"First class maternity care provided in a busy..."

What I liked

My daughter gave birth to her first baby at the Princess Alexandra Hospital recently and I attended appointments with her on several occasions immediately prior to the birth of my grandson. We came into contact with a number of departments, including the ante natal clinic, the maternal & fetal assessment unit, the ante natal ward, the labour ward and the post natal ward. I was very impressed with the thorough care and kindness my daughter received at all stages of her treatment from all staff. During the course of her labour (I was fortunate enough to be a birthing partner together with her husband) she was attended by three midwives who were wonderful. We were appreciative of the fact that each handover was conducted in front of us, so that we were fully aware of what was happening and when an emergency arose, it was handled promptly and calmIy with a happy outcome.

I do hope that the maternity services will be able to continue to provide this excellent service, as they are clearly working at full stretch.

What could be improved

The ante natal ward at times became very noisy with both patients and visitors conducting loud telephone conversations on mobile phones.

The car park. At one stage my daughter was being seen on a daily basis, with each appointment taking up several hours. A `pay on exit' system would seem fairer, as we spent a small fortune on parking charges.