"Such a positive first birth experience"

We were so pleased with every aspect of maternity care at Airedale when we had our first child in November 2014. We attended two of the birthing classes after being let down by NCT at the last minute. Our midwife was friendly and informative and we had a 1:1 session and stork walk due to others cancelling their attendance. She really put us at ease..then a week later my waters broke and so we drove over to have this confirmed and almost pre-check, as we got to discuss our birth wishes (I hoped for water birth if possible) - 12 hrs later and 6cm dilated we were back and the staff were fantastic..calmly led me to midwife led side - into room with birthing pool which once in i didn't leave for 6 hours! The midwives were in the background, making it feel very much about me and my partner. They listened to my preference to stay in the pool, despite slowing progress and eventfully delivered my daughter in the pool. The post labour care was particularly standout - I've told all my friend a about the new policy to allow partners to stay overnight. For us this time was precious, we could talk about what we thought our daughter needed, is she too hot, cold, need a feed etc... Had he not been there I would have needed much more time from staff to help with these decisions. Plus having had stitches, my partner could do the more mobile tasks and help me to recover, all hospital directors for midwifery should take Airedales lead and consider how they Could implement this in their hospital. Thanks to all at airedale maternity for such a positive experience.