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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Postnatal Ward Hell!

320 replies

Creditcrunch2243 · 27/05/2022 20:09

AIBU to ask if the postnatal word is actually the 7th circle of hell?

On a ward with 4 others. One has been scrolling through songs on their phone for the last two hours only listening to the first 5 seconds of each one. One couple have bought a tv pass and have the One Show on full volume, they are then making video calls over the top of the TV and rowing about why their newborn won't settle (because the poor thing is thinking wtf is all this shouting?). The poor midwives are so understaffed everything is running late, including everyone's painkillers which were due an hour and a half ago. I've had a c section and I'm absolutely boiling and for some reason the heating is on!

Maybe I'm just a grumpy old woman but I'm starting to lose my mind here! Why can't people just be quiet!

OP posts:
Original poster
Creditcrunch2243 · 27/05/2022 20:51

Thank you for reassuring me that's not just me! Hopefully I can go home tomorrow, I'm in absolute agony though there just doesn't seem to be anything anyone can do about it!

I can just feel myself sat here boiling with rage lol. Visiting time was supposed to end at 8 and the place is still full of men using the women's toilets and watching loud crap on their phones.

OP posts:
Doggyfish · 27/05/2022 20:57

They're bloody awful. With my second child it was mid pandemic and i became a close contact of covid while in the hospital so they wheeled me round to a lovely unused ward. A couple of other women came in but it was really nice as no visitors so it was all new mums together, no annoying dads. And the ward was massive so we weren't horrible cramped.

housewife01 · 27/05/2022 20:57

Oh noo I'm 32 weeks and dreading this.
So inconsiderate of the men to be listening to things on full volume I'd be fuming! Can you buzz and ask a midwife to come and make people be quiet?
Otherwise as PP says maybe pop some headphones in or ear plugs or cotton wool if you have any for baby and try to ignore it.
Congratulations, you'll be home soon!

Queenoftheashes · 27/05/2022 20:58

Why the fuck wouldn’t everyone use headphones? Are they all thick??

PatientlyWaiting21 · 27/05/2022 20:58

That sounds awful, I was in a ward with 4 and it was so peaceful. Hope you get some rest soon.

Jeschara · 27/05/2022 21:00

My daughter had a C section she was in a main ward. Home within 24 hours and happy to be, no problems there though.

Jammysod · 27/05/2022 21:04

They are horrendous places. The only upside of DS being jaundice is that it meant we got moved to a private room as there wasn't enough space for his cot/light contraption in the bay.

YfenniChristie · 27/05/2022 21:05

You have my sympathies OP. I managed 48 hours on the post natal ward recovering from an emergency c-section before I was moved to a side room (thank god).

During those 48 hours I experienced one woman screaming, shouting and at one point threatening to burn down the hospital if they didn't discharge her immediately; one woman loudly describing her tearing in graphic detail to family members over the phone over and over again; and another woman who seemed to be facetiming or watching videos until the early hours of the morning and then complaining she wasn't getting any sleep.

I hope you get to discharged soon. Postnatal wards are hell.

Pinklimey · 27/05/2022 21:06

If I ever had another I was totally going to find the money from somewhere to go private as my experiences in postnatal were so bad. As it was, I only had one, sonhad nearly forgotten how bad it was

littlepeas · 27/05/2022 21:07

I think I must be a total weirdo as I quite enjoyed the postnatal ward and asked not to be put in a side room! I've had 3 babies, all by c section and 2-3 night stays, so it can't just be down to luck! I didn't particularly interact with those around me, but I liked the gentle buzz of a recent shared experience.

littlepeas · 27/05/2022 21:08

Hmmm - I did have all 3 of my dc before smart phones were a thing, however.

TheCanyon · 27/05/2022 21:10

It's reading threads like these that make me grateful that with 4 babies I've only spent one night (in a single room with no heating in January, id lost 3+ litres so was comatose anyway) on a postnatal ward.

hospitals really do show utter self entitled animals, prisons probably nicer tbh.

SlowHorses · 27/05/2022 21:10

Sympathies OP. I wish the midwifes were like the strict matrons you see on TV just to stop people being on their phones in an antisocial way and annoying visitors.

