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

Catgirl, I would have been seriously uncomfortable with someone else's partner being on the postnatal ward overnight! I spent most of the night topless trying to establish BF with skin to skin contact, not something I would want to do with a random man in the room. There are reasons for the rules.

Catgirl, I would have been seriously uncomfortable with someone else's partner being on the postnatal ward overnight! I spent most of the night topless trying to establish BF with skin to skin contact, not something I would want to do with a random man in the room. There are reasons for the rules.

It was the worst experience of my life. I am
pg again and will discharge myself as soon as I can.
I couldn't reach DD when she cried and the buzzers didn't work.
The MWs were hugely overstretched and some were rude. The emphasis on bf was way way over the top, and actually quite counter productive. Yelling at people that they cannot go home until they have proven that they can feed effectively, yet not helping to pass their baby to them (!), just doesn't work.
The showers were freezing cold.
The only food I got was when DH brought it.
There was no privacy - eg the bloody Bounty woman gaily coming in and out. I saw more sodding sales people than health cate professionals.
One of the MWs was v aggressive and threatened to call security to eject DH.
It was the beginning

I was amzed at how weak and reluctant to defend myself I was.

DH and I have a plan for next time to be bolder!

The midwife led unit at Kingston Hospital is brilliant - I don't know anyone who has had a bad experience there. It is mainly individual post-natal rooms and the staff are wonderful. The only problem I had is that I was told that I could go home a couple of hours after delivery and then they somehow missed us off the doctor's ward round and we didn't get discharged for another 8 hours. A minor gripe though!

There is a lot of advice locally against choosing Chelsea & Westminster, however - its post-natal care is notoriously poor.

Food was a bit ropey. Other people noisy. Midwives kind but admin a bit disorganized. No-one made me have a shower, I just said no thanks and had one at home.

Oh dear, some of you have had some awful experiences. I tried a home birth but had to transfer to hopital and ended up with an emergency c-section. I ended up staying 5 days in hospital (the irony is not lost on me!) and I loved it! Whoever was in charge would personally come over in the morning and introduce themselves, everyone was very helpful with everything, nothing was too much. I had good food and felt completely rested and calm for my return home. There was only one night when someone was inconsiderate and spoke loudly on their mobile phone when everyone was trying to sleep but that has nothing to do with the staff.

It's 10 years and more since I gave birth to premature twins after an emergency C-section under general anaesthetic. The best experience of my life - having my sons - was also one of the very worst. I was in hospital 19 days - alone, (no partner and no family) and relied soleyl on the cleaning staff to see that I got any meals. What was headed for a natural birth - after 12 hrs labour without even gas and air - became mass intervention because of the frequent changes of staff and the anaesthetist at the end who had a stand up row in the room with other staff and then couldn't find the part of my spine to put inthe local anaesthetic - so knocked me out with a general.

There are so many parts that were just horrible....like many others, being forced to overdo it physically, so that at one point, my C-section re-opened when I was int he loo and when I pulled the emergency cord, they suggested the blood was menstrual...although when they saw it welling out of my stomach, they conceded I was right and they were wrong....one set of staff would tell me NOT to do too much and to let the nurses care for the babies...the next shift would tell me off for not looking after my babies by myself...the other shift would return and tell me off for overdoing it...

Those 19 days in hospital, I barely slept more than 20 mins at a time for no more than 3 periods in each 24 and I was hallucinating with lack of sleep and crying all the time. I had no clothes for the babies and had to rely on hospital clothes and my own 2 nightdresses got stained and messed and only after 14 days did anyone suggest the hospital might lend me something else....

I nearly fainted in the shower....I was told off for persisting with trying to breastfeed and told it would be impossible....I was told my babies couldn't feel any pain when their gatsro-nasal tubes were changed at times....I heard my babies screaming, unattended, at night in the nightnursery and after a few days, despite barely having slept, having had a general aneasthetic and a C-section, no one to support me and virtually no food, my mothering instinct made me try to take over full care of my sons, so they wouldn't suffer anymore....

