"Delivery good. Afterwards very bad."

What I liked

The midwife who delivered my baby boy was absolutely fantastic, so calm and in control which kept me calm and really helped. She also encouraged my mum and husband to help me through and treated us all really well. Also, the last midwife I had before being discharged from Hazel Ward was great, after having lots of problems trying to breastfeed my baby she told me that he was tongue-tied which was confirmed by the paediatrician. A huge relief ! She got me a bottle for him which he guzzled. I was given a bed bath on delivery suite by a healthcare assistant, she also got breakfast for me and my mum and husband, she was great.

What could be improved

In between the first and last midwives I saw 3 midwives and 2 healthcare assistants. The midwife who looked after us after my baby was born was very rude and abrupt. She came in and demanded i went to the toilet there and then. I was really nervous about going for a wee and said this to the midwife, who just said she would have to catheterise me then. Which I refused and said i would try to wee, could she come back. She went off in a huff, I went to try on the loo but was terrifed when it was red ! If she had warned me it would have saved me a lot of panic. Instead she just rolled her eyes and told me it was normal. She also never told me I was being transferred to Hazel ward, I was just wheeled off. I didn't understand why I was being transferred, I just wanted to go home. I hated every second I spent on hazel ward. I didnt like that my husband was supposed to go home ( He stayed), no father wants to spend the first night of their child's life away from them ! We ended up sharing my bed. I felt I was wasting a space as I was fine, and desperately wanted to go home. But my baby had to be checked by a paeds doctor, we had to wait until the next morning for one. I was really struggling to breastfeed, two separate assistants and midwifes basically made me feel I just wasnt trying hard enough. My baby was starving hungry and was crying constantly. I was crying as I was really tired. In the night they recommened that they took my baby to the nursery so i could sleep, but i went to get him back after an hour because I could hear him crying. My nipples were really really sore from trying to feed, it turned out that his tongue tie was so bad he couldnt latch on so wasnt getting any milk from me. They gave him a bottle in the night but I wish someone had thought to look for tongue tie sooner and listened to me when I told staff how much I wasa struggling. I wanted to get him fed in the morning and had to stand in the corridor for almost an hour ( cont in next box)

Anything else?

before any one would help me or get me a bottle. I couldnt wait to get out of there. I would have been even more of a wreck if my hubby hadnt broken the rules and stayed with me.