To Ask for your experiences of post natal wards

[RozziPringle]

Mine was Noisy and hot with incredibly overworked midwives. The most memorable incident was around 12 hours after a c-section i was made to get out of bed to walk along 5 corridors to shower, doubled over in agony. When i told the widwife i wasnt going to make it and i felt faint she tutted and muttered about me been lazy under her breath.
There were some fantastic midwives Don't get me wrong but they seemed few and far between.
Im due to give birth in 3 weeks and im dreading going through all this again

I will keep my reply brief as possible. Pre eclampsia, induced 6 week prem, EMCS, Special care baby.
Rarely any food, had my notes left on my bed one morning, still had them 48 hour later. After this time i started self medicating as my BP was horrendous, yet i never got my meds. Once i was self medicating, funnily enough BP was controlled well!
4 weeks 'inside', one lovely midwife encouraged me to complain. Brought me paper, envelope and pen and told me who to address it to.
Within 12 hours, the head of Midwifery visited me in person, had a chat about my experiences, apologised, and that evening there were 3 agency staff extra on the ward.
It wasnt the staffs fault, though a few were a bit snippy! I remember one almost in tears at having to wake and move 2 of us (both babes in scbu) at 1am, whist we were both grabbing a rare 30 mins sleep as they needed our beds. We were put in a filthy room, off the ward, next to the stairs and lifts.
Next morning our bay was still empty, noone in our beds.
I pity any woman who has to stay in for longer than 24 hours, its exhausting, no food, and just noone free to help you. Really quite frightening in a vulnerable state.

Mine was excellent.

I had DS2 at C&W at about 8:30pm, a midwife insisted on coming into the shower room with me afterwards in case I fainted.

I was then moved to the ward. Had missed dinner so they sent out for a sandwich box for me.

One assisted me in arranging the bed so I could have DS2 snuggled up, the only complaint I have is breakfast, a cup of tea and a piece of toast is not breakfast to a woman who has just given birth. But luckily DH and DS1 were on their way in and stopped at Carluccios. I told them I wanted to be out by lunchtime so they arranged our peadiatrician trip visit first thing (meconium in the waters so they just wanted to check him).

The bathrooms were clean and fine, the midwives were kind and friendly.

I had ordered lunch in case we didn't get out in time, so we stayed for that (it was quite good actually - though I get really hungry after birth so pretty much everything tastes good).

Then we were out by 12:30pmish.

I am sure part of my experience is because I know exactly what I want and when I want it and am lucky enough to have easy births, so don't actually need or want a lot of attention.

I had DS1 at a private hospital here in Oz which was rather like having your baby at the Waldorf and I stayed a week.

If we have another baby I will be going there again and considering it my holiday.

They brought be a huge pile of spaghetti and a nice glass of red after I had him.

Can I ask please...are any of these awful experiences in UHCW? I'm due in two weeks and getting a little bit nervous now! I have transferred there after I had an appalling time at the George Elliot in nuneaton (both delivery and post natal).

I had my gall bladder out at UHCW a year after ds1 and could not fault the care I received, hence the transfer (I know surgery is not the same as maternity care but i have never met an unhappy member of clinical staff, although some of the receptionists are a little fierce :) ) I even went in for both my scans 5 mins early which was a nice change from the Elliot where we waited over an hour each time.

Just wondering if I need to be steeling myself for a battle........

Could everyone who has posted so far:

Please go to the thread started by At Your Cervix asking MN to take up a postnatal care campaign

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_campaigns/1252798-Could-we-have-a-MN-campaign-for-improved-Postnatal-care

There have been some very good suggestions on this thread on how to improve things (the information card is a great idea!) and we have also heard insight from people working in this area.

I'm not optimistic that as individual women making complaints, it will really change anything. As a collective however, with the influence that MN has, perhaps we could start to make a difference.

I am really horrified by what we have all been through. I think it's a national disgrace, frankly. Why should we put up with it???

DD1's birth was traumatic and ended in emergency section but aftercare was amazing...I had a private room next to the nurses station and tonnes of care....DD2 was elective section and I was put on a grim ward and left alone for three hours straight after the op....one doctor was very annoyed nobody had come to check us ...the next morning I asked one of the assistants for some water and she pointed at the tap at the other end of the ward. So I told her I've just had a section...you get it" and she did.

