"Our Son's Journey"

We arrived at BGH in the early morning . We were then prepped for theater for 9am and briefed by our lead surgeon and the anesthetist.

There were many NHS team members in theatre. Due to the moment, I didn’t keep track of all of their names but they all were amazing!!! Very friendly, helpful and professional.

My partner mentioned the spinal tap was done perfectly as she hardly felt pain, the effects took place almost instantly. Throughout the surgery, the anaesthetist was very friendly, attentive and most of all kept us informed as to what was going on and what to expect whilst administering medication though out the procedure. Looked after us like a hawk and was on top of any situation when it happened. Allowed my partner to be conscious and part of seeing our son’s birth which had not been possible for her during our daughter’s birth.

The staff member from SCBU was so friendly and it was lovely to have small talk while we waited for our son's arrival. I then knew he was in good hands as he needed some extra care (I was given the terminology but I confess I could not comprehend it), then explained that he needed to go to the SCBU unit and I was given the choice to either stay with with my partner or join them. She requested that I stayed with her.

There was a brief moment (which was later explained in detail) where there was a tense moment during the operation. I felt the tension in the room, however this is where the professionalism of the surgical team started to shine, at no moment did I panic as I knew that the situation was under control.

I have a very inquisitive mind and wanted to see the details of the operation which I’m sure is a little uncommon however I was allowed to observe the procedure from the surgery side of the “curtain” and so I was given clear instructions as to where I could stand and what I was not allowed to touch. My general rule was “don’t touch anything” and I was fine. I was given permission to take pictures and videos throughout the procedure, at one point I was looking at my son leaving the uterus and not through the phone which prompted a staff member to ask me if they could continue taking the video while I continued to focused on the moment which I will be forever grateful for.

We then returned to the Labor Ward

Sadly, shortly after being congratulated by a senior nurse, we were confronted about suspected Data Protection infringement.

They went on to explain the following:

• We were not given permission to take pictures/video in theater without consent of everyone involved. This is strange as this was strongly encouraged by the team in as well as a letter sent by the NHS beforehand. Members of staff even assisted in taking the videos.

• Insisted that I remove all videos/images in full view. Knowing the law myself, in order to settle the situation, I unwillingly showed all our photos and videos to prove that they consisted of my wife’s body and NHS hands which should infringe no laws as no faces were shown.

• Mentioned that it was members of the surgical team who made the complaints. This is not the case as we personally spoke to the surgeon who had no issue with it.

• Claimed that they have never heard of anyone taking videos/images in theater. This is strange to us as during a previous birth at this hospital, and this time, it was under general anesthetic, I was not allowed to be in theater, the team was all to happy to take a video of the procedure on our behalf, a positive gesture we applaud.

• Then mentioned that there is an administrative process that we needed to follow beforehand. If this is the case, to avoid unnecessary confrontations, I suggest informing all future parents of this procedure. Regardless, this was an emergency C-Section, not sure how we would have completed the administrative process even if we knew the process.

We felt belittled in front of two other team members (this was not even done in a private environment). This is such a pity as this ruined our moment especially after the trauma my partner had just gone through and she still hadn’t met the little one she had just delivered.

Back to Positives:

The doctor did two debriefings, I personally would love to invite for tea one day, post Covid-19, as they are such a lovely individual to be with and we couldn’t have been luckier to have this doctor bring our child into this world.

All team members were AMAZING throughout our stay!

To sum up, I honestly thought we would never have a better experience at BGH then our first child’s birth, I now stand corrected, not only were we blown away by the professionalism of each individual, we were BOTH treated like guests in a five star hotel.