The main nurse was nasty and bossy and spilled water over the only photos I had of my twins - the first ones taken when they were C-sectioned out of me - so v v precious....another woman's baby got mistaken for someone elses and given to the wrong mother.....

Yet this was/is a v prestigious teaching hospital (won't say where) and gets accolades for its care! Before I went in, I tried everything to pay for my own private midwife to come in with me but the hospital didn't let you do this. Instead, I got 27, I repeat 27! changes of nurse/midwife across the 12 hrs I was in labour. there was no continuity of care.

Basically it was pure hell and I always now say to anyone just don't go into hospital alone, without an advocate, even if you have to pay someone to do this, if you're alone like me.

Ten years on, I remember the trauma of it all, which coloured the first 5 yrs of life of my twins. When I heard the other day someone on R4 speaking about the horrendous treatment they'd had at hospital for their cancer therapy, my heart went out to them and I thought - my God, at least mine wasn't as bad as that, when giving birth...but it was still absolutely horrible.

Unfotunately, i havn't had my baby yet and have had to make a complaint about my local hospital and its appalling antenatal care. The first time i was admitted (with pre term labour) i was transfered to a fab hospital a few miles away (after a massive lack of communication between midwives and the evil EVIL doctor who rammed her fingers so hard during my internal i thought she was doing a sweep) and was treated brilliantly, they stopped the labour and treated me well, NEVER wrote in my notes if i wasnt present and always checked my ID before speaking to me or administering any drugs.

Second time i went in (unfortunately) the N&N had space for me. They wrote someone elses care details in my notes (drugs they had given her and what she was there for) never wrote in my notes in front of me - so secretly wrote false information about me in them (apparently i had 2 big anxiety attacks and the midwife had to calm me down??? In reality i asked her ONCE to get me a tissue because i was a tad upset - seeing as my baby might be born weeks early, i'd had no sleep and missed my OH - and she shoved a hand towel at me and fucked off ) then ignored me for about 5 hours, wrote that they had explained to me the effects of the diazepan i'd been given, even though i wasn't given any and it was never even mentioned to me, kept me waiting overnight in pain because they forgot to give me painkillers TWICE, told me i was going home and 7 hours later still hadn't discharged me and to top it all off LOST my notes.

When i returned for notes they didn't ask me who i was and why i was there when i wandered onto delivery suite past all the new babies and sleeping mothers and STILL didn't ask me for ID before thrusting my notes at me.

When i got home, i opened my notes to find all this shit, PLUS the results of SOMEONE ELSES NT scan and 2 check up appointment letters with ALL her details on it. Hospital numbers, address, phone numbers. Turns out this was the lady who's clinical details had been written in my notes.

SO yeh, if thats antenatal care i really don't want to return for labour and post-natal care thanks and i bloody well told them that too!

Excellent both times. Second time I was discharged after 12 hours having never left the delivery suite and it was so relaxed and quiet. First time in 3 days after forceps and unable to get DD latched on, staff amazing. Would say both deliveries excellent too.

I was lucky enough to only be in overnight and to have a side ward (call it a "ok, love, you have given birth" gift from DH )

My experience was that I was left completely alone, no-one checked on me all night (it was my first so I knew no different) and in the morning the MW came in and said "didn't you do well, we didn't hear a peep out of you all night, - I can't believe you are a first time Mum" I thought, fuck I could have done with a bit of encouragement about 3am.

looking back I'm a bit , - I reckon they checked the records and thought "oh shit, we never checked on room 4 !!"

I don't think these places can ever be pleasant; all these sore, tired, panicky people + screaming babies bedlam is bound to ensue.

I had some snotty nurses/midwives, but they were a bit better with me when they realised I was 27 and not 17 (Sometimes looking young is not a good thing) I really felt for the actual teenage mothers.

There were some rules that didn't seem to make any sense-why did we have to have food that the lady in our bed from the day before had ordered?