Rude cow.

All awful but third child by far the worst Experiance, was admitted at 31 weeks with premature rupture of membranes, had to stay in because the risk of cord prolapse was high,

Waters kept building up and breaking everyday, I was going through 5- 7 pairs of trousers each day yet apart from the day I got there I wasn't given any more scans to check that the fluid levels around the baby were safe , 3 days after I was admitted the baby stopped moving, this went on for another three days, was only monitored for an hour twice a day which kept showing dips in the baby's heart rate, I went into labour at 5 o'clock on the 6 th day of being there, only mild period pain contractions ever 4 mins which didn't pick up on the monitor, I expressed my concerns to the midwife as the same happened in my previous labour and I dilated realy quickly. It had already been decided that I would have a cs due to the baby lying transverse and I was worried the cord would prolapse. By this time it was 7 o'clock . The mw refused to check me due to the risk of infection just said the doc would check when he did the rounds. ( it was a Sunday so could be any time up till 11 o'clock ) at 8 .30 the cord prolapsed which resulted in emcs. I was 5 cm dilated !

Spent 3 weeks in hospital all together, 4 days in a room with other mums and baby's even though mine was in nicu , they were understaffed, the patients were fighting with each other and I spent most of my time crying

First was ok as had private room and was discharged after 6 hours.

Second was awful! Care during labour was fantastic but the stay overnight was horrible. Mws were annoyed when I vomited and my dh asked them for stuff to clean it up. When I got out of bed the first time and blood gushed from me, mw rolled eyes and tutted before reluctantly mopping up blood.

During my stay I went to get mw as woman in next cubicle with drawn curtains was being yelled at by her h(?) and I could hear her sobbing . Got told "What do you want me to do about it?" and had to actually say "Check she's ok!!!" Durr...

Buzzers didn't work and got tutted when I asked for clean bedding because it had blood on it. Wasn't given any food and when I asked for drinks it took more than an hour until I was given one.

When I told mw I wasn't going to bf then she got snappy with me .

I had my third at a hospital in Germany and I had superb service. I only had basic insurance but the staff, quality of care and facilities were amazing.

If I ever had another I would NOT have an NHS hospital birth. I had excellent care during labour but the post natal care was appalling.

The thing that puzzles me - my antenatal care at the hospital was brilliant; my care in labour was faultless; the same nurses all rotate between the three sections - so why was my post partum care so bloody diabolical?

What is it that changes between about to have a baby (good) / actually having a baby (good) / just had a baby (lamentable)?

My antenatal care was pretty much non existant. A few 5 minute checks from 30 weeks on and that was it.

Aubergine, I'm guessing that whatever targets the department works to, will be clinical and therefore focussed on measurables, such as cs rate, morbidity, mortality etc, rather than the patient experience post natally, when clinically most of the work has been done.

Until that changes - until patient experience becomes a KPI for example, nothing will change, I predict.

Glad you like my card idea! Whilst societal change is the ideal scenario, I think we could do with some quick wins which start to make a difference immediately and DON'T rely heavily on extra resources/mw/£, even though it's pretty much acknowledged that's what's needed longer term.

If every woman was given basic information even on basic "housekeeping" that alone would improve patient experience.

Does anyone know what Key Performance Indicators there are in inpatient maternity services that we could hook into? That way we would be on the same side as the Trusts, perhaps helping them meet targets, and enabling a more open and productive relationship in the longer term.

The temptation is to go steaming in with a litany of failure, whereas we might achieve more by partnering.

Mrs Kravitz - to clarify, I meant my antenatal care in the hospital. I was induced and laboured in hospital for 2 days. They were wonderful.

Yes, my community midwife care was a joke.

My postnatl care was by far the worst. My DS was born at 29 weeks. When in the delivery room after DS was whisked to NICU and we were unsure if he would live I was assured that I would not be taken to a room where babies were.

