"Poor post-natal support"

My partner and I recently had our first baby by elective section at Wishaw. Initially the staff on the pre-natal ward were brilliant, extremely helpful and kind. The staff conducting the section were also wonderful and we had a very memorable experience of our baby being born. We didn’t get to thank the nurses, doctors and surgeons, but they deserve praise for their professionalism, humanity and understanding.

We were then moved to post natal (ward 22). We had made the decision to breast feed and were keen to continue with this approach. Our journey from this point was awful. Factors meant that supply didn’t “come in” for a few days. Initially we were told colostrum was enough and to hand express into babies mouth, which we did. We stayed in hospital for 2 nights, the second by choice for support. Throughout these days support I felt was not what we received. Instead we were constantly told I’ll be back, 2 minutes however help didn’t return. A catheter was left in for hours longer than it should have been. Soiled sheets were not changed. In truth it felt like the staff had no time for us and weren’t interested. Infrequent visits consisted of different staff providing their thoughts on how best to feed, but not actually taking the time to see if it was working.

A feeding plan was mentioned, due to supply not yet being in, however this was not revisited and ultimately missed. Instead my partner was left on her own through the night doing what she believed was correct/enough. One staff member, who we felt treated her like a child, not a new mother, told her she wouldn’t be in to help, it was problem solving and it was up to her to figure out.

We overheard other families being given lengthy “discharge talks” on washing, contraception, feeding, bottle making etc. We received no such talk. Short staffing was mentioned and the car seat checked. We were then sent home without any further information or support, provided with medication, which included needles, but no sharps bin.

We continued as we had at the hospital, thinking we were doing well, as there had been no intervention to the contrary. Upon being weighed our baby was found to be out with weight parameters. This meant we were asked to return to Wishaw.

We did so want to do the best for our baby and voluntarily readmitted in the hope of support and advice. We were returned to the ward, where we were shut into a room on our own and only visited once per day for weighing and otherwise for food, in my opinion it was more like a prison than hospital. Tests were carried out, however we received no results, and had to ask for them repeatedly. Despite many checking no answers were received. Doctors made decisions based on these results with no consideration or consultation with us and were shocked when we were angered by these decisions.

My partner received no care what so ever. Initially she was harassed onto a bed and told to lie on her side, which, as a result of her caesarean wounding rendering her immobile. This left our baby unattended, while staff bleated on about how she must start on a breast pump immediately and tried to explain sterilisation.

Overnight it felt like we were treated like we were in a prison camp. Staff banged the door open every 3 hours and instructed us to feed before leaving. No one helped or oversaw to ensure it was correct. We were left to figure it out, only adding to our stress and anxiety.

Baby was to be weighed at 3:00 pm each day. On day 3 we hoped to have gone home, despite being told initially we would be inpatients for one night. Conversation with the paediatrician seemed to suggest the decision that we would remain indefinitely had been made, the doctor stating you won’t be going home tonight and are you really keen to get home? We were shocked by this response.

We then waited for 3:00 pm, which became 4:30 pm and still no weight was taken. At one time we heard the doctor question if baby had been weighed. The response was it’s on the to do list. We heard we would be discharged if baby was ok.  Still no weight was taken. We also asked for help to remove my partners dressing. Despite this it was clear we weren’t to receive this help and only did so when we asked closer to 5:00 pm when baby was finally weighed, the initial response being that we should remove the dressing ourselves.

Eventually we were discharged later that night into minus freezing conditions. We again received no discharge talk or information. We had been on a breast pump, but received no information how we could obtain one, if this could be done on the NHS initially for short term, or if we had one already at home. The feeding plan was not discussed. We were simply told the midwife would come out next day and to take it from there.

Ultimately our experience was below poor. Staff on more than one occasion intimated to us that we received no help because we wouldn’t complain and staffing was an issue. The lack of input from the staff and the NHS ultimately impacted on the health of our new born baby and on my partner and I. It felt like we were treated like animals and left to fail. When we did we were treated like and made to feel like unfit parents. We would do anything for our child. The whole situation could have been avoided if the initial issues with supply and breast feeding had been explained and how and when we may need to implement a short term food plan until supply is present.