"I was extremely disappointed in the aftercare of the wards"

I was taken in to originally be induced, however I ended up going into labour that evening.

When I was first admitted to the ward, the midwife on shift did not come and introduce herself to myself or my husband, we had to wait until the nightshift came in before someone came to see us.

The midwife who eventually came to see us was very nice and I felt immediately comfortable with her, she told me what to expect from that evening and if she was late with anything she apologised and tried to keep me in the loop, so to speak, unfortunately I can not remember her name.

I went into labour at 10. 45 that evening, I was transferred from the ward to a delivery suite and my care was taken over by a midwife. They introduced themselves to me and engaged in the usual small chat, which I was appreciative of as my contractions where increasing and I was still waiting on my husband arriving.

The only negative at this point was that a new computer system was introduced and the midwives were still trying to get to gripes with it, which meant they couldn't really concentrate on me and my labour as they were stressed out with all the information that had to be put into the system before commencing and care.

My labour was horrific, although this was my second baby, I have never been more terrified, to the point where I was screaming and the maternity night coordinator came in to see what was happening, they ended up staying until my daughter was born.

At the time I felt both midwives were very cut and dry, telling me to get a hold of myself etc, I did not feel they were very caring, however looking back, I could not have done it without them.

I needed them to keep bringing me back from my hysteria in order to help me deliver my gorgeous girl. Both deserve a medal for what I undoubtedly put them through, they were amazing. I can not thank them enough for allowing me the time to have a natural delivery without intervention, as my husband has since told me that they were close to prepping me for forceps due to my insufficient pushing. Thank you so much.

The aftercare in the ward was a different story. I was transferred to the ward at the beginning of afternoon visiting, again no one came to introduce me to the ward.

I never spoke to a midwife until the nightshift started when the midwife was doing the evening medication round. During the night another baby began screaming in the room, we were right next to the nurses station, the screaming went on for 15 minutes, I went out to find a midwife, no one was to be found.

When I returned to the room, the women who's baby was crying came behind my curtains asking me to find a midwife as she dropped her baby out the bed.

Again I went outside, to look for a midwife, I found them in the day room with a buffet on the table, whilst other buzzers were going off and other babies were crying, they seemed to be oblivious to it all.

This is extremely worrying, I know that the mothers are responsible for their own babies, but surely if a baby is screaming for a prolonged period, the midwife should be checking that everything is ok, they all should not be on a break together.

I was extremely disappointed in the aftercare of the wards, both with this baby and my first baby. They let down the delivery suite staff.