Which of course I was as they had closed the ward attached to the special care baby unit. There were then a group of us who didn't have any babies with us, mixed in with normal mums with crying babies. The last thing either group wanted. Those who had the babies with them felt embarrassed as those who ddidn't were all upset all the time. I really really think that all hopsitals should separate the mothers whose babies may not live/may have long term health issues etc from the normal deliveries. It is a very different experience and I needed care and emotional support not bf support as DS couldn't suck

Then for the next 4 days I got no pain relief, no midwifery support, no food. I had had a haemorrage and placental abruption but no-one followed up on me for days until I asked to be dsicharged to go home.

The nurses in SCBU and NICU were faultless though

Oh an because DS was in NICU all my postnatal checks were in the hosptial too. I had to go in for them, and was then kept waiting for hours when i wanted to be with DS as I was not an inpatient.

And my 6 week check took place by telephone from the parents room in the scbu.

My experience was a nightmare. the staff were lovely all of them but I have no idea how they managed to smile. I had a C section so was in for 5 days during that time the police were called twice when security couldn't handle the disturbances that kicked off durung the night and each time it was different people.
On the day i left a woman, her husband, her mother and new born baby had barricaded themselves into a room insisting that they would not leave until they were given a 3 bed home, they shouted racist abuse at the staff and the husband thretened violence - i was told they got the flat

I live in Scotland and my experiences are great apart from my last birth

DD1-Rutherglen Maternity (now sadly closed)-great hospital, fantastic but busy midwives. Those were the days when your baby was taken to a nursery for first night post labour, and brought back for feeding.Meant mum and baby had a good sleep

DD2- Ditto-was out next day

DD3-Rottenrow (Glasgow), now Princes Royal which is much better. Rude patronising Sister, was told that my (4 weeks early) baby would have to be given a bottle as she couldn't latch on properly. I had never had a prem baby, so I took their word for it, and guess what, bf was never established. There are more tales to tell,but I HATED the place.I had bonding issues with my last DD, and am sure it is relating to the PN experience.DD developed jaundice-I had had little sleep as DD had one of those UV light cots, and I was to feed her constantly. I managed to drift off for about an hour, and was woken very unceremoniously by a midwife shaking me and shouting " For God SAKE,did you not HEAR your baby", I must have been shattered. Even more annoying was that I could hear the midwives laughing and obviously having a break, and eating curry (could smell it and I was starving), this was about 11pm.I had had 2 hours sleep in 36 hours.I know it's my job to look after my own DD, but it would have been nice if a bit of compassion could have been used, and one of them fed her for me.

DD1 has just had her own baby in Wishaw General. DD had a rare complication of pregnancy and the triage midwives up there treated her as if she was some daft wee girl (she is almost 22), Labour staff midwives were first class, and didn't mind me and her DH hanging about for a while, I left them too it ofc.:)

PN ward-staff very busy, bathrooms not cleaned regularly, but staff weren't rude or nasty,just busy and overworked. Very supportive but not pushy about bf.

DD1 - ward was hopelessly understaffed. Special care and the midwives didn't talk to each other so no-one seemed to have a clue about how much milk she should have.

No-one seemed to care about getting us discharged even though we were in for 14 days.
Senior midwife would stress that I should ask for b/f help, so asked midwife, who said she'd be back in a few minutes and didn't bother coming back.

After this happened twice I stopped asking....and then got told off again by senior midwife for not getting help.

This was Lister, Stevenage.

DD2 - At Rosie, Cambridge...what a difference.

Was asked if I was going to bf but when I said no she just showed me the milk cupboard, bottles and teats and didn't even lecture me... result!
They would take the babies for night feeds to allow mums to sleep,and we were even allowed out for trips to town!(long stay transitional ward)
Was given first aid training and most importantly never felt patronised.

Only downside was that food could have been better and woman next to me had about 14 of her extended family round the bed,
After she left just had the incredible farting baby next door

Superb care. Really caring patient staff who were clearly busy but made time. First time midwife came quickly for each latch on meaning I left hospital confident with bf. Ward spotless and cleaning staff and hca's also very warm and helpful. Ds born at home, can't fault the cate there, thanks dh! Dd 2- lovely unhurried time in delivery room after birth (was super quick birth so maybe I just used up time I could have been labouring for!). Ward - again care was exactly that-caring. Had near bleed and so swarm of staff for the drip up moment and I turned into quivering wreck. They were so calm kind and patient. The only thing that couldn't be made right was the sleep - very crying baby whose only quiet moments were dd's noisy ones. Until all rooms private they can't sort that one. But in my long ish antenatal admission they were hugely sympathetic to sleep problems and found a side room. I am sure I was lucky but I can't fault my care and had many thank you notes to write.

