"Awful experience. Things were done without consent..."

What I liked

I liked the postnatal care where I was lucky enough to be on a friendly ward where I could be close to my son on NNU.

What could be improved

William's birth is/was a awful memory for me. I felt like I was not treated as a person, or involved in the decision making and discussions like I would have prefered. It felt very out of my control like I was 'processed' on a conveyor belt rather then treated and cared for while groggy and scared. Things were done without my consent, understanding or explanation. Lack of staff was evident. It was rushed, scary and there was little communication, interaction, friendliness or reassurance. I was not given a lot of time and I basically felt like a piece of meat. I will always be forever grateful that William survived when we were prepared that he might not.... But I feel like some, and only some, of the members of staff 'caring' for me lacked humanity, patience, care and feelings. Just my perception, but that's what stays with me when I look back on my patient experience. If I had been treated by staff whom interacted more, explaining and utilising better communication methods I think I would feel a lot happier about the whole experience then I still do. It still makes me shudder when I think of what happened. Not events that happened because it was a emergency situation, but the way it happened and the way I was treated. I felt like the staff involved did not care!