I think that it would help if during antenatal classes more attention was paid to explaining what it might be like after the birth. I for one was convinced (both times ) that I would go home within 12 hours and have no problems. I did not really prepare myself for my time in post-natal.

A lot of the stuff that the staff are trying to do on the in post natal could be done antenatally, like how to change a nappy and bath a baby.

Rules could be on display so people know when and where food is available, what kind of help they can expect, and not expect, which bathroom to use and so on.

Things like discharge papers, really need to be sorted out throughout the NHS I think, as it seems to be exactly the same on the paediatric wards I've been on too. It seems quite normal for people to wait until the next day to be discharged, because it's such a low priority for the DRs which of course makes sense, but I'm sure in the 21st century a better system could be used.

That feeling of being trapped and wanting to go home and sleep is horrible, especially 3 days PP.

We could all help ourselves to some extent by bringing food and supplies and by seeking out some hands on practice with real babies and by going on the tour of the ward before hand so we know our way around.

Of course having a baby hardly ever goes to plan.

I didn't have to stay on a PN ward, thank God - I'd heard such horror stories about the one at our hospital that I was planning to remortgage the house and go private if I wasn't deemed a suitable candidate for the MLU (where DH could stay with me if I had to be in overnight). Fortunately I had no complications and gave birth at the MLU, where I had excellent care. DS was fine, I was fine and we didn't have to be in overnight at all. We left 6 hours after I'd delivered. This thread reminds me why I was so determined to avoid the whole PN experience!

Horrible.
Asked for pain relief as epidural wearing off (bear in mind this was after an emergency section which went on for four and a half hours, so lots of being pulled about!). Given paracetamol. Surprise, surprise, didn't work.
First 2 nights after that ok (on ITU then delivery). Then to postnatal ward.
In fairness, I did get a private room and my husband was allowed to stay the first night (we were both fairly traumatised post near-death experience). However, baby cried continuously, and I mean continuously, unless attached to my breast for both nights I was there. I remember sitting up slapping myself in the face because I was so tired and was terrified I'd fall asleep and smother her whilst trying to feed, especially the night I was on my own. No help from midwives.
Once home also minimal help. Despite her 15% weight loss nobody did a thing to help us out.
She is now 4 and I have nearly, nearly persuaded both myself and my husband that having another baby might be a bearable experience.
Having said all this I'm very glad we weren't at home, prob would have died then, which would have been worse....

with ds it was good, very good compared to some of these stories! only one minor complaint which was being ignored when i rang for help to pick choking ds up, another new mum had to help as no one came. other than that staff were nice. this was at the royal surrey county in 2008

with dd again it was good, ward was too hot and noisy but staff were nice and helpful, even at 3am when dd wouldn't latch properly and i needed help. this was at norfolk and norwich in 2011

both dc were CS.

I'm so sorry for all of you who had a bad time of it.

I left hospital immediately after giving birth. I put my coat on and told the midwife that I was willing to kick the security door down so I could leave. Calmly this is, I should add! The year before I stayed on a gynaecology ward for an operation. I was treated very badly there. I cried for weeks afterward. I won't go into the details but I got a written apology from the hospital. I could weep to think of some of you poor ladies having to go through those terrifying first days with a newborn while being treated like that.

The only way I am ever staying on a ward again is if I'm unconscious.

Catgirl1976 The info from AtYourCervix about who gets to stay postnally wasn't applicable to my hospital (a bog standard district general). All mums stayed at least one night, reason being you "had" to stay in until the paed had checked the baby, and the newborn hearing test had been done. These visits only take place once a day (late morning) so everyone I know had at least one overnight stay, even with a totally uncomplicated birth.

However, I think if I had made a big fuss they would have discharged after the 5 hours or whatever it is the minimum permitted stay (would need to return the next day to see the paed/hearing test people etc). If you are definitely minded to avoid the postnatal ward, I'd get it written into your birth plan so you don't get railroaded into staying.

