"Excellent maternity & antenatal care"

The majority of my antenatal care was delivered by the Northern trust including Antrim hospital and Antrim health centre. I was shared care due to pre-eclampsia risk so had the opportunity to have additional appointments/scans. The timings and flow of appointments were really efficient and I appreciated the flexibility from the community midwives in offering me different slots to meet my own work demands.

At 35 weeks I transferred my care to the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital to be able to deliver closer to home in Belfast. The self referral process online was quick and easy to complete. I received a timely booking appointment a week later which included a scan that my husband could attend due to the baby being in breech position.

I attended the RJMH breech clinic at 38 weeks which was such a positive experience given that I was nervous and unsure about having an ECV procedure. The medical and midwifery staff including Rebekah and Jacqui were fantastic! They reassured me the whole time and were so positive, calm and lovely.

My planned section day arrived at 39 weeks and was completed with thankfully no complications. I was transferred to Johnstone House and stayed there for 2 nights. The staff were all amazing especially as I couldn’t get out of bed, lift or change baby for the first 24 hours post surgery. Jess, Gemma, Heather, Clodagh, Margaret, Grainne were great, and so many others it’s hard to remember everyone’s name! The staff were so reassuring and supportive for me breastfeeding and with helping me to know what to do in those first hours/days as a first time mummy, which was really daunting!

Overall I don’t think I could have received better care, support and professionalism throughout the whole journey which has led to a very happy mummy and baby. I want to say a massive thank you all to all staff I encountered including medical, nursing/midwives, support services, admin/clerical support etc! Working in the frontline health service over the pandemic myself has been so difficult and the staff were faultless throughout my patient journey showed dedication and really lived up to the HSC values!