AIBU to think that all mothers should have food and water on postnatal wards?

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello,

Today, we at MNHQ are launching a new campaign called Better Postnatal Care: Aftercare, not Afterthought.

Over the years, we’ve been struck by how many MNers have related pretty horrible experiences on postnatal wards. We’ve also seen lots of discussions about longer term aspects of postnatal care: help with breast or bottle feeding, mental health care for new mothers, wound care after difficult births, and physio for women who feel they need it (but rarely feel able to ask for it) - among other things.

So, towards the end of last year we decided to see if we could do something about it. We ran a big survey of Mumsnet users’ experiences of postnatal care, and some of the results were striking. (You can see more here.) Among those who stayed in hospital after giving birth - which was most new mums - many reported that it was sometimes difficult to access food, pain relief, drinking water and washing facilities. 61% had been unable to access food when they needed it; 45% had been unable to access pain relief when they needed it; 22% had been unable to access water when they needed it; and 19% had been unable to access washing facilities when they needed them.

So today, we are asking the major UK political parties to commit, in their manifestos for the general election, to making sure that women on postnatal wards always have access to the absolute basics: food, water, pain relief and washing facilities.

We’re also asking everyone (this means you!) to contribute ideas about how we can make postnatal wards ‘fit for purpose’. More midwives? A fridge full of sandwiches, fruit and water on every ward? Asking all visitors and patients to turn off noises on their phones and personal devices? Maternity support assistants? Welcome cards by every bed explaining how the ward works? Making sure that inpatients and their visitors use headphones if they’re watching TV? We’re after all your suggestions, no matter how small. We’ll also be asking for input from healthcare workers with frontline experience - so if you’re one of those, please do chip in.

This isn’t about going into battle with people who work in maternity services in the NHS. Most of you feel that overall, over the year or so post-birth, standards of postnatal care are good or OK. When asked what needs to change, many of you say you think there should be more staff. Some of you had very good experiences: if you look at the ‘Good Stuff’ heading on this page you’ll see some shout-outs to hospitals and services that MNers say are getting things right. So we know that it can be done. What we want to do is find out how these hospitals are managing to get it right, and see if the lessons can be transferred.

In the months to come, the campaign will look in more detail at things like infant feeding, traumatic births, postnatal mental health, and follow-up care for birth injuries.

Please get involved with the campaign. Here are some ways you can help.

And as ever - do let us know what you think!

Thanks

I was written up for oramorph after my section but the midwife with the drugs trolley 10 hours later decided I wasn't 'in enough pain' to have it.

The local low risk unit here is great, helpful midwifes who will advise about breast feeding and make sure you have what you need. The food is good and I never had an issue having water or anything I needed. However this unit is now under threat of becoming a birthing centre which will close over night... which I see as the first step in closing it completely.

end is that really true? Was it true 14 years ago (when I had DD1).

I just cannot comprehend they would knowingly let another person suffer like that

It would be better if...
The midwives put your baby right next to your bed, rather than by the window. It affected my baby so that his temperature dropped! I had to get up [after a second degree tear-fix] and bring him closer to me.

... if the midwives offered some food and drink straight-away and put it in reaching distance from your bed. I was left for hours in the delivery suite as the midwives were busy with someone else - when I gained my strength to get up and shower, I nearly blacked out. Luckily, I had the sense to call someone in to help me to start with.

.. Most importantly, to check for tongue-tie! It is very common and it can be easily rectified. An early discovery would save on a lot of stress and self-blame why breastfeeding doesn't go as planned. I asked in the hospital; they kind of dismissed my query. I had another 3 midwives checking how I breastfed my baby - one of them called it 'model breastfeeding' - as I was was doing it the right way. I self-diagnosed it, at 8 weeks, and we had to go through 2 tongue-tie ops as the first one didn't quite worked - it turned out my little one had a more severe, posterior tongue-tie.

