" They involve you with all the decisions they make"

I was rushed into the Queens Medical Centre hospital at 32 weeks into my first pregnancy when my waters broke at 4am! When I arrived onto the delivery suite I was quickly examined and told that my waters had gone and at the time I was having mild contractions! They left me for a while and monitored things and at around 11am the next day I was told I had to be moved to the City Hospital Maternity Unit because if my baby decided to come they had no room in their neonatal unit.

On arrival at the Nottingham City Maternity unit, I was taken through to the deliver suite where I was met by two lovely midwives (one being a student), who showed me to my room and quickly put me back onto the monitors! Being an insulin dependent diabetic I was having to be monitored very closely as the steroids they were giving me in case the baby came early were affecting my blood sugars! The midwives and doctors were brilliant, they were calm and explained everything they were doing! I on the other hand was very worried, but felt that if the baby did arrive this early that I was in the best place and felt very reassured.

I was kept on monitors throughout the night and into the next morning. I had a different nurse throughout the night who came in to check my sugars every hour on the dot and she was never late! It got to lunchtime and after having mild contractions for the last day or so, they started getting worse and it seemed like I was actually maybe going into labour! It was quickly established that my baby was getting distressed so they decided to put me onto a hormone drip to speed things up! At this point I was aware that the situation was completely out of my hands, and without a birth plan even I just went along with what the midwives were telling me! They were very knowledgeable and caring and I had a midwife at my side most of the time at this point! I was just praying that everything was going to be ok!

With the help of a student midwife, midwife, 2 sisters, a doctor, a consultant and the neonatal team all spurring me on I eventually delivered a little girl naturally! She is absolutely perfect! During the 3 weeks I stayed in hospital I cannot express how grateful I am about the fantastic care that I and my daughter received from the delivery suite and the ward and also from the neonatal unit! There were moments when I was very upset on the ward with not having my baby with me but the midwives were brilliant and always there for me! The care my daughter received on the neonatal unit during our 3 week stay was outstanding! They involve you with all the decisions they make and the support I received from the care workers and nurses there was brilliant! After 3 long hard weeks we finally made it home and 10 months later my daughter is doing brilliant!

The only suggestion I have is that they do more for the dad's! The mothers had free meals during their stay in the neonatal unit, but when the dads visited they couldn't get a meal, and there wasn't really anywhere for them to buy anything as the restaurant shut whilst I was there!

I really wanted to show my appreciation for the team in the maternity unit at city hospital, they work wonders and many babies have a bright future because of the work they do!

Can't thank them enough!