Postnatal Ward Hell

[MoneyM]

AIBU in suggesting that postnatal wards are literally hell on earth? Baby born today - stuck in a room with snorers, loud texters, newborn babies being left to cry it out...not to mention the incessant succession of beeps and buzzers. And the intense heat!!

This is why DH and I drove 50 miles in the middle of the night to get to the hospital where I delivered- the postnatal ward is all private en-suite rooms. Great care from the midwives, DH didn’t have to leave, we didn’t see or hear another adult or baby the whole time we were there.

Hell on earth. The midwives who delivered DC1 were lovely, then I was wheeled into another ward to be treated like dirt for two days.

DC2 my experience wasn't as bad though I I had him in a different hospital.

I’m currently on a post natal ward and tempted to call DH to collect me and baby even though I’m only day post section as I just want to be at home sorting us out and not reliant on the midwives to provide drugs, that’s not even getting started on the noise

I absolutely hated the postnatal ward. Hot, noisy, incessant disruption to peace. My ability to sleep soundly for a good few hours is testament to just how bloody exhausted I was (57 hours of induction/labour with maybe 4 hours of decent sleep the whole time). My aversion to going back onto a postnatal ward was one of the primary drivers behind my insistence on a home birth the second time round. I know all the staff are doing their best but I think it's an inhumane way to treat women fresh from labour and their newborn babies. We must be able to do better.

Oh they're horrible, and you feel so trapped and not able to care for your own baby as you want to.

I loved it!!! Gave birth early December, midwives took the babies for 2-3 hour stints to the nurses station to let us all (mums) sleep, was AMAZING!!! Would have stayed til their first birthdays if I could’ve got away with it!
Was the same with the baby before that too! Perhaps I just got a good hospital but I had a lovely time. Nhs tayside were fabulous!

I also found the postnatal ward unbearable. I’d been on the maternity ward for three days and had no sleep due to someone opposite me watching films all night on their phone with no headphones Having then spent a further night with no sleep giving birth, I was greeted on the postnatal ward by the same couple again, watching a film very loudly (with no headphones) at 4am. The midwives do their best, but some people are just unbelievable!

I couldn’t get out quickly enough.

Congratulations on your new arrival.

Wow, I'm amazed by these awful experiences it sounds so hideous, both mine were born in a MLU where we were moved to a private room after the birth, I'm not even sure they have a ward in the building. So sorry for all the awful experiences.

I loved it too, but only because I gave birth (3 times) in the 1980s. Spotless, well-ordered 6 or 8 bed wards in charge of a matron who kept them that way, strict visiting times. Lights out for afternoon naps every day. Babies wheeled into nurseries overnight - you were woken up to breastfeed when they cried, or opt for a nurse to give them a bottle. Post-natal exercise class each morning. With your first you were talked through nappy changing, feeding, bathing, on a one to one basis. Regular mealtimes with food brought to you in bed. And a bottle of stout at bedtime! You really felt cared for. Some of the descriptions on here are horrendous and we as a nation should be ashamed that mothers and babies are treated this way.

My friend had awful time..I visited..young girl opposite about 14 , interpreters, social workers, police at bedside and huge extended family all smoking and cleared out the refreshment trolley !!

Never been on one, I've got 3 children but home birthed all of them. Seems I'm one of the lucky ones

Worst time of my life. I was in one for 5 days; the noise was constant; I couldn't sleep, baby couldn't sleep. In the and I discharged myself as I started seeing things. Baby slept almost 24hr straight once home!

Yes it’s hard to get peace and quiet etc but when my second youngest baby was born of he was taken straight to special care and I was in the post natal ward without my baby, that was 100% worse!

This sounds utterly terrifying - I have a fear of hospitals and wish I could have a home birth but am too nervous as it’s my first!

Is it possible to just discharge yourself as soon as possible after the birth, even if they haven’t filled in the paperwork yet? I think I would rather walk out than stay in hospital in these conditions.

Also, why are hospitals always so damn hot? Surely it just creates a breeding ground for germs.

I made them let me leave at 1am. DH and the kids had to get up and come and get me. I thought I might go mad sitting on that ward. Luckily DH and the kids were expecting it so it wasn't too much bother but the midwives weren't happy about it. But at least we got home and had some sleep! How any one recovers in hospital baffles me

I was very lucky with last baby. On Transitional care ward after section with 3 others in August, very quiet. The midwives even took baby for a few hours to let me sleep, said they had lovely cuddles. Water constantly topped up, food brought to me. They did say it was abnormally quiet though!

