"Labour and birth"

After reading many many negative reviews about newham, I was nervous to say the least. However from my first appointment I was always seen swiftly and on time and had no complaints - which gave me confidence to birth there.

When it was time to have baby, I went into hospital at about 10pm, waters had broken and contractions were 3/10 minutes. Upon arrival I was told to wait in reception. And then to do a urine sample - in a lot of pain and wanting privacy this is not ideal as other people waiting to be seen are sat watching you try and get through contractions. After lots of requests for privacy I was put into a room with 3 other women to be monitored and examined.

During my examination I was given a sweep (I did not ask for or consent to this, which looking back is pretty bad! Not to make excuses but I hear of midwives doing this all the time to women) anyway after shooting the place down I was finally given a room at midnight. I asked for an epidural, which they said they will not request until bloods are back (standard procedure, however I said I knew how long it can take to wait for the anaesthetist so can they request it anyway to speed it up. 3 and a half hours later I got an epidural... to then give birth 40 minutes later! 

Once baby was born we had lots of privacy, we got a private room for £70, it was brand new with a lovely shower and well worth the money. I was well looked after once baby arrived,  and the night nurse helping me with breastfeeding was amazing. She sat with me for an hour to help me. 

Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience, midwives are under a lot of pressure and seem to forget the care needed when working with pregnant and labouring women. So this could be looked at as it seems to be a common trait in reviews of the maternity unit - lack of care. 

Not bad, but not great. 

Il be having my next baby in the birth center and hoping for a slightly better experience 😊