"Baby Birth - Triage/Labour Ward/Post Natal"

Our first child was on its way! Due late August 2018. Prior to being admitted to The Royal Oldham Hospital we had both attended the tour of the wards.

Tour 

The tour of the hospital was well planned and timely. We were required to attend at a certain time at a meeting point near the entrance, the midwife from the Birth Centre met all couples/pregnant ladies and birthing partners on time. She introduced herself, provided some background of her experience and made the effort to get to know all the people in attendance. We were all taken up to level 1 and given a very comprehensive and thorough tour of all the facilities on offer. All options for mums were explained in detail and plenty of opportunity given for questions and answers. The tour was extremely useful for us as we were first time parents, the midwife put us at ease and took her time to explain the process. There are potentially two wards within which you can give birth - Birthing Centre for those usually with a straight forward pregnancy and the Labour Ward where you are constantly monitored, usually for those pregnancies that maybe a little more complex. The wife chose the Labour Ward, although ours was a straight forward pregnancy, so we thought. Both wards are very well equipped and it is obvious that they have been thought out very well, as clearly  demonstrated by the design. 

Triage - baby on the way!

We rang triage as contractions started and followed guidelines to ring when contractions are close and within a certain timeframe. The midwife on the phone (Abi) was extremely friendly, took us through some questions and was very patient, clear and caring. She asked us to attend as it sounded like baby was almost upon us. On arrival to triage, we explained that wife had opted for the Labour Ward and this was personal choice. It turned out that whilst contractions had started, it was still not full labour. Abi obviously recognised how unsure and a little confused we were as first time parents, and ran a warm bath for the Mrs. Throughout the 12 hours we stayed all the midwives were extremely knowledgeable, professional, and genuinely seemed to care and continuously went over and beyond to help get the wife as comfortable as possible. They were all fabulous, we can’t thank them enough. 12 hours later as the contractions really kicked in, they rang the Labour Ward and got a room ready, a midwife then walked us up and made sure we got to the ward, provided a handover, settled us in, all the while reassuring us, providing comfort and reassurance. It was brilliant. I knew that things couldn’t get much better, as the level of care attention had been one of the highest nature. 

The Labour Ward 

We were introduced to our midwife, Rosanna. Things continued as well as they had started, and I soon realised that the care in this ward with this midwife was just as good, if not better. Rosanna stayed with us in the room for the entire time, constantly reassuring the wife, making her comfortable, providing valuable knowledge, tips and advice. There seemed to be a sense of great teamwork within the ward, a sense of everybody looking after each other. Senior and very experienced staff over looked everything and were always available on short notice to provide a fresh set of eyes on all the monitoring. Every single member of staff who had to visit was friendly, courteous and always smiling, I’m not sure the wife had much recollection of this, but I certainly do. The senior staff provide guidance and confidence to some of the younger staff, providing that profession nurturing environment. All staff knocked, and requested permission to come in,. A very well run, well coordinated Ward with very confident, knowledgeable, highly skilled practitioners. 

After almost 12 hours the doctors decided a c section was appropriate. The doctors provided the opportunity for questions and answers and were available to have a conversation when required. After Rosanna left, Helen started, straight away took the reigns and a flawless handover. A very experienced and professional individual, who took the time to get to know us and provide that personal care and attention. One of the very best. 

Baby arrives.

Baby arrives just after 12.30 am, and the C section operation was carried out flawlessly, theatre all set up, stations manned, and a very well drilled operation was on it was. I was offered the chance to sit in the room, which I did. The doctors in the theatre were even amazing! The whole experience we felt we were in very capable, safe hands. 

Afterwards Baby and Mrs kept in observation for a while and then transferred over to the post natal Ward. 

Post Natal Ward 

This ward is a little more patchy, some members of staff are more friendly than others, although it is a busy ward with people/guests coming and going too. The difference in service in comparison to what we had been used to was a bit of a shock. Our baby needed some blood tests done, and results were not relayed back to us (although nurse was very apologetic). Baby also needed a lumbar puncture for possible infection, we were not informed or provided an opportunity to discuss the treatment and or what they were looking for. I had to proactively ask some questions which prompted them to bring a senior nurse and then the doctor, all seemed very hardwork. We were naturally concerned for our first born, and wanted to know what was going on. However, once we had raised some concerns, they quickly turned it around and doctors, nurses and everybody involved provided all the information we needed and a care plan agreed with a clear course of action. This was executed brilliantly well. We were soon given a side room, as it transpired that our hospital stay would be a little longer than planned. Cleaners didn’t come everyday, and needed to be prompted to pop in and give the room a once over. The nurses kept changing, and we had a different midwife/nurse everyday, so naturally the personalised care and attention was almost non existent. This ward seemed to have a lot more over worked and stretched team, always in s rush. There are no microwaves for patient usage, and I was paying for parking everyday even though I had someone in hospital. 

Almost full marks. Post Natal needs to get from great to amazing like the other aspects of the my experience. 

Many thanks to all staff and amazing people who helped and guided us during this scary, nervous and unsure first few hours of our child’s birth. 

Thank you