Birth debrief help please

[shaunwinonaandsue]

I want a debrief about the birth of my DC last year (because I have realised I am so scared of being made to have a VBAC I don't want to get pregnant again :( ). I have read on here that PALS will help me arrange it, but their website is so confusing and claims there is no PALS for the NHS trust where I gave birth...can anyone help? Thank you.

i think i just requested it via the gp and they sorted it. can't remember. it was nothing to do with pals anyway - never had any contact with them.

You can contact your PALS by calling your hospital and asking for their number. I had big problems with my hospital - PALS were very sympathetic and excellent at getting things moving. I even went into their office to cry once and they were lovely.

Good luck x

Thank you.

I just rang the hospital. No PALS. Spoke to a fairly unsympathetic sounding woman who couldn't understand what I was asking for - I must be the first (in our giant acute trust? surely not??). She is going to "pass it through to obstetrics".

just see your gp and get them to do the chasing for you...

mine was organised by the midwives can you ring your local supervisor of midwives?

Try your health visitor too. They should be able to help organise it.

My HV arranged mine for me. She is fab .

If you are going for a debrief, based on my experience I'd recommend taking DP or close friend/family with you, and takesome time in advance to think what you want out of it, eg. questions answered, reassurance about how your next labour will be managed, options available to you for your next labour.

A debrief can be quite draining, so if its possible, you mightwant to arrange for you and DP to have some time alone afterwards to talk it through.

Good luck, and I hope you find it helpful.

Thanks :)

I never thought of the HV! Silly me, I should ring her about it.

I'd ask the HV but you might need a GP referral. In my area, the hospital has a postnatal counselling clinic run by a consultant to deal with debriefs and you can get a GP referral to that.