might affect my experience.  I left that day feeling confident and reassured that I was in very safe hands regardless of the downgrading of the unit and global pandemic! 

I had my son on my due date.  My midwives were Kerry and Rebecca. Both of whom were absolutely fantastic! They were professional, friendly and I immediately felt at ease. I could not have asked for a better birth experience and all the credit goes to Kerry and Rebecca. 

I was cared for on Ward 3 for 3 days/2 nights and at no point did I feel rushed to leave. I opted to stay the second night to ensure I had more confidence in breast feeding before going home and the staff encouraged me to stay. They were exceptionally supportive.  Particularly I would like to thank Suzanne, who looked after me on day 1 and 2. She was amazing and gave me so much support in the early stages of breastfeeding. I was exhausted and struggled with getting the latch correct. Suzanne recognised that I was needing some support and told me to buzz for her help every time that I  needed a hand to get him on correctly...which was a lot! At no time did she make me feel like I was pestering her and I was so very grateful of that.  

During the night I was supported by Charlotte who was also amazing! I was absolutely exhausted and sore.  I was still struggling with feeding my little boy and could not get him to settle anywhere other than on me.  He would fall asleep and as soon as I moved I would wake him.  Charlotte again told me to buzz everytime I needed any help at all. Whether that be with feeding or simply transferring him to his cot so he wouldn’t wake when I moved.  

I was discharged on day 3 by Debbie who made sure that we were ready to venture into the world! She took the time to relieve any anxieties I had before going home despite the ward obviously being very busy. 

I have named all the staff I can remember, but I can say with absolute certainty that the team at doctor grays deserve every ounce of praise.  They were all absolutely fabulous and without doubt gave me the most amazing birth experience.