"Brilliant maternity and special care units"

I was under Furness General whilst pregnant with my son.

In Nov 2008, whilst 26 weeks pregnant, I had a small bleed and was admitted. From the word go all the staff were brilliant and the care i received was of the highest standard.

All seemed to be getting better but the midwife offered me the chance to stay in over night so they could observe me which i was happy to do. The staff were really nice bringing drinks and checking i was ok often. I woke early the next morning in pain and rang the buzzer, it was then noted that i was in early labour.

The 2 midwives immediately started to reassure me and got a consultant straight away he examined me and i was already 5 cm dilated, they took me through to labour ward were again the staff made sure they kept me as informed as they possibly could on what was happening.

They rang my other half and mum, and stayed in the room at all times due to me being a high risk. They also got one of the lovely nurses from SCBU (special care baby unit) to come and talk to us about what would happen once the little one was born. In the end I had to have an emergency c-section, my midwife stayed with me at all times and once the little one was born informed my partner and mum.

My son was rushed to SCBU where he was stabilised, as Barrow doesn't have a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) our son was transferred to Blackburn, but before he went they took a picture for us and allowed my partner to the unit to see him. They also bought him back on to the labour ward just as he was going so i could see him.

Whilst recovering on maternity the midwives were excellent, even ringing NICU several times for updates on our son.

9 weeks after my son was born we finally arrived back at Furness General on to the SCBU ward where my son stayed for another 4 weeks. The staff were fabulous and we still call in from time to time to see them. The reassurance was excellent, especially advice given when our son came home on oxygen.

Since our boy came out of hospital in March 09 we have continued to receive outstanding care from the health visitor and paediatric community nurse, who supported us through the first 6 months of being at home whilst helping to get our boy off his oxygen.