"Emergency C section followed by mixed follow up care on postnatal ward"

I found out my daughter was breech and then went into labour early the following day. I was kept overnight for observations, and when the doctors realised I was in labour, they rushed me to the labour ward where I was pressured to have an emergency C-section even though the previous doctor had reassured me that it would be safe to attempt a vaginal breech birth. My husband and I felt very rushed into a decision. Additionally, once we decided to have a C-section and mentioned some birth preferences (that we would like to have skin to skin as soon as possible, delayed cord clamping as much as possible, and quiet in the operating room), we were completely brushed off. None of these details were really adhered to, and we both felt quite disappointed by this. I do really want to commend our anaesthesiologist, who kept me so calm and was very kind throughout the procedure.

Thankfully, our daughter was born healthily! However, the stay at the postnatal ward was really where I would like to provide feedback — it was very painful for me to move around at first, and it was very hard to not have my husband there to help. It seemed they were quite understaffed when I was there as every single bed was full. Some of the nurses and midwives were absolutely amazing, I really appreciated the help of one on the first night. They came and saw that no one had helped me walk around after 12 hours or changed my dressing, and they really took care of me and my daughter. Another was also amazing — they had so much on their plate but also was very attentive and kind.

However, there was one midwife who yelled at me for calling for help, saying that I should be getting up and walking around myself to get my baby’s formula. They then told me off for holding my baby while they were sleeping, saying that I was spoiling her, and then tried to tell me that I was wrong about the feeding times that I had luckily recorded. They really made the experience very uncomfortable for me, as I then felt too bad to ask for anything on further days and so found myself shuffling around the hallways in a lot of pain for the remainder of the two nights that I was there. The care was very mixed, and it really affected my experience.