"My birth experience"

After reading some of the reviews regarding other women’s birth experiences at Newham Univesity Hospital, I was pretty nervous. However, my overall experience was actually really positive. 

I’m not going to lie, not being able to have your partner stay overnight to help fully support is pretty tough - especially as nights with a newborn are long and you sometimes need that reassurance when you’re not sure what you’re doing! At the moment though, visiting times to the post-natal ward are 9-5pm. I really do hope this changes soon and birth partners are allowed to stay during the night. That said, all the midwives I had supporting me were lovely. And after having a planned c section, where I wasn’t able to get out of my bed, they were always quick to respond to my call button. Special thanks to my midwife Kemi, and the rest of the team, including the lovely student midwives I met. My planned c section was also a lot calmer than I was expecting and the entire team in theatre were fantastic and really made me feel at ease. 

This was my second time giving birth. My first experience was elsewhere  and I can honestly say my overall experience at Newham was better. My antenatal care was predominantly with a named midwife at the Barking Birth Centre which was fantastic and I had a great midwife (Beth). 

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and this is where the care maybe lacked a little, particularly with regards to one consultant who left me in tears. However that is the only negative I can say about my entire experience at Newham Hospital. 

So for anyone else about to give birth at Newham, please don’t worry yourself too much with all the negative birth stories from Newham. Everyone’s experience is different and I hope yours will be just as positive as mine.