My DC was born in August some years ago during a heat wave. THE HEATING WAS STILL FUCKING ON at the hospital. Sorry, still a little wound up about it as you can tell 😂

How anyone is meant to recover I have no idea.

Congratulations 🥳

ThreeLittleDots · 27/05/2022 21:13

3+ day stays post c/s were more common 20 years ago, many had abdominal drains in etc, most still in shared wards though, in my trust. Much better now to escape the hell hole asap.

SlowHorses · 27/05/2022 21:15

However, possibly the best meal I’ve eaten was after giving birth. 2 slices of thick white bread with loads of butter and a mug of tea. OMG, so good! I asked for another 2 slices, demolished those as well and only resisted asking for more as thought it was getting cheeky 😂 I was v hungry and dehydrated after giving birth in a sauna.

vipersnest1 · 27/05/2022 21:16

@littlepeas, I think that very much depends on the other women in the ward. My DC1 is heading towards their 30s and I can still remember being on the ward with women who left their babies to cry / didn't wake up when they did at night, never mind the ones who made no effort to be quiet once they were awake (so everyone else had to be).
IMO you were lucky, so maybe shouldn't judge everyone else based on your experience.

lanthanum · 27/05/2022 21:16

housewife01 · 27/05/2022 20:57

Oh noo I'm 32 weeks and dreading this.
So inconsiderate of the men to be listening to things on full volume I'd be fuming! Can you buzz and ask a midwife to come and make people be quiet?
Otherwise as PP says maybe pop some headphones in or ear plugs or cotton wool if you have any for baby and try to ignore it.
Congratulations, you'll be home soon!

It might be okay - I was on a postnatal ward for over 2 weeks (prem baby) and it was all very calm and friendly. Possibly that's partly because it was the prem baby ward - most of us were there longer, and I guess people are more inclined to be considerate when they're not just there overnight and then going home.

Whataboutno · 27/05/2022 21:18

They are bloody awful, literally hell on earth. With my first the woman next to me was snoring and sleeping through her own baby crying, I was distraught! My second I had a private room for two nights and it was bliss!

Albgo · 27/05/2022 21:19

littlepeas · 27/05/2022 21:07

I think I must be a total weirdo as I quite enjoyed the postnatal ward and asked not to be put in a side room! I've had 3 babies, all by c section and 2-3 night stays, so it can't just be down to luck! I didn't particularly interact with those around me, but I liked the gentle buzz of a recent shared experience.

Me too. I've only had one baby, but we were in for a week. I was actually a bit sad to go home!

roarfeckingroarr · 27/05/2022 21:19

@littlepeas I enjoyed it too! I was so happy and excited about my beautiful new baby, I really enjoyed that quiet buzz. It was during covid restrictions though so potentially quieter.

Changethenamey · 27/05/2022 21:20

Ahhh this is why I chose a birthing centre for baby 2 and 3 😬

paisley256 · 27/05/2022 21:21

@WhoAre I'm another who'd have kissed you! The husband of the woman next to me had the TV up sooo loud, was giving a running commentary of the football to his mate on the phone and had the cheek to moan about any babies who dared cry for longer than a minute as he couldn't hear the telly. Oh and he was nagging his poor wife loudly for a blow job! Hell on earth it was. I told him to fuck off home by the end of it and got a round of applause...dick head.

Goodmum1234 · 27/05/2022 21:23

I had this, I feel your pain. If you can shower in the morning, through gritted teeth you can get out of there! As long as no complications x

Ready4abreak · 27/05/2022 21:26

That's why I loved the post natal ward when DS2 was born. One week into the first lockdown, no visitors and hardly anyone staying in the hospital. For most of my stay there was only one other new mum who had also has a c section. So quiet and absolute bliss. Even the midwives were loving it!

But yes, I found the normal post natal ward with DS1 awful.

RainyDayyy · 27/05/2022 21:28

Postnatal ward is like a prison hell… sending my love. Having been there a week I really hope the time passes quick for you and you and bubs get to go home soon.

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