Yes ban bounty, they won't leave you alone, are over familiar/trying to be your best friend/ do not initially make it clear that they are not nursing staff until you ask for something/medical question, they are just trying to sell photos-I've just had a baby, I'm not shopping!
Dignity- few hours after first born twins and c section I had no idea what was going on, was propped up in bed, parents came to visit when 2 women appeared said we're going to try and get you feeding and unhooked my vest top straps and began squeezing both boobs, one each at the same time, really hard in full view of everyone, I was naked from waist up just arggghhh- I try and blank it out. I felt assaulted, v vulnerable and not in control of my body, but helpless and unable to protest.

Agree food should be brought around. Bed sheets should be changed every day. I was on a postnatal ward for 8 days the first time and they forgot to change the sheets for 6 days. Agree also mobile phones should be limited as the noise is maddening. Not being made to walk when I was unable to. Being more considerate about catheters, as I at one point had a double bag and trying to hold a new born.

She had horrendous shoulder tip pain, too, MaQueen. Oh, she was also sat up in the chair, buzzer out of reach and out of reach of her baby. At night. WTAF? The baby started coughing up mucus and she was screaming for help because she thought the baby was choking. The other woman, who was only 19 and having her second child, and I were able to get up so buzzed so she buzzed and took the baby to the mother, explaining what happened whilst I changed the sheets in the cot.

I don't know if anyone has said this already (v long thread!) but Ipswich has a snack table available 24 hours a day on the wards along with tea, coffee, water. It's very snack based (crisps, biscuits etc) but much better than nothing if you have 6 hours to wait before your next meal

I walked the dark corridors of my postnatal ward at 3am in tears with a baby of less than 12 hours old that was screaming because I couldn't feed her. I asked for help, I cried for help. My baby was screaming. I had just coke out of a long and difficult labour. No one came. I was told to wait.
No one helped me for hours, the midwives were simply too busy. It was undoubtedly the worst time of my life. I was offered very little care and nowhere to shower after a 48 hour labour. My baby did not feed for a full day after her birth and no one checked.
I asked my husband to bring me something to eat and formula to feed my baby after breastfeeding wasn't working. She screamed for hours after being unable to latch on. Every time I asked for help I was told to 'wait 10 minutes'.
My two days on a postnatal ward only improved when I was discharged and I could try clean, feed and self medicate for my pain at home. I diognosed my daughters feeding problems myself and pumped breastmilk for her to feed.
It was a disgrace and we need more of a focus on this important area of maternal and newborn care.

Food and water brought to you. I got nothing to eat or drink for 18 hours after a c section because I was too groggy to move. That doesn't even need nurses, just ward assistants of some sort. Also, breakfast was only available in the dining room until 8.30, visitors not allowed in til 9 and you couldn't take your baby to the dining room. So I never got breakfast. Also, some basic nursing care. I wasn't able to stand after c- section as blood pressure too low. I didn't get washed or cleaned after the birth for nearly 2 days. Then expected to take myself to the shower, and told to take the dressing off the wound myself. Long slow process as I repeatedly started to faint.
So, basic nursing care food and water brought to your bed if you can't get up, washed after the birth of you can't do it yourself, dressings on wounds dealt with by a nurse. Acknowledgment that a c section is a major surgery and aftercare needs to be different to a straightforward vaginal birth.

Staff refused to bring food to my bed once I could get up and walk after c/section, and would not let me take baby to the designated eating area where I could get lunch. I was concerned about baby's safety as the ward was open access in the day and the nurses' station was at the far end so nurses could not see what was happening in our bay. Nurses ignored my concerns. About a year later a baby was stolen from that ward.
www.independent.co.uk/news/woman-jailed-for-abducting-baby-1585652.html

This is a much needed campaign. I have had two babies and been horrified by conditions on the post natal ward. My last labour was induced and took nearly three days, during which I barely ate, only to then be moved to a post natal ward and given no food for several hours. My husband and I were both exhausted ( I was severely dehydrated) and we were treated with disdain by the staff when we asked for assistance with feeding. I get the Nhs is resource constrained, but something is clearly wrong. I am convinced that a bad experience on a post natal ward must surely result in a higher risk of post- natal depression.My baby was tongue tied and this went undiagnosed, and caused several weeks of difficulty. Inmates are treated better in prison than patients on post natal wards.I am expecting my third baby in three weeks and expect to be induced and am simply dreading the post natal ward experience! My treatment on the post natal ward has had a lot to do with the four year gap between this baby and my baby who is due shortly.

