"Everything from the facilities, to the cleanliness, from the food to the TV were perfect and faultless"

What I liked

I transferred to Hexham General's maternity unit in November 2010 for postnatal care, after giving birth to my son at the RVI in Newcastle. I stayed in hospital for 4 nights and without exception, found the midwives on the unit to be the friendliest, most dedicated NHS professionals I have ever encountered. Various midwives and assistants spent hours between them teaching my baby and I how to breastfeed (which is much harder than it looks!) and I was encouraged to use my buzzer day and night, if ever I needed someone to support me or just if I needed help with anything. I actually get quite teary-eyed when I think back to my time in the unit, because without that support, my 3 month old son and I would not be breastfeeding now and the staff are so modest that they probably don't even realise what a special gift they gave us just by being there for us whenever we needed them to (without being pushy or ovebearing). I arrived in a tearful state, having had no sleep for 3 nights. I left hospital a completely different person, all thanks to the care and support we received from this dedicated team

What could be improved

Nothing. Everything from the facilities, to the cleanliness, to the food and TV were perfect and faultless

Anything else?

Everyone should be able to access postnatal care of this calibre, not just 'pushy' patients like me!2010DedicatedOpening hoursPatient careAccessibilityMaternityCleanlinessFood