To think post natal wards are absolute shit?

[SprogletsMum]

I had ds2 this morning and have been put onto a full 4 bay ward.

2 of the 3 other women have been quiet most of the day but one keeps ringing people all day long. There has not been a single minute of quiet all day.
I've been awake since 1am and I'm shattered but she just won't shut up.
I'm going home to the other 3 dc for some peace and quiet as soon as ds2s 12 hours of obs are up.

'Either you think people are 'snowflakes,' or you think that there is a broken system that is causing problems for them. It can't be both. And I think it is extremely hypocritical to call other people 'snowflakes' then complain about your own experience.'

I disagree. I think this need to be glued to your partner 24/7 in a hospital has definitely increased, and is something separate to a broken system because it's happening outside of postnatal care units.

And I shared my experiences here, which were not good. It's not the first time I've done so and I still don't see that as a reason why patients need to put up with a 24/7 visitor in any adult care ward setting.

So now sharing a negative experience is a complaint but only when it furthers your own personal agenda with another poster. Okay away.

'I keep wondering if I should transfer my care to the big new hospital but I really like my consultant.'

The big new hospital is all private rooms, IIRC. Does your cons work out there? Some RAH ones do. It's worth looking into. I took OTC pain relief in, but one poster took tramadol and codeine in. Not sure how she got hold of it, but if you speak to your consultant it might be well worth mentioning.

I noticed some private rooms in RAH (they also didn't let you take your baby outside the room when I was there, so this was on the way to the trolley) but not sure how they are allocated.

Yeah, never found that kitchen, just the trolley. Had to leave the baby, though, as one of the other ladies offered to get me a plate of food, but they refused to give her more than one for me. The CS lady's mother was bringing her food, but the staff never asked her if she were eating at all.

Yes, it was out of place. Sneering on a thread where people are sharing experiences of being frightened and in pain is just nasty.

'I also tried to discharge myself and was told I couldn't or I would have to leave the baby behind, '

Oh, they didn't pull that stunt. Where would they have moved the baby, anyhow? They did make us wait hours and hours for a paed to look at him so we ended up missing the last ferry and having to go the long way, which you know is llllooonnnggg.

'Yes, it was out of place. Sneering on a thread where people are sharing experiences of being frightened and in pain is just nasty.'

You saw it as sneery. I get that. I disagree with doubling the occupancy of wards with 24/7 visitors. Carry on scolding if it makes you feel better.

Sorry I didn't mean to cause any arguments. I must have cross posted there, I don't think I was being a snowflake though. I was just kind of relieved that someone who used the same hospital as me found the same problems. I really didn't expect special treatment, just food and pain relief and to be treated civilly.

I found it really confusing that we weren't to leave our baby to get food from the other end of the ward but also partners weren't allowed in until 2pm visiting time. Not allowed to leave the baby, or carry the baby or push the wheeled cot along the ward.....so not sure what you are meant to do with them while you get food

yes it was RAH.

I refused to go on a postnatal ward, I told them, they either put me in a private room or I go home!

I don't think I'm entitled, I was still so very ill, I couldn't put anything on my bottom half due to a complication after birth....can you imagine me walking to the toilet with everything on show?

I was transferred solely because I complained about a doctor....even though the senior ob said she wanted me to stay on her ward.

Doc got his head up his ass & clearly wanted to get rid of me.

I couldn't bear the idea of being on an open ward!

I disagree with doubling the occupancy of wards with 24/7 visitors.

100% agree. It's appalling that women have to put up with other women's partners and visitors overnights, and even more appalling that other women are happy to subject them to it.

'I found it really confusing that we weren't to leave our baby to get food from the other end of the ward but also partners weren't allowed in until 2pm visiting time. Not allowed to leave the baby, or carry the baby or push the wheeled cot along the ward.....so not sure what you are meant to do with them while you get food confused'

Yeah, I took DS out of his cot just to get a breath of fresh air and they came running fast to tell me I couldn't. Come to think of it, it's a better way of getting their attention than the buzzer .

I'd have my other two at ERI and they did allow you to move in the corridor with the baby so I wrongly assumed the same.

Had same problem with food with DD1, though, so bring some bars and stuff in your bag. I should have brought some bottled water. I had a water bottle in my bag and went to the sink at the end of the room to get some water and got caught doing that. Apparently another no-no.

Wow I imagine you were really pleased to have the long journey right the way round after giving birth!

Snacks and bottled water also added to my list.

I got warned for carrying DD too, I picked her out of her cot and walked round my bed to the chair to feed her. That was it! I wonder if they wanted me to clamber over the bed with her

Oh, yeah, it was way fun with stitches and piles, boinging up and down on the A83. On the plus side, DS slept the whole way so we didn't have to stop for me to feed him as it was cold. It was the night Obama won the presidency first time so there was a good part to being up in the night.

Yeah, what were you supposed do? The bay wasn't big enough to wheel the cot round that side.

They were definitely more protective of moving the baby. At ERI, they let you put the baby in the car seat and walk out (hell, they practically flung you out the door there, they were stripping my bed as DH picked up my bag and the bairn), whereas at RAH you had to be escorted with the baby still in the cot and then do the transfer to the car.

