"Excellent maternity care at Wishaw General"

I wanted to publicly thank the wonderful staff of NHS Lanarkshire, and specifically Wishaw General Hospital, for the excellent care I received through my pregnancy and birth. 

During my pregnancy I received advice and support from Consultant Midwife Maureen and Head of Midwifery Cheryl. I appreciated their mother-centred approach and their supportive attitude. 

I was cared for by the home birth team throughout the first half of my labour. My midwives, Sarah and Shannon, were absolutely wonderful, helping to keep me calm and informed when it became clear that I would need to make a decision regarding transfer to hospital. 

At Wishaw General the staff of the labour and delivery ward were all caring and lovely. I'd especially like to thank Sam who was a community midwife in for the day to do skills training. She went out of her way to try and recreate a home birth environment for me within the hospital and was so supportive of my birth choices. 

My birth ended in a C-section and, although it wasn't what I had wanted, our surgeon Dr Sunter was great about honouring as many of my birth preferences as possible. The whole surgical team were friendly and reassuring, easing an otherwise tense situation and allowing me to focus on meeting my daughter for the first time. 

Most of all, I'd like to acknowledge the superlative care provided to me postpartum by the staff of ward 22. Not having had the birth that I'd hoped for I was in a particularly difficult headspace during my time on the ward, as well as physically recovering from surgery. The midwives were so caring, compassionate and patient, the epitome of superb maternity care. In particular I'd like to thank Karen and Claire as well as Kirstie, Jodie, Louise and all the other Midwives and staff who were so kind to me. 

If I have any further children then I will definitely be choosing Wishaw as my hospital. Well done to all the maternity staff for showing us how it should be done!