"Birth of my second child three weeks ago"

I had my second child three weeks ago in the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan. I can honestly say that the care both before the labour, during the labour / delivery and after the delivery was absolutely second to none. After a second difficult pregnancy with high blood pressure etc, I was taken in to be 'started off' with prostoglandin pessaries. The Midwives were extremely thorough, meticulous with all procedures and I was very well taken care of. Food was plentiful and readily available. Wards were cleaned daily, bedding changed daily and there was no evidence of any 'dirty wards'. The labour ward was similarly immaculate, including the showering facilities. The staff - whilst sometimes busy due to volume / complexity of deliveries - were ALWAYS friendly, polite and above all extremely knowledgable and professional.

I can fully appreciate that sometimes you may need to be left alone in order for the midwives to assist in attending other deliveries where there may be more midwives assitance required or further expertise required. I think that people need to recognise that there may be others who may need that expertise more than they do at that time. Childbirth is such a 'fluid' process that can't be predicted perfectly so Midwives have to be adaptable and able to cope with any demands that may be made of them - even if they are stretched to the limit capacity wise.

I couldn't praise the Midwives enough and they were exactly the same eight years ago when I gave birth to my first child. They were absolutely brilliant then as they are now - and I'm glad to say that I had complete confidence in all of the staff that I dealt with - both Students as well as fully qualified Midwives.