Many people (including me) disagree with partners being on wards. It should not be necessary or desirable.

No one else felt the need to refer to women as 'snowflakes'.

Terrible.

With DS I was in for a week (he needed NNICU then SCBU after crash section and those first few days of being with a special care baby are vital). From 5pm on day 5 till 8am on day 7 I didn't interact with a single member of staff on the post natal ward. My stitches were due out, I should have had a heparin injection. They were too busy, too stretched to spend ten minutes doing small but necessary things. I was too focused on being in SCBU with my seriously ill baby to care (and on hunners of pain relief so very spaced) When I was finally seen the midwife told me that they'd discussed me at their 7am handover because they were painfully aware that I had been left. I'd been left because three women had needed crash sections during that time and they had to be given priority. One of those babies born didn't make it. She was in tears because every baby and every mother is so important to the front line staff and they put their hearts and souls into their job. But they are so under resourced and so overwhelmed. It's an impossible situation.

The big new hospital is all private rooms, IIRC.

It is for most stuff, but not postnatal.

'It is for most stuff, but not postnatal.'

How disappointing, but unsurprising. Wonder if it's any cleaner than some of the others out there.

When I was in a couple of years ago, it was clean and the staff were lovely. Still baking hot, noisy and busy, though.

Oh I remember being written up some pain relief by the consultant after a cs 'just in case', asking for it later, and the midwife saying 'you don't look like you're In pain'. The fucking cow.I told her I'd done 6 natural births without any pain relief so they owed me some (then burst into tears)
After what other serious surgery would you be refused pain relief, never mind have to look after a new baby straight away? I couldn't even reach and put baby in his cot properly, and was royally told off for changing him on a mat on my bed (I'm very short).

Sorry if this is off topic.

But I'm wondering about jaundice babies, with dc1 he became jaundice once we were home, I was told it perfectly normal, and to sit by the window with him as much as possible, the jaundice should only last 2 - 3 days max, but they would keep an eye on it. Everything was fine jaundice cleared up.

With dc2 I was in the big hospital, they seemed alarmed, and I was Meh about it, but then they said they had to run tests incase our bloods had reacted meaning the jaundice was more serious. When the tests came back and there was no reaction, they made me sign some waver about taking home because he was jaundice?

Is it normal practice then to keep a baby in and under lights for jaundice then?

TwatName mild jaundice is very very common and resolves at home with sunlight and plenty of milk.

Babies are kept in and put under the lights if jaundice is more severe. I think bilirubin level in the blood may be the key metric?

Depends on the level of jaundice, IIRC. My baby went very yellow, needed blood tests to see how bad it was, but from the results of those tests didn't quite hit the threshold for light treatment so we got sent home with instructions to sit by windows a lot.

My Dc1 was jaundiced and put under lights, Dc2 was jaundiced but only needed to be given lots of milk and sunlight. Iirc the difference was that Dc1 developed it sooner and she was sleepy and difficult to wake for feeds. They tested her bilirubin levels and they were low enough to need treating.

Ahhh thanks for the explanations, makes more sense now.

35 years ago I had my twins in the old Jessops women's hospital in Sheffield. I was in for a month before they were born for "complete rest". There were two 5 bed rooms at the end of the ward for similar pre natal mums.
Then after the birth, all first time mum's were kept in for a full 5 days. There were all single rooms iirc, but communal bathrooms.
There was no tv unless you were well enough to go to the day room. No mobile phones (only on Star Trek in those days) so to make a phone call you had to request the phone trolley. Visiting was restricted to an hour in the afternoon and two hours at night. Two visitors only, the only children allowed were the mum's own. Husbands were allowed to be at the birth and to stay until you were settled in the main ward after moving back from the Labour ward but after that, visiting hours only. At night the lights were dimmed at 10pm, you were supposed to be quiet. The tv in the day room was turned off.
The ward was busy during the day, it was a teaching hospital so as a "twin mum" I got examined by lots of students, there were regular cleaners and auxiliary nurses as well as midwives, I don't remember staff shortages being a problem. The ward sisters and the matron ruled with a rod of iron. If they thought a room wasn't clean or a bed by made properly then woe before the person responsible! Likewise if you made too much noise and woke someone up.....
However, when I needed help they were there. The fiercest was a Jamaican lady, who gave me a cuddle and help in the wee small hours when I was struggling to bf.
The food was what I would call typical school dinner menu. First cup f tea at 6am, cooked breakfast, coffee at 10.30, lunch , more tea at 3, dinner (2 courses usually stuff she and custard for pudding) milky drink at bed time. All served to you in bed, or sitting at the side if you were allowed. Your water jug was refilled twice a day, if you were awake at night you could get tea and toast from the nurses too. It wasn't restaurant quality by any means, the shepherds pie lives in my memory as being revolting, but it was OK.
The ward was clean, see above for fierce ward sisters/matron!

So much seems to have changed, I can't fault the care I got for myself or my DC. It was boring, and often hot on the ward, but we could open a window and I read a lot of books!
Why has it all gone wrong?

Yanbu. Awful places!!