"Thank you for a good birth experience"

In mid December I gave birth to my daughter in University Hospital Wishaw. I had a previous traumatic birth and some complications at the end of my pregnancy so I was quite anxious about giving birth.

I had been booked for induction but went into labour 2 days prior. From the moment I arrived at triage, the care was fantastic. I can't remember the midwife or junior doctors names in triage but I was examined and deemed far on enough to be admitted to the labour ward. I was given gas and air and reassured about the next steps. I had mentioned my wish for an epidural which was noted and passed on. 

When I got to the labour ward, it was explained to me that the doctor was in an emergency therefore could not presently do an epidural. I was offered opiate pain relief by injection but due to a previous adverse reaction chose not to. Being a nurse myself I knew that sometimes these things happen and that the doctor must attend to people in priority order so whilst this was a bit frustrating, it was expected.

After some time the doctor arrived to do the epidural, it did take some time to place but I was having regular contractions by this point and I have a higher BMI so again, to be expected, although difficult at the time. Once the epidural was in place, things were much calmer and I was able to be in a calm headspace where I felt confident that my birth would be completely different this time, in a good way.

Shortly after, I felt the need to push and our little girl was born. Our midwife was Lydia and she was amazing, she kept me very calm and reassured me when it was necessary. Following the birth we had some bonding time with our baby with no interruptions, this was so different to my last experience (he was taken to NICU as he was unwell) and for us this was simply amazing to be able to enjoy those moments. 

When admitted to the postnatal ward my experience was mostly good. The midwives and health care assistants were lovely. The ward was clean and tidy. The meals were fairly tasty also. Any questions I had were kindly answered.

On the day of discharge our baby was checked by the paediatric doctor and passed for home. The only thing that wasn't great was, due to having been on antihypertensive medication towards the end of pregnancy, a doctor was needed to review my own observations and make a decision about dosing for home. We waited hours upon hours and again the doctor was busy with others.  As I mentioned above, being a nurse I know that this often cannot be helped and I wouldn't expect a doctor to leave an emergency to review medications but sitting with my baby and waiting to go home it was very frustrating.

Eventually at 10:30 pm I asked to self discharge. I must say the midwives who were on were absolutely understanding of my reasons and couldn't apologise enough. I explained I knew no one was at fault and that it's just a staffing issue, similar to any ward in any hospital. As I was leaving the doctor called the ward and was able to advise on medication meaning that I could be properly discharged rather than a self discharge. 

So all in all it was an amazing experience. I only felt to mention the end part as I like to give a balanced and true account however please be assured I had not one issue with any member of staff and that I understand this is just how things are at the present times. 

My baby is now 5 months old and absolutely thriving. I tell everyone about how my experience giving birth this time was very healing and I would recommend UHW to any pregnant person. Thank you.