"Extremely inadequate services leading to poor..."

I have waited some months to review the maternity services here as I had what has been referred to by midwives and health visitors as a "traumatic birth experience". However after much reflection, it was the inadequacy of Pinderfields and not my birth itself that lead to this for the following reasons, and I wanted to provide objective feedback as much as possible:

1. Inadequate services - labour wards at dewsbury and pontefract have been closed down so anyone within the wider Wakefield area who has to give birth in hospital like me because I was induced early for medical reasons, have to go to Pinderfields. This is on top of those women going into labour naturally and have Pinderfields labour ward as their choice. For this need, they only have TEN Labour rooms! They also induce up to 8 women at a time, quite obviously creating an unmanageable back log of people waiting to give birth. You need more rooms or to reopen other services. I was waiting two days from being told I was next, whilst knowing I was induced because my baby had stopped growing and had excess fluid as well as having gestational diabetes, which created a lot of unnecessary anxiety

2. Massively understaffed - the postnatal ward is mayhem. Having had an emergency section, I was told someone would be round in the morning to remove my catheter, help me out of bed and get a shower. My boyfriend chased this several times for me and it was finally removed and I was out of bed some time in the afternoon. No one ever did help me freshen up and I was discharged in the early hours of the next morning in the same state I'd left theatre in. I/my family also had to chase for my doses of painkillers as there's too many for the midwives to cope with. The doctor doing the heel to toe test had to leave for an emergency (entirely understandable) and never came back

3. Lack of partner facilities - after an induction, 20 hour labour and emergency c section that used a spinal block, my partner was sent home at around 2am and I was left on my own, in the dark, unable to move at all, with my new baby and simply given a buzzer. We were told this is "policy". I feel this is entirely unacceptable as overnight postnatal facilites are available in midyorks hospital birthing centres and I'd argue that surgical births whatever level they be need equal if not more support from their partners and all women and families deserve the physical and emotional support and bonding of that first night. I was essentially in pain, still dazed from my experience and felt completely alone. He would have been happy sleeping in the chair.

Sadly, many of my mummy friends have had a similar experience so it seems due to all the reasons above this is now the norm. The friendly staff trying to do their best with a bad situation is the only reason I give any stars at all. I have major anxiety at the prospect of having to give birth here again in future