"Staff in SCBU were fantastic especially ..."

What I liked

Staff in SCBU were fantastic especially one of the consultants (unfortunately I never got his name) who was very respectful and kind to me. He left a very good impression on me and I regret not being able to thank him as unfortunately I did not see him again.

I had to be re-admitted when my daughter was only a day old due to rash she developed (we should never have been sent home in the first place but that is a whole different matter). I was put into a private room which was very much appreciated as I don't believe I would have coped out on the main ward so for that I am extremely thankful!

What could be improved

Cleanliness. The toilets on Burstow are simply DISGUSTING, there is no other word to describe them. On many occasions the sanitary bin had not been emptied and the toilet and floors were covered in blood (apologies for being to blunt). You are told to take your babies with you everywhere you go, including the toilets but there was no way I would take my daughter into that environment therefore I only went to the toilet when I had visitors so I could leave my daughter with them which meant I would go all night without going to the toilet!!

I found many of the staff quite rude and uninterested. I felt like I was bothering them if I asked anything or needed help. There were a couple of the midwives however who were absolutely fantastic.

Overall, the delivery suite was brilliant. My only complaint there was that it took 4 attempts and 3 members of staff to try to get IV antibiotics into me whilst I was giving birth. Two of these staff members proceeded to have an argument about it right in front of me which I found to be very unprofessional. In the end my husband had to step in and ask them to stop!!!! All this was going on while I'm laying there pushing! They eventually got the needle in but shortly afterward it came out again and I began to bleed heavily. It took several minutes for anyone to notice. Needless to say I find this totally unacceptable.

15 mins after giving birth, another midwife who we'd not met before came in and without saying anything began to clear all my bags away. When my husband asked what she was doing she simply replied "you have to move". Ok so I can understand that they were busy and they needed the room, but please, just some basic manners wouldn't have gone a miss, there is no need for rudeness in my opinion.

Overall I did not have a good experience at ES and would certainly not be recommending it to anyone!!!