"Birth Centre fantastic but postnate ward a let..."

I had my baby in the birth centre and the midwives were fantastic. I really recommend letting a student midwife be involved with your care if you are offered the choice as they will try and be with you at the birth and at your antenatal appts. The rooms at the Birth Centre were excellent and the environment calm, cool and relaxing. I was lucky to get a room with a water pool which was really helpful for pain relief during contractions. Everything went really well and I had a natural birth using gas and air and had some tearing which was stitched up there by the midwives in the triage room. The whole process was nice and non medical and I think the environment and decisions by the midwives meant that the birth was such a good experience.

The next morning I was transferred to the postnatal ward. What a shock! There was no real induction of how things worked or what to do, the breast feeding support was very hit and miss. The workshop they had on offer was just a screening of a video and no real support. The ward seemed understaffed and the midwives were few and far between, some were able to give me more time than others depending on what was going on.The staff were all trying their best but it was very busy and noisy and too hot!! It's such a shame that the difference between the two experiences was so stark. I managed and got out after a couple of nights but found it tricky to get feeding well established, ended up using some formula and found it very difficult to fend for myself with getting breakfast etc. There was a huge reliance on partners of women to support but not much support for those partners. Really if they want to be helpful then they need more help for the men who have to sleep in reclining chairs and don't get offered any food (officially!!).

A way round this was to over order on the menu and then they got something too. The birth centre has really been thought out and works so well so some of the same thinking could be applied to the postnatal ward. I know resources are limited and also space but I think they would save money on getting people out of there quicker! I think I stayed a night more than I needed to.