"Maternity facilities and staff"

My pregnancy took an unexpected turn on 27th September when I went into labour at 27 weeks gestation. After a long wait, I was seen by the Registrar who promptly assessed the situation. He was extremely empathetic. Following the diagnosis, staff were extremely kind and professional in their approach. A Senior consultant from the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) came and spoke to us. We were given the chance to see the SCBU and introduced to the staff. The midwives who delivered my care with the supervision of the Registrars/ consultants cannot be described as anything other than fantastic. I was in and out of labour for 3 days. During this time, the health of the baby was constantly monitored and we were provided with updates and explanations for decisions taken. Staff remained responsive to my needs such as providing pain relief when requested. The situation was further complicated by the baby being in the breech position. We were given the chance to discuss all case scenario's and made fully aware of what would happen to our baby once it arrived. It was agreed that a midwife lead on the delivery with Consultants on standby. My midwife was incredible. She helped me to remain calm as I often became distressed by the enormity of the situation. At times, it felt as if the room was full of people but each person seemed to have a task. During the last few minutes, the assistance of the Registrar was required, he seemed to appear from nowhere and acted promptly. Our son was born on the 1st October weighing just over a kilo. We were given a minute with our baby before he was taken to the SCBU. The kindness of the staff did not stop there. I was taken to maternity ward where I was given a private room, in recognition that I had been separated from my baby. I had read some awful reviews of the maternity department at RBH and I was concerned about the level of care we would receive. However, I can genuinely say that we experienced a very high standard of care from some truly kind people. I have no qualms in sharing my experience with mothers to be and cannot thank all the staff enough for everything they did for us and our son. During our time at the SCBU, we had visits from the registrar and had well wishes relayed via staff from the midwife. We are now home, 4 weeks earlier than the expected due date but with a health and happy baby.