Not allowed a private room after a c-section 'for my own safety' - anyone else come across this?

[MadreInglese]

I'm due to have a c-section soon for DC2. Not what we wanted (homebirth!) but due to the baby being footling breech we've pretty much been given no other choice.

I didn't even want to be in a hospital at all so the thought of being on a ward full of other people for two nights is just not my cup of tea and a friend who had had a CS at the same hospital (a couple of years ago though) said you can pay to have a private room.

This sounded ideal for me and so I've asked on a couple of occasions but both times they have said no, reason being that it's for my own safety in case I have a bleed because if I'm on a ward I can be better monitored or 'tell the lady in the bed next to me if I'm feeling a bit funny' and in a private room I may be 'left alone for 12 hours or more and not checked on'

Surely it wouldn't take them more than a couple of minutes to open my door and check on me, and DP will be there with me most of the day anyway.

Am I being to fussy wanting this? I'm really dreading the c-section aftermath anyway (they are insistant I stay in two nights) and really really don't like the idea of being on a ward with the lack of privacy and the noise. WWYD? Does it sound like a staffing issue or is this usual policy? Should I just shut up and put up?

How shocking that private room = no care at all.

And patients expected to look after one another.

And this is seen as totally acceptable.

As the mother of two daughters, it really worries me for their future if they decide to have children.

Haven't read the whole thread, but was sorry to read how bad your experience was Tif
Glad to read your later post that it was all worth it for your wee girl !
I can relate to that
I thought my overnight stay on the ward following my DDs birth was quite shocking in the level of care available to all of us new mums. I asked a nurse to keep an eye on my DD while I went to the loo, and apparently this wasn't possible.
Fortunately for me I had a pretty good birth experience, but I could see heaven help anyone who didn't.
I feel very strongly that post birth care needs a complete overhaul in our hospitals, and at least twice the number of staff. More people just to talk with new mothers, offer simple assistance, and check they're feeling OK.
Shouldn't be too much to ask for a couple of nights in our life, when we've just brought another life into the world.

If a private room is definitely what you want (and looking above it seems there are serious pros and cons) I would suggest talking to the highest up person you've been in contact with and say that if they can't guarantee privacy after a section than you can't guarantee that you won't change your mind and go for home birth, breech or no breech.

It is something you feel very strongly about and you will speak to whoever you need to speak to in order to get this need accommodated. I know 3 people that have had good recoveries in various hospitals after a section in a private room, for what it's worth!

If unsure how best to proceed I'd suggest contacting AIMS who are experts at helping women get what they want in the maternity services. www.aims.org.uk/

Best of luck.

I was in this position recently as I cannot cope with noise etc from other people.

My hospital said the first night you have to go on the ward so you can be better monitored.

However, I was taken from recovery too early and my bed wasn't ready. I was put in the nearest available space which happened to be a side room with an on-suite. It was heaven. Then the MW came in and said I wasn't staying there and they were sorting my bed out. I explained that due to my M.E. I cannot deal with noise and will find it impossible to rest and look after my baby (I was on a ward with DS for the first night and it was the worse night of my life) and I would be calling on them more to help me.

They did tell me they usually keep the side rooms for other cases but the MW I spoke to said I pleaded my case enough for her and she would tell the others. I did get to keep my room and it was amazing. I was checked on for my obs and I used my buzzer when I wanted help with BF but I was pretty much left to it. The second night when I was getting DD latching on by myself, I didn't see anyone all night and wasn't checked on at all.

It isn't impossible but to make it easier for them, they do like you all to be in a ward where you will be kept a better eye on.

I think they might clean you up in recovery before you go to the ward but after theatre.
Try and remember that the policy is there to try and protect you and your baby. I am due to have a ELCS for our first DC and i am upset about it too but rather than anticipate the worst i am trying to work on the basis that i would rather have CS and a night or 2 out of my comfort zone than put baby at risk and potentially find myself in a situation i might regret for the rest of my life. Dont get me wrong, i have been feeling down about it but have come to the conclusion, i cannot change the situation, or the policy re where i go after, so i am better off using my energy elsewhere where i can influence! Like writing a biething plan for the op and making sure i get support to bf.
Good luck.

I've had 3 c-secs

first one I spent one night in the c-sec ward then put in private room for one night then home
second I had one night in c-sec ward then went home 24 hours after c-sec (twins kept in scbu)
third (5 weeks ago) one night in c-sec ward then 2 nights in private room (one twin with me one in scbu for 48 hours)

I hate hospitals with a passion and think it's great when I go in a private room (never paid for one) but that first night isn't too bad and you get checked on so often anyway you don't sleep overly anyway.

Sorry, but I think get over yourself. It is only two nights. yes, it is unacceptaable that it is not recommended for safety reasons, but that is the Government's fault, not the hospital. Everyone knows birthing units and post care wards are seriously understaffed, due to lack of finances. The staff do their absolute best in very testing circumstances in my experience. They are only being honest and trying to do the best for you and your baby. You and your OH will have years ahead of you with your baby - you have curtains round the bed and it does feel quite private. You will be quite spaced out after the drugs from the CS anyway - I can barely remember the first two days after my CS. I certainly wasn't 'caked in blood' and I doubt very much that you will be - theatre staff will clean you up, but not give you a full bath. good luck - I am sure it will be much better than you think it will be.