I found there were a lot of inconsistencies which shouldn’t happen and made life difficult eg

• a man cleaned the floor of the corridor every day. He always started at one end and worked his way to the other. I was there eight nights and this happened every day. Lovely, great to have a clean floor. Except the bathrooms were filthy, with blood stains and piles of sanitary towels overflowing from bins. Around the beds were filthy - my light and headboard thing (where the buzzer button etc were) was covered in dust and had cobwebs hanging from it!

The midwives contradicted each other. So I was in for five nights, and then a further three after being readmitted. You’d be told one thing one night, something totally opposite another night. Two refused to show me how to sterilise bottles (‘we can’t be seen to support formula feeding’) even though my baby needed formula to save her life after my milk hadn’t come in.

It’s the sort of stuff that could be easily sorted out.
There also seemed to be plenty of midwives/maternity assistants there but they were hiding in the staff room (much raucous laughter could be heard) or grouped around the nurses’ station chatting to each other - I asked if I could leave my baby with them there whilst I had a shower but they refused as apparently I had to have my baby with me all the time to establish breastfeeding (how does preventing a new blood-covered mum from having a shower help establish breastfeeding?!)

Totally agree.
My one night in a police cell as a drunken teenager was nicer than my stay on the postnatal Ward after DC1 was born.
My experience is one of the myriad of reasons I chose to avoid the hospital at all costs and have my next two babies at home

Actual hell. I was only in one night after a c section because I opted to go to a midwife led unit to recover. It was like a five star hotel in comparison, I remember it so fondly.

In the hospital, a midwife refused to watch my baby for 5 minutes while I went to the loo. First time mum, under the care of perinatal mental health for anxiety, busy ward with who knows who wandering in and out, and you're expected to just leave your hours old baby alone?

So there must be a massive funding difference between U.K. and Spain (also France that someone mentioned upthread)

These here are postnatal rooms in the bog standard public hospital in Estonia. The standard 1-3 patient rooms are free of charge, the fancier family rooms will cost you 30 eur per night.
www.synnitusmaja.ee/osakonnad/sunnitus/sunnitusosakond/sunnitustoad-ja-sunnitusjargsed-toad/

Thank god I had my DC years ago!

Everyone had a private room. The nurses were amazing, they regularly brought round tea and toast without being asked. They helped you bath and feed the baby when needed (I was a young mum and found this invaluable).

They took babies to the nursery so mums could sleep in the afternoon. I was in for a week, which was pretty standard back then.

Without them I wouldn't have had a clue what to do with a baby.

I had mixed experiences. With my first I had him late at night so was wheeled into a 4 bay side ward in the early hours. The Mw’s were so good tbh. Taking babies to let mums rest and being helpful with feeding. Dads were allowed in between 8-8 so no overnight stays. I think I was just so much in awe of my first born that I didn’t register much else 😬 Yes there were crying babies and beeping, breast pumps etc, but I sort of expected all that. With my second I was incredibly lucky! They left me in the delivery suite overnight as they weren’t busy (we are in a busy NHS hospital area in a big town), then I miraculously got a private room in a side ward that was predominantly filled with people that had babies with heath conditions. My boy didn’t, I just seemed to time it right or something for once. Or maybe they felt sorry for me because he was 10 1/2lb 😂🙈 With my third again on a 4 bed side ward. This was only for one night as I had a catheter in. Tbh by the time I had my third, it was nice to just be able to sit with him. I didn’t register much else of what was going on.

But, I totally get that everyone’s experiences vary so much because we’re all different and each trust is so different.

*health conditions

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

If men gave birth, postnatal wards would be like 5 star hotels.

What women have to put up with at their most vulnerable time of life is shocking. Lack of privacy, noise throughout the night, deplorable hygiene in shared bathrooms, having to walk up a corridor to collect breakfast after major surgery in some cases, strange men hanging around presenting a possible safeguarding risk. Women not receiving adequate food, water and medicine.

If conditions were better and new mothers could actually rest on the wards, I guarantee breastfeeding rates would be higher. I had to stay in for 2 nights after both my births (long back to back labour and instrumental delivery for first, severe blood loss for second). For three nights I did not sleep AT ALL. This had a huge impact on my mental health and ability to breastfeed.