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

Sorry you've had such a crap experience RozziPringle. Have only one baby and was very worried about giving birth at the local hospital as had heard such awful stories from friends about how rude the midwives were and how crowded the wards were.

I needn't have worried though, the midwives were fantastically kind and supportive and I was the only one on my ward.

I'll never forget just giving birth and a new midwife came on shift, walked in the room and said "Phew, it smells of sweaty fannies in here!" I was MORTIFIED until she laughed and said it was just her way of breaking the ice!

I hope your experience will be better this time round

I have a 4 month old. Difficult delivery, baby in distress, forceps delivery with 3rd degree tear and PPH. Care on labour ward was faultless and felt very loked after. Different story on PN ward.
Baby born at 6.30 am so was exhausted after 24hrs in labour. moved to a 4 bed bay at 8.30, desperate to sleep but everyone else getting up for the day. Had missed breakfast and was desperate for something to eat and drink. told there was a kitchen where i could make tea and toast. Not helpful as epidural in place and legs no use! DH had returned home to catch up on sleep. tablets plonked on table, no explanation as to what they were and no water to take them. Asked for someone to check my blood loss. a volunteer handed me a clean pad and paper bag, said she would return to collect the dirty one, legs still not working so very difficult to change own pad, told no one free to help me. Still no sleep as visiting hours.
Lunch time, everyone else gets lunch, none for me as i had not been there to order in the morning, starving hungry. Lunch finally arrives 2 hours later.

Catheter in place, to be removed in the eve. asked evening staff to empty it. told to wait as night staff will take it out. waited till 10.30pm, bag full to bursting, told off by HCA (I should have called someone to empty it earlier).

Next morning, midwife tells me i need to get up and about, suggests a shower, good idea i think. after breakfast i hobble along ward to ask someone to remove cannula before shower. In agony also request paracetamol. HCA arrives and removes cannula, i ask about paracetamol, she says she will ask midwife. 1hr later no paracetamol, ring buzzer again. different person also says she will ask midwife, 1hr later still no paracetamol. ring again. told that is is now time for drug round, midwife at other end of ward and will be with me in half an hour, insist i have some pain relief now, very grumpy midwife appears and reluctantly gives me 2 paracetamol.
Doctor reviews me and suggests i stay another night, no chance I ask to leave but still have to wait 4 hours for discharge paper work.

Lizzie, my sympathies, but you are bringing it all back for me! None of what you have said is untrue for me. Absolutely bang on!

You are at your most vunerable and don't feel you can complain so you go along with it, don't you.

Why don't they get it right, especially with first time mothers.

All these stories are making me dread my first postnatal ward placement as a student midwife :( I don't even want to work in one, let alone have to stay in one! Oh well, I suppose I'll get an education in what kind of care not to give.

There are some absolutely horrific experiences detailed on here & I am truly sorry for everyone who has had such a rubbish experience at a time that should be filled with happiness! :(

I had DS (DC1) at Gloucester Royal Hospital in June in their new maternity unit & was admitted twice before due to high blood pressure. Ante-natal care was mixed, some midwives were lovely & really compassionate towards me as each time I was terrified. There was one horrible MW who made me feel awful for requesting to be moved, she wheeled my bed off to a side room eventually, leaving me to struggle with all of my stuff DP had organised in my cabinet for me. She wrote in my notes "Demanding side room", I was not, I simply wanted to be moved due to the only other occupant being ridiculously noisy & inconsiderate. I didn't see the qualified MW after this, the student MW did all of my obs.

At 37 weeks my CMW picked up high BP & proteinurea & sent me to Triage. We arrived at 5pm, BP & urine were checked (still high & high levels of protein) & bloods were taken. The lovely Triage MW told me & DP to go & get some food as we would have to wait for the bloods, when we got back she checked my BP & asked us to wait in the waiting room outside through the intercom-controlled doors as it had become very busy. We were there for 3 hours, in this time no one checked my BP, I was just so glad DP was with me in case anything did go wrong. Eventually, we decided we had been forgotten & rang the intercom, the MW said "oh yes, we've just got your results back now" my bp was then checked again (still high) & I was eventually admitted at 11pm.

My care after this was very mixed, the Obs/Gynaes were lovely & had a very clear plan of what they were going to do (hormone pessaries & syntocin(sp?) drip if that didn't work). Some MWs couldn't do enough for you, others were horrible. When the pessaries kicked off contractions every 1-2 minutes, DS was back-to-back & I was in incredible pain, DP went to get a MW for some pain relief & was told "okay, stop shouting it is not that bad" (I do have a high pain threshold & it was very painful!) I was eventually given pethadine which allowed me to get some needed rest! The next morning, despite my waters breaking at 3am, they wanted to take me down to the consultant-led unit & induce me with the syntocin, I had 1-to-1 care with a fantastic senior midwife who was lovely, ensured I was comfortable & arranged for the anaesthetist to administer my epidural to keep my bp down. He was also brilliant, gave me a perfect epidural that meant I was still mobile. The senior MW quickly picked it up when DS got into distress & I was taken for an EMCS, the staff in theatre were all really lovely & reassuring.

