"Good labour care, but felt let down afterwards"

I gave birth to my son at Worcester Royal Hospital in July via forceps delivery. I was 41 weeks pregnant exactly and my labour was induced as I had become increasingly worried about reduced movements even though looking back on it I am pretty sure he would have been absolutely fine to stay inside me until he was ready!

I had been anxious the whole of the pregnancy as he was an ICSI baby (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) due to my husbands low sperm count and some issues with myself.

After The BMI The Priory Fertility Clinic told us we were pregnant I had some bleeding for a few days and ended up in Worcester Royal Hospital in a lot of pain. The Lavender gynae ward where I stayed looked after me really well that night although I had to wait a really long time to see a Doctor.

I then had some other small bleeds during the first trimester and due to this was referred twice to the early pregnancy unit for scans at 6 weeks and 8 weeks. I found this unit extremely helpful and reassuring as when I was concerned I could just phone up and they would book me in for a scan.

During the labour itself I found the staff on the delivery suite were fantastic and for the most part reassuring. I had an epidural which didn't really work that well and due to the extra fluids I was given because of the epidural I swelled up and baby couldn't come out after 1.5 hours of pushing. I was then taken to the surgery room and given a spinal block as they said I would need a c-section. At this point I was terrified of having a c-section and frustrated that after getting to 10cm dilated on my own that I would need surgery. I just wanted everything to be ok and luckily they were able to get my son out with forceps. I had an episiotomy and was sewn up quickly and the surgeon did a fantastic job of sewing me back up.

I had to have antibiotics during labour as I had heard about Group B Strep causing illness in newborns delivered vaginally so I got myself tested during the end of my pregnancy which came back positive. I wonder now whether I really needed the antibiotics and if they did more harm than good?

Worcester Hospital was let down by the care in the post natal ward. After my baby was born I couldn't really move and was disoriented by all the drugs. As my husband was told to go home at 10pm (he was exhausted anyway!) I felt alone and confused and nobody was really around to check I was ok.

One of the nurses made me feel really stupid because my baby was crying and I didn't know why. I asked to be discharged the next day as I figured I would get more support at home than in the hospital and it is a shame that I felt like that.

It was far too early for me to be going home and I struggled at home since then until I developed post-natal psychosis 3 months after my boy was born. I am recovering well now and know that in time I will be myself again. Throughout all this our son has been just fine and a wonderful bundle of joy which makes everything worthwhile!

I just wanted to write my account of the treatment I received in hospital so the staff can understand how I felt about it.