"C-Section Birth"

I am a type 1 diabetic and during the end of my pregnancy, it was decided with my consultant that it would be beneficial for me to have an elected C-Section.

Having never been in hospital (other than my diagnosis with Diabetes in 1993), to say I was scared was an understatement.

I was admitted the evening before the operation and I was looked after in the High Risk unit.

On the morning of the operation, I was visited by Dr Coker, the anesthesist who would be looking after me during the operation. He explained fully what would happen and listened to my concerns about the spinal injection for which I was terrified.

I was visited by additional members of the theatre staff and then collected by the surgeon for my operation.

From the moment that I walked into the theatre, Dr Coker was 100% the most fantastic member of hospital staff I have ever dealt with. He could see how terrified I was, and he did his upmost to make sure that I was comfortable and I knew exactly what was happening. I hardly felt the spinal injection at all (just like he told me I wouldn't) and he made sure that I was completely numb and that I could let him know if I was concerned at any stage of the operation.

He stood by my head the entire time and let me know when they had already been working on me for 5 minutes (I had no idea at all! ). He dealt with my concern quickly when I said I felt extremely sick and his calm and soothing manner was what made my operation so smooth and calm. He stroked my cheek when I was panicking as my son was pulled out (which was scary as so much tugging going on) and he kept me calm the entire time.

He talked me through every step of the operation, shared in my joy at seeing my son for the first time and calmly talked me through the end of the op as the surgeons were stitching up the layers and finishing the operation.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Dr Coker made this experience a calm, soothing and stress free procedure for which I will always be extremely grateful.

He came to visit me in recovery to make sure that I was ok, and he teased me about how worried I was and told me I should have trusted him from the beginning (of course I didn't believe him when he said everything would be fine! ).

It goes without saying that the entire team were brilliant in that theatre room that morning and it wouldn't have gone as smoothly without them but I had to express my comments concerning my knight in shining armour, Dr Coker who was literally my angel throughout that procedure. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for that day and for making my 1st birth experience as went as calm and smooth as it was. I am extremely grateful to Dr Coker (and the rest of the team). You really were absolutely fantastic and I thank you so very much.