I had 2 children years apart at one v large hospital and a midwife led unit afterwards and had nothing but positive experiences as did friends at same place. Jug on water on every bedside table. Day room and kitchen with hot drinks and bread to have toast at any time. Sighs up asking for considerate mobile phone use. Caring staff. Honest and realistic times given eg someone will be here but will be 2 hours etc. Staff who genuinely seemed to care for all the babies. Good food with fruit and veg. Fruit in a bowl at nurse station. No wait on meds. Good experiences (and it was a few days for each)
Well done it was a great experience.
Mumsnet I won't name here but happy to by dm

I had my first baby in Germany- where they had a room where the nurses kept the babies when the mums wanted a break/sleep. They had changing and bathing areas so that they could show first time mums what to do and a quiet room next to it with comfortable chairs so that all mums could sit in peace with nurses/midwives nearby to help with breast feeding. Each room was en-suite with only 2 people per room and plenty of space to have your baby in the room with you, if wanted.
There was a big dining room with buffet food (which unfortunately all the visitors also helped themselves too) but in all a really nice experience. I left hospital feeling like I kind of knew what I was doing.

I then went on to have twins in England and the experience was very different. I was lucky enough to have a private room (no en-suite)- probably due to the fact I had two babies to look after. However post-caesarian, I was unable to move much to be able to get the babies out of their cribs to feed them- I was having to change them on my bed... not ideal and not good for my back. The staff were overworked so I often felt left on my own. There was no support for breastfeeding and I had no contact with any other new mums. I honestly can't remember about the food as I was so out of it.

Want better maternity care,a better NHS in general?...don't vote Conservative in the General Election. Understaffing and underfunding make it impossible for maternity wards to be any better...and it won't get any better under this government.

Reading all of this, my postnatal ward sounds like heaven! You had to get your own breakfast (in the the tea room) but lunch and dinner was brought to the bedside. There was a jug of water and a glass. I also had my own snacks and stuff as I'm diabetic. My only issue was that they kept the sodding light on all night. I was in 4 nights post c-section and barely slept (even when dd was asleep!)

I got shouted at for being in too much pain to be able to carry my dinner tray 1 day after my planned section. I've never forgot that.

However they do have water by the beds in a jug at all times, on all the wards, even postnatal in our local hospital

Also, some help with baby bathing would have made a huge difference. DD was born with loads of hair but I tore badly so it was encrusted with my blood. No one would help bath her for the three days we were in after the birth- I hadn't fallen in love with her and was really put off by the rank bloody hair. There didn't seem to even be a baby bath around, let alone anyone to help or show me what to do.

Haven't RTFT so not sure if it's been mentioned before but I think if you've had a section then to some degree there should be additional support given.

When I had my planned section 20 months ago I was put in a bed where the electrics didn't work so I couldn't get it low enough to get on and off comfortably. I was literally hopping on and off after major abdominal surgery which was excruciating. In America they are bringing in cribs that slot onto the sides of the mother's bed for section patients so they don't need to overly exert themselves getting up to sort the baby if they're on their own. I wonder if that would be viable here, it would even benefit mothers who've gone through a particularly painful labour.

After my first meal post op I was violently sick and my mum had to ask a nurse for help, she was given a bowl for me to throw up in and then had to wander around to ask someone else what to do with it and to ask if I needed to be checked over...the answer was no!

When I was certain my DD wasn't getting enough to eat (she slept a lot and was constantly hungry) I was told all babies did that. Cut to the next day and I was told she was jaundiced because she wasn't getting enough milk, by which time she'd done a number on my nipples and I couldn't get her to latch properly because of the excruciating pain. She ended up losing 9% of her birth weight before I put her on formula.