After being in recovery, I was wheeled to a postnatal ward. I was incredibly sore after my EMCS & had to ask for pain relief everytime. I was made to feel that I was being a right pain in the backside for asking. I now know that pain relief should have been administered without me needing to ask. I asked the same Midwife to help me get DS latched as I was struggling, 3 times she said "yeah, just do that" (attempt to get him latched) before walking off. Eventually, when I was in floods of tears because I couldn't get him latched & we were both getting frustrated a HCA came over & helped me, she also showed me the rugby hold position which was much easier on my wound. Later, she brought me some tea & toast, she was absolutely lovely. I wouldn't have gotten breakfast if it weren't for her as the deal was go & get your own from the day room on the other side of the unit whilst wheeling your newborn in their cot in front of you, not ideal 12 hours after an EMCS! After 2 days on that ward I had had enough & asked to be discharged. I was discharged with only diclofenac so spent the next 2 weeks in agony but could actually rest in the comfort of my own home with DP helping me.

i had an EMCS at 2 in afternoon,was taken up to PN ward around 10pm OH sent home

i buzzed for a midwife thru the night and asked for my DS nappy to be changed as i couldnt feel my legs still and was scared incase i dropped him,auxiallry changed nappy huffed and puffed while doin it then said "it was only a wet one " then stormed off

next day in afternoon was told catheter was to be removed and i HAD to go in the shower,i was trying to sit myself up and felt in agony,a midwife saw me struggling and shouted " I DONT NO HOW U CAN POSSIBLY BE IN THAT MUCH PAIN ! I HAD A SECTION AND I WASNT LIKE THAT ! ) turns out they had stapled me back together and i had an allergic reaction to them

i was let out 2 days after section,midwife came to remove staples,a week later my abdomen burst.was taken to A&E then moved back on to PN ward :( ,they put me in a private room as they said i had a severe infection,needed 3 units of blood and IV antiobiotics,i got to keep my DS with me as i was BF

next day 3 consultants and 2 midwifes came to see me,didnt introduce themselves or ask me how i was feeling,they told one of the midwifes to lift my stomach up ( overhang off pregnancy belly ) they whisperd to each other then forceps were mentioned,then a junior doctor proceeded to open my wound with forceps without telling me what they were going to do and no pain relief offerd ! i was screaming at them that they were hurting me,i was completly ignored

later that day a midwife and a consultant came in,again no hello how are u just in lifted my stomach up and started pushing on my abdomen as there was litres and litres of fluid coming out,my OH walked in while they were doing this,saw me lying on the bed crying that they were hurting me and they had to stop,my OH said what the hell are u doing to my wife ! they both put there heads down and walked out

a lovely midwife came on duty that night and was an amazing woman,she let my OH stay with me,he didnt leave me once unless my parents were visiting,i lended up back in surgery to be sown back together after a week of the wound been open,cleaned and packed everyday

was the worst time of my life,i understand that these wards are understaffed,but it takes nothing to be civil to a paitient,especially when there at there most vunerable

i did complain to the hospital,about when they opend my wound and they admitted my care could have been better

Fucking hell cheesespread that sounds like being hung drawn and quartered. I am so shocked. You poor thing. and for you.

Cheesespread, that is so appalling, I dont even know what to write.

Cheesespread . That is just fucking inhuman.

Cheesespread, I have to say I would think about legal action. It sounds dreadful. You would not treat an animal like that.

It occurs to me that it probably would make sense to put women who have had sections or really grim deliveries on a special ward with single rooms, en suites, and much more attentive care for both mothers and babies for the first 3 days or so, with night nurseries being made available on request for mothers who need rest, and bf babies being brought to mothers for feeding overnight as necessary if mothers are trying to sleep and recover. Women who have had a more normal birth could share bays as they do at present and do a bit more for themselves and their babies.

At the moment we are requiring people who have had major abdominal surgery to look after newborns, breastfeed, clean themselves up regularly and whizz around the ward finding food and water in comparatively limited time intervals. We don't do this for any other set of patients who have had major abdominal surgery, so to me it seems very unreasonable. Obviously patients need to be moving around a bit to prevent blood clots and so on, but it should not be made so difficult for women to have their basic human needs met, as well as those of their babies.

I think it comes down to three things.