Let's just say after a 24hr horrific prem. labour, blood loss, 3 days of no sleep, being forced to pump all day long to get a few drops of milk for tiny, sleepy DS, being shouted at, being denied help, not getting much food as I couldn't get up, having to eat 'diabetic-friendly' food as nothing else was left by the time I got anything... I collapsed, dropping the baby. When my blood sugar levels were measured, I got a reading of 2. Funnily enough, things improved after that - 2 HCAs and a nursery nurse took care of DS, DH was summoned to bring me sugar-laden food and my tearful and fervent pleas to go home were finally answered.

Next time round, I will be going for a home birth if allowed and forking out for private care if not.

I got superb care from my hospital all the way through until the last night (in for 2 due to emcs), when I offended the night MW by asking her to help me feed DD (I'd been told to ask for help to get her to breastfeed - she said 'oh for god's sake I don't have time'). For the rest of the night she ignored me, meaning I couldn't feed DD or get painkillers. Eventually I staggered to the desk with my colostomy bag and deliberately asked a different MW for help.

But other than that my care was absolutely excellent, and I wrote to say thank you. It was in a large famous maternity hospital in west London.

At the same time an NCT friend was in another large famous hospital in west London (one notorious for its bad post-natal care), with the MWs completely ignoring her request to have her colostomy bag emptied. The back up nearly ruptured her bladder

First birth abroad in top of the range private room with bed for me and bed for husband and guest, plasma screen, nurses coming out of your earholes, my personal ob/gyn coming by twice a day (having delayed a holiday to do so) after my planned section. Food still shit, despite the hospital being a fancy one with a pianist in the lobby)

That said, I think the midwives weren't as highly trained as in UK and breastfeeding help was a bit crap (but we got there in the end) and one said something pointed about needing more anaesthetic because I was 'on the big size' (this was Singapore where everyone weighs 7 stone)

This one will be a planned section in busy London hospital in two weeks. Am prepared for it not to be too pleasant, but as long as baby born safely, I'm fine with some grimness. And I'm planning to take flipflops....

I'm breastfeeding a near-three year old while pregnant and planning to tandem so hope I won't have to endure lots of midwives in my face. Although they might raise an eyebrow! Already had two midwives tell me to stop (although the consultant was a-okay)

Good luck everyone.

Mildy shit.
Too fricking hot. Not great but not awful staff. Bit crap re BF advice. One MW came and offered to take ds off to the nursery for a bit so I could sleep (v long difficult labour and pph), I blearily agreed, later MW ( could have been same one, could have been different, too bleary) came and tutted at me and said "Your baby is crying and needs you you know, you'll have to have him back" - as if I had demanded they take him away as he was too much bother and as if I could hear him and was ignoring him! Grrrrr.

On plus side, got out fairly quickly ( although probably should have stayed in longer given pph (I was yellow), lack of baby experience and bf not being sorted... but hey I ate the grim boiled egg and ham salad hospital lunch and that was the deal, eat all your lunch and you can go home!!

Some of these stories are horrendous and I'm actually starting to look at my PN stay in a warmer light! My main issue was that DS wa taken to NICU 6 hours after birth but I was left on a 6 bed ward. I asked a couple of times about a private room but was told there were none free. Tbh I'm not convinced that was true or if it was just the hassle of moving me would be too great. The staff on the ward were great but so overstaffed and it didn't help that once I could walk I was constantly in the NICU so was sometimes forgotten about. Having said that, the few times I missed the drugs or food rounds, when I chased up a MW for them they were very apologetic. There was a fab student MW who soothed me when I came back from seeing DS in NICU. An another who helped on the 4th night when Ds was struggling to feed. However the food was dire and some of the other patients were terrible too. Minor things compared to some of the tales above!