"Pregnancy - Pre and post natal care"

Craigavon Hospital 

Being pregnant during Covid meant pre natal appointments were limited and sometimes over the phone. Apart from the 12 and 20 week scans, any in hospital visits felt very rushed and impersonal. This was disappointing as a first time mum and it made me nervous for the birth. Thankfully I couldn't have had a better experience.

From the moment I was brought in for induction until baby arrived, I felt cared for, supported, encouraged and empowered by the midwives that were on duty (thank you Naomi, Sinead, Sarah, Helena, Grace, Gemma and Orla). I must give a special mention to Kirsty, a student midwife, who stayed past her shift ending to deliver my baby. It meant so much to have a familiar face until the end. I am so thankful to have had such a positive birth experience. I wouldn't change one thing about it! My husband and I cannot thank you all enough for helping to create such a positive experience during a global pandemic and when things hadn't gone to plan AT ALL (not that there ever is a "plan" with a baby!!). 

Once home, it was great to have the community midwife checking in on us and baby. Diane was so kind and answered all of our questions. It was great to have the same midwife visit that I had seen during community appointments. That relationship is so important!! 

After a few weeks, there were difficulties with baby feeding. Baby was admitted to the Blossom Children's Ward and again we had a positive experience. It seemed very busy at the centre, which meant we weren't able to access support from the breastfeeding co-ordinator straight away. I understand that our baby was not a priority as there were much sicker children there, but I feel it added to the stress of everything, as nurses weren't able to offer any support with breastfeeding. They often wanted to give baby formula as a first option (even when I'd expressed) rather than a last resort, which was hard as I really really, really wanted to breastfeed exclusively. When we did see Susan she was so lovely. So patient and helpful. She even checked in after we'd been discharged, which meant a lot! 

One thing I want to highlight is the lack of consistency in advice between health care professionals. For instance, in the ward once baby was born, when trying to breastfeed baby, I had two midwives tell me contrasting things; one who said to let baby waken when they wanted fed and a few hours after this, another who seemed quite horrified that I hadn't wakened baby to feed them. There have been other things too; around slow weight gain of baby between community midwife (saying a slow weight gain is okay) and health visitor (worried about slow weight gain eventually leading to hospital admittance); in hospital being told by the doctor that she wasn't worried about the weight gain after we'd been in for 3 days and having some tell me breastfeeding was going really well and then ending up in hospital being told baby wasn't latching properly.

While it may be due to different training/personalities, it's very confusing (and annoying) for a first time mum. 

As a mental health professional I can't help but think about the effect of things on people. I feel that you are very vulnerable, mentally, as a first time mum. There is a huge focus on baby's weight gain and the regular weigh ins add a layer of constant pressure. I understand health visitors have to do their job and this is the way to know what baby is getting, but as I was trying to breastfeed and being told everything seemed to be going well, the constant weigh ins and reviews was impacting my mental health significantly. It would be good to have some support open to mums around breastfeeding, even just to talk about their experiences. I can imagine there is a strong link between feeding and PND. There was a virtual breastfeeding  zoom offered, which I attended. While it was helpful, there was NO mention of some of the difficulties that might be encountered. It would be helpful to normalise these, so women didn't feel like a failure when they are unable to breastfeed.