"Borders General Hospital maternity care"

I would like to start this by saying I am usually a very quiet person who does not cause any fuss however after hearing I am not the only woman who has had a bad experience at the BGH I feel I need to say something. 

The care I received from the BGH maternity department was both good and bad. During my induction, labour and birth I was treated with kindness as compassion by the midwifes. Everything was explained clearly so I was able to make informed decisions. They made me feel very safe and that I was being cared for to the high standard that everyone tells you about the BGH having. During labour me and my husband both felt comfortable with the midwifes they did not feel like strangers even though we’d only met them that night they chatted away all the time which helped ease the stress of the induction process. My baby was delivered by a student midwife who was so knowledgable you would have thought she’d done the job for years. After my baby was born I was given time to bond with them and rest before being assisted to shower and dress. During this very vulnerable time I was treated with dignity and respected. 

Once I was moved into ward 17 the level of care dropped dramatically. I don’t want to tar all the staff with the same brush as there were midwifes who were kind however there wasn’t any continuity, it was extremely quiet so the same midwife could have seen me every time I asked for help which wasn’t very often.  My plan was to breastfeed so I asked for assistance on how to position my baby and how to latch correctly every time I buzzed someone different came and told me different things which made me feel frustrated. Midwifes man handling baby’s onto their mothers breast needs to stop my Grandmother was shocked to hear this still happens in hospitals the same as it did 60 years ago. I stopped asking for help because I was not learning how to breast feed by watching someone grab my child’s head and shove them onto me. I was warned about this happening by a community midwife and thought I would be strong enough to say something if it happened but still in shock from giving birth I just let it happen like I’m sure many women also have before me if women start speaking up hopefully midwifes will change this practice.

Also whilst trying to breast feed a domestic opened my curtains without warning  to offer me a cup of tea exposing me to the ward and the passing midwife which she had no right to do.  At this point I felt I had lost the dignity I was shown in the labour suit. 

Before I’d even finished my breakfast I has a staff member sitting at the end of my bed tapping away on a laptop bombarding me with questions. I was sitting on the bed clutching onto my baby as shock had well and truly set in at this point I was clearly in no fit state to be pestered by questions which I think they would have known if they had looked up from the laptop long enough to actually see me.

I felt treated like a tick box exercise not a human if I did not know the answer to a question I was made to feel like an idiot. Staff need to remember that we have not had any classes before giving birth and especially with first time mums more time and care needs to be taken to make sure we are ok. During this bombardment my baby was sick which made me panic a bit instead of calmly explaining newborns bring up mucus for a few days after birth (which my community midwife later explained) my worry was brushed off.

This lead to a traumatic event at home which left me unable to put my baby down or sleep for days as I was so worried about them choking this was a huge factor in the terrible anxiety I suffered for weeks after giving birth, this just goes to show how something which seams small to one person can be huge to someone else.

After this happened I got my husband to come back to the hospital because I felt he would be able to care for me as I was totally overwhelmed with being in hospital and I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

On reflection I should have stayed in hospital for a few days as I was not well at all once I was home but why would I stay somewhere I did not feel safe or cared for? Thank goodness for my community midwife who listened to me and genuinely cared for my welfare. She made me realise the care I was given in hospital was not acceptable and was within my rights to feel so mistreated. 

This was not the review I wanted to be putting on here but if no one speaks about their bad experiences there won’t be any change in the way things are done. I truly hope no other woman has the start to motherhood I’d did because of the treatment by a few staff in this department.