1. We were woefully underprepared for the recent baby boom.
2. Actually, the UK is not a very compassionate country and many of us think it's acceptable to be short tempered with people in need, even score points off them, if we are feeling a bit hard done by ourselves. This would also explain our cavalier attitude to the elderly in some cases.
3. Leadership in many maternity units is probably somewhat lacking.

I have had both my daughters at mlu's in diferent parts of the country. Each time I have been treated very well. Both births were brilliant. (both water births).

Midwives and other staff who could always find time for us. En-suite room as standard with dd2. I lived about an hours labouring drive from each but would do it exactly the same if I am fortunate to have a third child. I am grateful that I was low risk both times as I am aware that not everybody has this choice available to them.
I am happy to name them as they and many other like them do this wonderful job with passion and dignity. DD1 was born st St Mary's at Melton mowbray and DD2 was born at Okehampton maternity unit in Devon. Fab!

Cheesespread! I am in complete shock, that is terrible! Which hospital was that so we can all avoid it!?

I had DS1 at Pontefract General Infirmary.
The antenatal care was fabulous, the midwives during labour were fantastic too as were the doctor who delivered DS1 in Theatre.
The Postnatal ward was awful. :(
The midwives were going on and on and on about breastfeeding, i did breastfed but when my milk hadnt come through properly yet - DS1 was 2 weeks early. I was made to go on this torture device electric breastpump. Then i was told baby needs skin to skin, so did skin to skin it was freezing and he was screaming and screaming and shivering so we put his clothes back on, midwife came in shouting 'baby needs skin to skin' DH told her DS was cold adn shivering (PFB) and hes now feeding clothed if you bother to look. Which DS was.

I had DS2 at Doncaster Royal Infirmary Womens Unit and the antenatal care was brilliant, so was the wives during in labour.
The antenatal care was fab too, i managed to get a tea even though i hadnt booked one (probably got the person who was in the bed before me) Midwives nice and helpful except 3yrs on im still waiting for the consultant to come and check on DS2 the night he was born , wanted him checking because he kept choking on bile and going bright red, Nurse took him and cleared his airways and sucked the bile out and brought him back. Very quiet, i was only one on ward.

In 2009 i had a termination and had to have it done at my local hospital Scunthorpe General Hospital, was scared of going in because had heard horror stories about the maternity unit there. Vey arrogant - and also when i was pregnant with DS2 i had pains early on and was sent for an early scan, i knew my dates and was told i was a week and 3 days behind my dates, i knew i wasnt. Doncaster confirmed this a few weeks later in my dating scan. I was on the ante natal/postnatal ward, when i got hyperemesis. I had to have IV drip to level my fluids or summat. The nurses were fantastic, very helpful and kind.

babybarrister
when you say non-medicalisation for child birth - do you mean given birth with NO pain relief at all?? Or just epidural??

I had diamorphine with my DS2 and the pain was so horrific i passed out during labour 6 times.

"It occurs to me that it probably would make sense to put women who have had sections or really grim deliveries on a special ward with single rooms, en suites,"

The only thing is though SeniorWrangler that sections are not usually the same as 'really grim deliveries.' Sometimes they are of course. None of mine were - as soon as I could I was up and about, never struggled to lift the baby, had no real trouble walking to the loo (and of course before the catheter was out didn't need to go so an en suite would have been a waste). I am not saying that some people don't suffer dreadfully from the aftermath of their sections - I know they do. However the woman with what looked like the nice normal delivery to other patients might have lost litres of blood and need a private room much more.

I expect that the staff allocate private rooms on a "need" basis, and at times women may be in desperate need of a private room and don't get it, because someone whose need is even more desperate has it. FWIW I was always interested to hear other people's stories and have people to talk to, so I don't think I would have wanted a room to myself.

that was the short version i have posted,there s a hell of a lot more to it including the anethatist arguing in theatre with the midwifes

2 auxiallrys fainted at the sight of my open wound,apparently you could see my rectal sheath? i never looked didnt want to see it

to feed my DS i had to drag him across my body from the cot attached to my bed,the side room was never cleaned once in the week i was there my OH lended up cleaning the room with a packet of dettol wipes ! i was never offerd a cup of tea unless it was by the nice midwife who did nightshift,the shower room they said i had to use by the end of my stay had 6 hospital gowns full of blood and puss still in there on a chair so that had not been cleaned either

TBH the consultants were worse than the midwifes they couldnt give a shit about u,all they kept sayin was u have a healthy baby,yes i had a healthy baby but wouldnt my DS have been better iff with a healthy mum?

everytime i asked what was going to happen with my wound i was told "we ll fix you "

when i was taken to be "fixed" i woke up with tension sutres in,i compared them to shower curtain hooks,they became infected and i had to go back and have them removed,the nice midwife was there,she had arranged for me to have a bottle of G&A i had been using this to have the wound cleaned and packed after my OH kicked off about no pain relief,the consultant laughed at me and said u dont need that ! the nice midwife said "this poor lady is traumitised she can use it if she wants to "

it was South Tyneside Hospital,i was told not to go there but i didnt listen,i suppose you think nothing will happen to me,but it did x

CHEESESPREAD that is so awful. I am so sorry for you; (please sue them.)

