"Huge thanks to all at HRI Women and Childrens..."

I would like to say a huge thank you to all at the Womens and Children hospital who supported me and my partner during the birth of our daughter, as well as the staff who helped me through the first night on the post natal ward. My daughter was born on 9th August in the afternoon and I was in room 13 on the Labour ward (very lucky for me). I had the wonderful midwife looking after me throughout the birth, and I have to say I couldn't have asked for a more supportive midwife. The midwife communicated everything very clearly to us before doing it, remained calm and encouraging throughout and fortunately for us was able to give us a lot of their time. I was very lucky to have a good labour and birth and can without doubt say it was because of their support and expertise- I think it would have been a very scary experience otherwise. They are a credit to your team. The whole team seemed to work very well together and I know with such a demanding job it can be difficult to do this. My care after our daughter was born was great, we were able to take some time to process it all and spend precious time as a family whilst paperwork and checks on baby were done. On to the post natal care, I spent my first night (9/10th August) on the Beech ward. All midwives, midwife assistants and domestic staff were amazing particularly when supporting me trying to breastfeed. I called for help often through the night due to being so nervous and inexperienced, and every time a member of the team came and gave me as much time as I needed. Sadly I found breastfeeding very difficult and the following day on the 10th August after my daughter hadn't fed for 7 hours we made the decision to bottle feed her. This is something I was comfortable with but did worry about what the midwife would say. I spoke to a student midwife about this and they were incredibly informative and supportive. They told me the pros/cons of breast and bottle feeding without being judgemental and relayed any worries I had about being a "failure" for not breastfeeding. I really valued this and cannot thank them enough. Thank you again to all staff - what a wonderful experience you made the birth of my daughter. Please please ensure this is passed on to all. Many thanks, Hannah O'Connell.