"A huge thank you to midwives at QMC"

It has been two weeks since I gave birth to my first baby and I feel compelled to write to say a huge thank you to the staff that were working on the labour ward when our baby was delivered. Having arrived in the early hours of the morning, we were greeted with friendly faces, the delivery suite was incredibly calm and my husband and I were treated very well. Having given the staff my birth plan, I felt that this was read and acknowledged and the staff were very aware of my needs and wishes. In order to maintain a calm atmosphere I was offered some aromatherapy oils to use and my husband was able to use these to support me during my contractions, an intervention I felt really comfortable with & felt this supported my ability to try and stay as relaxed as I could during what could be a stressful situation. I apologise that I cannot remember all the individual staff names, but we were initially supported by the ward Sister and a midwife called Alison. Alison was incredibly calm and I really valued the fact she supported my husband to have a role during my labour. Alison organised for me to use the birthing pool, something I had identified I would like to use as part of my birthing plan. This again enabled me to continue to remain calm & relaxed and her excellent manner demonstrated her ability to provide the appropriate level of support we required. At the point my care was handed over to the next midwife on shift, I was initially quite nervous as I had spent time building a rapport with Alison, however I need not have worried. Kate was the midwife that spent the next few hours with us, eventually delivering our baby. We cannot stress enough how much we appreciate what she did for us during this time. Her professionalism and knowledge shone through and she also demonstrated person centred care, having an awareness of what my birth plan was. Unfortunately, things did not progress as planned with my labour, but Kate was able to explain interventions which would help and this only highlighted an exceptional level of knowledge. She also enabled my husband to play an active part in the labour process, supporting him to help me where possible and understanding what my needs would be at varying times. She not only provided us with the medical care but the emotional support that we needed. As labour is a very private and at times undignified process, I valued Kate's understanding of this and she was able to provide reassurance and encouragement which helped me through this. I felt that Kate's professionalism allowed her to be proactive & assertive as necessary without ever losing a caring approach. She recognised the needs of a new parent, for example helping with breast feeding and understood our need for a hot cup of tea and some toast after a very long labour! Giving birth obviously provokes a high level of emotion, but two weeks on, I still cannot speak highly enough of the experience we had at the QMC, particularly the care given by Kate and her colleagues. We would not hesitate to recommend the QMC as a place to give birth and want to pass on a huge thank you to everyone that was involved in our excellent care. Thank you!