I strongly recommend avoiding Plymouth too. Lousy care, boiling hot cramped wards, bullying staff.
My daughter was given the wrong medication for 2 consecutive days (and she was BF) and when the mistake was discovered they had the gall to put the blame on her.
"Well, why didn't you notice?" instead of apologising.

Cheesespread, that is absolutely horrific. :( I hope you are better now?

yes im a lot better now thanx physically,mentally not so good,having counselling and on AD i have flashbacks to them opening the wound im not the same person i was before this happend

we wanted 2 children but i dont no if can put myself through it all again

You poor thing, I'm not surprised. :( I really hope your counselling helps you get past your awful experience & allow you to get to a point where you feel able to have another DC. x

By the sounds of it, your hospital should be shut down until they are actually willing to treat patients like humans. :(

I'm so appalled by some of these stories .

I had a pretty shit time in the PN ward at St Thomas's in Jan 2009, and a brilliant time there in March 2011...

In 2009 my experience was:

• about 5% of the staff spoke intelligible English. I found this extremely difficult when so tired and dealing with a sick baby.
• zero help with BFing with a very sleepy baby who was dangerously jaundiced
• no help to keep her goggles on when she eventually had light therapy
• I asked a midwife to help me cup feed said baby and she said "I've shown you once i'm not doing it again"
• I didn't eat a single meal because a) I had no idea when or where they were served and was too tired to go looking b) when I did find it, the food was inedible and too stodgy for a postnatal woman who had been told under no circumstances to get constipated
• we were in for 6 nights and I was awake for the entire time, trying to keep my baby's goggles on or BF. I was a wreck when I eventually escaped. Bearing in mind I'd also had a 40 hour labour, a third degree tear and episiotomy after a forceps delivery I was in no state to tackle the challenges the PN ward presented.
• I got shouted at. Yes, properly shouted at, for various 'misdemeanors' such as feeding my baby lying down in bed at night, having the secondary light on DD's phototherapy box, not having the light on DD's phototherapy box, changing a nappy on the bed, being 'late' for breakfast, leaving my baby in her light box while going to the loo, taking her out of her lightbox and into the loo. You get the picture.
• I NEVER got my medication on time, which meant I was in huge amounts of pain for the majority of my stay.

Fast forward two years and I don't know what they've done but it's a different place. I had calm, kind, competent care, was given all the information I needed and was left to care for my baby however I pleased. I was in for less than 12 hours though!

cheesespread that is horrific, I'm sorry that happened to you.

I had both my babies at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and had two very different experiences.

With DD1 the lowlights were:-

*MW not believing I was in pain from my episiotomy and bruising.
*Having to hobble to a loo that felt miles away when I could barely walk.
*MW telling me off for buzzing when DD1's nappy needed changing,because I didn't know there was a bowl and things under the cot and had the temerity to ask for a bowl of warm water.
*Same MW telling the other woman in my room in a very sarky tone that 'babies are sick you know' when her son was repeatedly projectile vomiting after every feed. (He was poorly actually).

• Several different MWs coming in and manhandling me, grabbing my boobs, roughly shoving my daughter on, all giving conflicting advice...
• Ultimately I couldn't BF, and was given the cold shoulder when I asked for formula, and was told I'd 'regret it when my milk came in'. (Even though it seemed I couldn't physically BF my DD).
• I do think this contributed to the PND I developed.

I did have one MW who was lovely though, and she took DD for a few hours so I could get some sleep.

With DD2, I had her in the brand new Birth Centre at HRI and it couldn't have been more different.

Highlights were:-

• Same MW cared for me during delivery and for 8 hours after, and she was wonderful. (She started work at 8am and I had DD2 at 8.07am so had lots of time with her post-natally).
• Private en-suite room which had a nice homely feel and DH was able to stay overnight after delivery.
• MW was totally supportive as I tried (and failed) to BF, and was wonderful when I decided to FF. No negative judgement at all.
• It was nice and peaceful, and she encouraged me to stay overnight just to make sure DD2 would feed okay (as I had had trouble getting DD1 to take a bottle and was a bit anxious).

It was just so relaxed in the birth centre, the care was great and it made a huge difference to my state of mind after the birth as well. I found it much easier to bond with DD2 as we had so much quiet time together.

This was 2007 and 2008.