I felt like you and wanted a private room for my c section 17wks ago,i wasnt allowed one but loved the company and busyness of the ward you can catch a passing nurse rather than ring the buzzer.The 2nd night it was just me and another lady and we laughed like drains all night and i hobbled up and dowm to make us tea as it was her first night,it is one of my happiest memories of having my dd.
I wnet back in when dd was 4 days,had a private room and bloody hated it

A friend of mine had a big bleed after a c-section. She didn't notice; she just felt terribly tired all of a sudden - but hey! she'd just had a baby and a c-section, and you get like that - and started woozily drifting off. As luck would have it a nurse went past, glanced at her, didn't like the look of her and lifted the sheet to reveal a lake of blood. She was rushed to surgery and all was eventually well, but thank goodness someone was passing who noticed something amiss. Would her DH have noticed? Might he have just thought she'd dropped off to sleep, as you do when you've just had a baby?

I think they are probably right, although it's a bugger for you.

I sympathise with not wanting to be on the ward- with my first two it wasn't so bad, but with my 3rd, I got no sleep the first night - not because of dd2, she slept fine- but because of the woman opposite, who kept her lights on all night and spent hours on her mobile telling people her new dd was 'a little shit' who was keeping her awake. I doubt she'd have been much use in an emergency...

My second night was worse, as dd2 was taken to neonatal- so I had to put up with listening to the delightful woman without even having dd with me

As for more care in the ward- I felt like I was mithering for asking for pain relief. I would have killed for a private room!!

(but the staff were lovely- just not many of them[sad)

I had an ELCS 8 days ago at the Royal Berkshire, after a miserable experience on the ward at Wexham Park after my EMCS 3yrs ago I asked for a private room this time around. Consultant said would have to ask on the day which was fine, after the surgery I went to recovery for an hour or so and asked about a private room and was told they were all in use. When I got to the ward, it wasn't too busy which was nice. About 2hrs later the nurses said a room was available if I still wanted it so I moved, it was £100 a night with no ensuite (think it was more for the ensuite room). DD was on 4hrly Obs due to meconium ingestion and I cannot fault the care we got from all the staff over the two days we were there. Everyone was so nice and nothing was too much trouble, between the drug runs / DDs Obs / my Obs / needing help with DD etc I was seen regularly by staff. I had always said that some of my MA would be earmarked for a private room if I had to have another c section (tried for VBAC but DD didn't get the memo) and I'm really glad I had one, I was never going to make lifelong friends on the ward so the comfort and intimacy of just DD and I (and our visitors) over those days was great :-)

Madre: you must be so disappointed after hoping for a HB but please try not to fret about the lack of a private room. I don't mean to be patronising but I'd be very glad of being watched out for tbh and for that reason you'll almost certainly find you won't be allowed that flimsy curtain closed either. No one was on my post natal ward for the same reason. However I have a different take on it because I actually had a big PPH after my emcs, it was bloody horrible, and meant I spent my first night as a mum in a high dependency unit hooked up to heart monitors and all sorts of Nasa style gear and it was far, far scarier than any part of the complicated and screwed up labour or the delivery. Worse moment of my life in fact, bar my mum being killed when i was a teen, was waking up in a deserted, dim HDU, hubby sent home, gasping gasping for every breath and wondering where my baby was - I was too weak to see him in a cot, still undressed :( off to one side, and wondered what the hell had happened. Next night in a post natal ward was actually very quiet and comforting and like others I found it reassuring. And yeah they get you up and about for showers and stuff very quickly. I hope it all goes well for you, and preferably that DC decides to shift position sharpish.

I had a private room with 1st CS but not with 2nd. It was truly awful. Some people may like the social aspect of a ward but having just had a baby, all I wanted was privacy. However the healthcare assistants
(note the absence of midwives) kept pulling the curtains back. I had to shout in the end (my polite requests were dismissed with a "no dear, we know best" response) that I wanted the curtains closed. There is clearly no medical reason not to have a private room and if you are prepared to pay (I did first time bur couldn't second time - emergency) then keep arguing and make a formal complaint if necessary. As for asking the lady in the next bed - surely they have a buzzer system??!!

Sorry your not able to have your home birth , and I totally get what your saying about being on a ward!...I've had two emergency sections! and before labour I was assured sections got a side room for recovery, especially emergency ones!.
I was bed bathed on the ward, not private at all!, got no rest, help with lifting baby to feed, and was next to a chain smoking mum which really upset me.
Did ask if there as any chance of being moved but was told no.
The only good thing was partners were all alowed to visit 8 till 8.
After 2nd section the midwives were to busy to keep up with my pain killers so I asked to leave, and at least I could administer the tablets myself! I was home within 24 hours of birth.

I am having an elective in 8 weeks at another hospital, and recently had a tour, I did ask about a side room, but I get the impression they don't like to use them except for extreme cases.
I,m not a fussy person, but just think after such a major operation a little rest and privacy is better than a ward full of other mums that are all up and about, and are coming and going all the time as they are able to go home so much quicker...

I hope you manage to sort something out, especially as you say it's not an everyday event for you! best of luck