As for my experience, it wasn't as bad as much of the descriptions here. My overriding memory was just how hot it was, very noisy (in a bay with 12 other mums and babies so sleep was impossible), bathroom facilities poor (as in not enough of them), food usual (poor) hospital fare. The staff were mostly good, but there was one aux who was rude to me in the middle of the night when I was unable to feed.

absolute bloody nightmare. literally - although my birth was quite straightforward and the labour team were great, I had to have the placenta manually removed and was left lying in a giant pool of congealed blood from the time the op finished at 6pm until I demanded to be released at about 2pm the next day - they wouldn't let me leave until my blood pressure had gone up as I had lost a lot of blood. Drip in my arm - I couldn't move to get to the baby and was verbally abused when I pressed the button for assistance when the baby passed meconium at about 2am - no assistance with latching on, a midwife sighed and brought a bottle of formula which she conveniently left out of reach. breakfast was a buffet which I couldn't get to because of the (non mobile) drip so I didn't eat the whole time I was there. by the time DH and friends arrived at 10am I was begging people to take my blood pressure so i could get the hell out of there...

My ds never got the hearing test

A lot of people on here are naming the good hospitals, which is good, but please, also name the terrible ones, as bad publicity may be the only thing which can kick-start change.

It's really sad to me that we have to psyche ourselves up to fight the bullies on the wards. Why are women who are giving birth bullied in hospitals anyway?

as a nurse i get what your saying at your cervix but like a lot of women seemingly on here i had pretty apalling care and after 17 hrs on the delivery suite after being induced and a ventouse delivery a little compassion wouldnt have gone amiss but i know maternity services like every other nhs service are severly overstretched and women just see nasty lazy midwife not overworked sressed to hell midwife with way to much paperwork the whole of the nhs needs sorting out properly

ok then - lewisham - 6 years ago. but I stress that the midwives in the labour ward was great, as was the 20 something south african doctor who somehow made the epidural and manual removal of placenta (after labour and attempted induced labour to remove the placenta, by which time my nerves were a little frayed) unembarrassing. We had a great discussion about my being able to empathise with a turkey at xmas, as I recall it. And I have never been embarrassed about a cervical smear since!

Birth 1 - awful. Overworked and therefore under attentive midwives didn't spot how badly I was't coping. The sleep deprivation and lack of support led to crippling PND. I truly believe that if I'd been able to rest better and been given good advice on how and when to feed my new baby I would not have started down a horrible road. She told me only to breast feed him every 4 hours. In my hollow-eyed, obedient state I just did what I was told. I will always feel guilty for that awful first night of his when he cried and cried and I did too. I'm in tears as I type this now.

Birth 2 - better. DS2's birth was complicated and a midwife friend who still had many mates at the hospital lurked around my post natal care and made it known she was looking out for me. No PND. Yes rest. Good start to DS2's life.

I had similar experiences of abrupt midwives on the ante natal and post natal wards. Felt like I was in a factory. DD was induced and in the evening they tried to make my DH and mum go home, even though I was in early labour and had a history of having very fast labours and deliveries. My mum and Dh refused to leave and lo and behold they found space for us in the delivery suite. I gave birth about 3 hours later and if they'd left they would have missed it.

Delivery midwives were wonderful, but post natal ones were cold and left people to just get on with it. I discharged myself the next morning as soon as DD had been checked over.

I gave birth at night and the MW left us in the delivery suite, so I could have a bath and DH could spend some time with our baby. No visitors were allowed on the ward at night and truthfully, I don't know why my mum couldn't have stayed. I would have been able to sleep, knowing she was there.

My ward was clean and the food okay. the MW tended to mind their own business if you were not a first time mum or didn't specifically ask for help.

I would advise anyone going into hospital to have their baby to take

1)hot water bottle and travel kettle. Birth pains can be very painful (comparable to contractions) and I found these helped.

2)Paracetamol. Some wards will only give out medicine at certain times.

3)Anti-bacterial spray for cleaning the bath/loo.