"Having a baby during a pandemic"

I had my daughter by emergency cesarean section in September 2020. Before attending hospital when my waters burst I was anxious about giving birth during a pandemic. I need not have worried. From the moment I stepped foot in the hospital around midnight I was so well cared for. As my waters were meconium stained the DOU midwives made sure to monitor me and baby carefully and gained second opinions when needed. As the maternity ward was busy I had a bit of a wait in DOU before they could find me a room. This meant my husband had to sleep in the car for a couple of hours but his absence meant that care for others in attendance was more private. When I was moved to the labour ward my husband was invited in and shown to the room I had been taken to.

I had two midwives (Leigh for a short time and Danielle for a full day) during my time in labour ward and both provided me with outstanding care and attention. As my daughter was in meconium stained water I had to be hooked to a monitor the whole time. Despite this both midwives tried their best to help me progress with labour myself by using a peanut ball, moving into different positions and short walks to and from the toilet. 

Although my midwife (Danielle) was concerned about me and baby for numerous reasons she kept me calm and did not worry me. She was honest and factual about what was happening whist being reassuring. She called on the doctor when she knew that my baby and I needed additional help and was by my side throughout in labour ward and in the theatre.

Although my birth ended in an emergency c section I was not disappointed that my birth did not go how I had imagined (this was baby number 3 and 1st section) as I felt Danielle put her all into helping me birth my baby naturally.

The staff in the theatre made the birth of my baby a lovely experience despite it being an emergency situation. I will be forever grateful to Dr Devlin and the whole theatre team for welcoming my daughter to the world safely.

I was moved to the ward after birth and the staff on the ward were excellent. Although they were run off their feet as partners could not visit they bent over backwards to support us. We struggled with breastfeeding as my daughter was quite sleepy after birth and I was offered support in expressing and getting her to latch. I was also offered formula if I wished to give her it to get her drinking. When I declined I felt supported in my decision and the midwives and auxiliaries did what they could to help her latch. 6 months on and breastfeeding is continuing to go well because of their support.

Please pass on my huge thanks to the team.