"Care and support during pregnancy"

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to NHS Grampian for the care and support they have provided me during my pregnancy, birth and now post partum.

After suffering numerous losses previously I was understandably rather anxious during my pregnancy. I was cared for by Dr 

Bandyopadhyay who I felt always went the extra mile to try and help alleviate any anxiety. He would return calls quickly if I had queries, ensured all my scans were with him (even my emergency scans after another period of RFM!)  which I really appreciated as it helped relax me and even called me to check I was ok after I’d had a wobble. He was always there to reassure and nothing seemed to be too much trouble for him. I cannot thank him enough for the wonderful care he provided to me and my husband. 

Similarly, I also received stand out treatment from all the midwives in the triage ward (which became my second home!) - but in particular the care from Ruth was absolutely exceptional. She is an incredible midwife, nothing was too much trouble for her. She took the time to explain everything, relax me and always made me feel like I’d done the right thing calling the triage line. She was such a calming influence and a huge part of our journey. It was very fitting and special that she was the midwife that told us we had gone into labour. 

The team on the labour ward were also incredible. Claire and Lauren were our midwives and provided stand out support throughout - they made it a very special experience. We felt we could 100% trust any recommendations made by the team and always felt the safety of our daughter and I were paramount. Claire and Lauren were supported by Claire, Jenny, Aidan, Amit, Andrew, Jen and Alice to name a few of the others that helped us on the day. We are so grateful for all everyone did. There have been comments made post birth that it was perhaps a bit traumatic (an assisted birth with a significant blood loss) but I can honestly say it didn’t feel like that due to the care provided by the team. We trusted them explicitly and are forever indebted to them for delivering our long awaited daughter safely. 

Unfortunately she needed a short stay in the neonatal ward a few days after birth but the care provided there was phenomenal. Rachel, Rachel, Val, Dawn and Sophie in particular were beyond caring and all went the extra mile to help us during her stay. 

Similarly, the staff on the postnatal ward were extremely supportive. Emily and Josie in particular were the most incredible midwives - both looking after me emotionally and physically when my daughter was in neonatal. The support staff were also phenomenal - offering to help with colostrum harvesting, helping with expressing etc. 

During my pregnancy I also received a couple of calls from Shona primarily due to my history of recurrent losses and the anxiety that causes. Shona was an immediate calming influence. She is - in my eyes - an absolutely invaluable resource to NHS Grampian - the work she does is so very important. 

I also have to thank the community midwives in South Aberdeenshire for all they have done for me. To Ann for offering to see me as often as I needed for reassurance during my pregnancy and to Moira for being our ‘fairy godmother’. She came round daily following our discharge from hospital to help assist and was exactly the calming influence I needed. My daughter was losing weight and was still somewhat jaundiced so Moira helped come up with plans to assist and ensured she always followed up and checked how we were. She has absolutely gone the extra mile in my eyes. 

I have felt compelled to write to you to express my gratitude to everyone. The care afforded to my family from all departments has been incredible.