"Tried to book a place on a Maternity Unit Tour."

I contacted after being advised by my midwife to speak to the Midwife doing my antenatal classes, who then asked that I contact an email address to book myself on a tour.

The response I got for this was the following:

Unfortunately the tours of the unit are suspended during the summer months. A video of the consultant led unit is available on the trust website on the maternity page.

We will be adding photos/video of the new Birth Centre once it is open.

Maternity unit tours including the new birth centre will start again in the autumn.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

- So whilst in labour, I will be expected to blindly walk into the hospital with no idea where I am going... I'm actually very scared now. This is my first child, after all and I'm not orginally from the area - so I don't know my way around the local hospital.

If I had been informed that I wouldn't be able to go on a tour past a certain date by my midwife who has taken all of my appointments this year, I would have had myself booked in for one earlier but instead I will have to suffer due to poor communication within this institution. The person responding did not even have the decency to end the correspondence with their name.

After reading the correspondence I noticed there was a wonderful tour given to 11 couples in March. I am feeling extremely undervalued as a human being and mistreated by the National Health Service. I don't understand why I deserve this kind of disaster so late in my pregnancy.