Post discharge all our midwife appointments were focused on how DD was doing, there was very little concern about how I was healing, I had to ask the midwife repeatedly to check my scar. I ended up getting an infection and at first I was told it was nothing, I visited my doctor OOO and he told me I should've been given antibiotics at the first sign of the wound weeping rather than being told to wait and see. Even after it was swabbed and discovered it was in fact infected the midwife still didn't want to check it without my insistence. Luckily I kept on top of it but if I had had other children I probably wouldn't have been able to attend to it as well, which could've meant going back in to hospital to have it sorted.

Oh also my DD had tongue tie which was diagnosed at birth, we only had to wait 7 days to get it sorte but unfortunately the damage had been done and her bad feeding habits already established. We struggled with reflux as she was so used to having to guzzle to get anything out of the bottle that when her tongue was fine she could drain a 4oz bottle in 10 minutes...then vomit half of it back up 10 minutes later!

We were lucky though, one of our friends had to wait 21 days. Another only had tongue tie diagnosed at 4 weeks old after being hospitalised twice due to weight loss, they were told they had to have it snipped privately and paid £100 for the privilege!

For something that literally takes seconds to do I don't understand why, if diagnosed at birth, it can't be done on the ward before discharge? And also why it isn't the first thing checked when a child is failing to thrive and sorted there and then! I know when (if) we have our next child if they have tongue tie too I will be refusing to leave until it's sorted

Want better maternity care,a better NHS in general?...don't vote Conservative in the General Election. Understaffing and underfunding make it impossible for maternity wards to be any better...and it won't get any better under this government.

^^This.
People who say it's not about funding, it absolutely is. I was fortunate enough to work in a very well-funded London hospital - they got additional money on top of what the government provided because they did a lot of research. The PN ward wasn't perfect, but women were given a menu in the morning to choose their meals for the day, and these were then brought to their bedside or kept aside if they were away from the bed at mealtime. Toast and snack boxes were available if women arrived to the ward between mealtimes. There was a midwife who served (almost) the single purpose of administering drugs, so she was able to give everyone pain relief as soon as they asked for it, and if they didn't ask, she went to them and offered it every 4 hours. Bathrooms were cleaned (properly!) three times a day. Money made those things possible.
But the decision to scrap midwives' training bursaries is going to make the staffing crisis worse. I've also worked in hospitals where 2 or 3 midwives are looking after 30 women and 30 babies. They just can't physically deliver the care in those circumstances.
It is all about politics!

I had my baby at King's College Hospital in London.

The night staff were not overworked - I found them sitting and chatting - but they could not have been more unhelpful: didn't check lights were off, complained when I rang the bell, wouldn't show me how to feed screaming baby (wouldn't help me breastfeed nor show me where bottles were) One of them finally (it did take quite some time) got up from her fat arse to help me wheel baby back to my room as I could hardly walk.

I really think they viewed mums as an inconvenience, a bunch of whining women sponging off and wanting an easy ride.

What postnatal care needs is a complete shift in mentality from nurses and midwives.

And a guide to how the wards work instead of us expecting to mind read. (No I didn't know I had to go and open multiple cupboards to find a fresh pair of sheets after baby weed on bed/no I didn't know I had to go to reception to get the painkillers they had said they'd bring to me/no I didn't know the formula was kept in a tiny room hidden behind the reception desk)

Let new mums with jaundiced babies know that the baby will be sleepy and may need to be woken up to feed. Offer the mums food after they've given birth as some haven't eaten in more than a day when they're in labour. Don't treat the mums like children. I felt like I was in boarding school at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh postnatal ward and it seemed like women were begging to go home.

With all my dealings with NHS, do think it's run by a herd of cats. No joined up thinking. Must be so frustrating for all the good people that work within it. I was lucky and earning when I had kids so went private. Now, poor. Had ultimate bad stuff with them off emergency appendectomy. Glad I'm strong and survived their madness. And now again, dealing with son who has a serious problem, but it is hard.

Would not like to have a baby with them.

Great campaign. It would be good if these proposed standards could apply to every ward. Have had some nightmares having to leave a sick partner in overnight